When is the best time to start an appeal/"discussion" abt financial aid with college?

[twoinanddone]

@blossom

Little piece of advice-

Make sure you and your D have gone through the COA’s very carefully before starting a discussion with admissions. If the COA includes a 2K fee for student health, but your current health insurance qualifies you for a waiver- you’ve just saved 2 grand. If the COA includes the full meal plan, 21 meals a week, and your D hasn’t eaten breakfast since she was 6 years old- figure out the cost of a more modest meal plan. If the COA assumes lab fees but your D is studying early childhood Ed and won’t have lab fees-- etc. A lot of folks think they need more money off the sticker price but haven’t worked through sticker price to see what applies to them and what not.

But be aware that the Student Health Fee isn’t always insurance that can be waived but a fee that all students must pay to have the Student health center. And some schools only have one meal plan, especially for freshmen. Daughter had a choice of Plan A or Plan B with the same (insane) price of $2600 per semester. No other options until you were a sophomore when suddenly you eat less and it only costs $1800.

The only place we could shave money off the COA was in books and travel.