Can I negotiate, how-situation Forum

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sportsstar1234

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Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by sportsstar1234 » Tue Apr 24, 2012 1:50 am

Hi,

Several days ago, I was admitted to a law school. I received $8,000 in scholarship towards tuition.

I would like to see if I can be considered for additional money. With this being said, I do not want to come off as greedy.

Any advice?
Last edited by sportsstar1234 on Thu Apr 26, 2012 6:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

kaveman

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by kaveman » Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:35 am

Deposit first=no leverage. The only way you'll sound demanding or threatening is if you make a demand or a threat.

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Systematic1

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by Systematic1 » Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:47 am

sportsstar1234 wrote: Hi,

Several days ago I was admitted to your law school from the waitlist, and that I did not expect to be admitted to. I received $8,000 in scholarship towards tuition.

I would like to write a I'm writing this letter to describe my personal financial circumstances and hardship, to see if I can be considered for additional scholarship and/or grant funding. With this being said, I do not want to come off as greedy or obnoxious,espcially since I didn't expect to be admitted let alone receive any funding. I'm just going through some tough times, and I'm afraid without additional funding I might be forced to put my dreams of attending law school on hold.

etc., etc., etc.,


Thanks

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aekea

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by aekea » Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:57 am

Systematic1 wrote:
sportsstar1234 wrote: Hi,

Several days ago I was admitted to your law school from the waitlist, and that I did not expect to be admitted to. I received $8,000 in scholarship towards tuition.

I would like to write a I'm writing this letter to describe my personal financial circumstances and hardship, to see if I can be considered for additional scholarship and/or grant funding. With this being said, I do not want to come off as greedy or obnoxious,espcially since I didn't expect to be admitted let alone receive any funding. I'm just going through some tough times, and I'm afraid without additional funding I might be forced to put my dreams of attending law school on hold.

etc., etc., etc.,


Thanks
I don't think you want to specifically mention coming off as greedy or obnoxious. Just tell them you are thrilled to have been admitted, you are especially excited to have been offered $8,000 but given the very high cost of attending law school, you worry that financial considerations may make it difficult for you to attend without further financial assistance. Definitely negotiate before putting down a deposit, and try not to worry about the school thinking you're greedy. It is not unusual for prospective students to ask for more money and the school should not be offended of put off. And, if they are, it doesn't matter. You're already in, the worst that can happen is they don't give you any more money.

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You Gotta Have Faith

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by You Gotta Have Faith » Tue Apr 24, 2012 2:57 am

As someone who was once admitted off of a waitlist, and obtained a scholarship, I'll offer the following bit of advice:

(1) When is the deposit deadline? Don't miss it. And I'll diverge from the previous poster and say that I genuinely don't think paying your deposit means no leverage. However, I will agree that if it is a very large deposit, you may want to think twice before putting it down, because you are not getting that money back.

(2) I honestly think it works better if you phrase it under the understanding that you are aware they may not be able to give you additional funding, and you remain interested in the school nonetheless, but you figured it was worth asking since you have unique financial hardships and it would be a tremendous help to you, etc. This is roughly how I asked, except I didn't claim any financial hardships, and they upped what I was getting (not much initially) by $5K/year after "discussing" it. If you genuinely aren't going to be able to attend due to that, then say so. But I have my doubts that this will have much impact on them (see below).

(3) Before writing them, decide for yourself how much they must give for you to say yes. Also determine whether you would still be interested if they don't give you anything else. It is very likely that they will say no, despite your plea due to your financial circumstances. Note that thousands of students are delving into $100K+ debt every single year and schools have tended to not be bothered by this.

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sportsstar1234

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by sportsstar1234 » Tue Apr 24, 2012 8:45 am

Thanks a lot!

I do not have anything in writing from the school until I give my deposit - that's why I was wondering about depositing before asking.

It is not a large deposit. With this being said, should I still ask before depositing? Am I ruining my chances of being considered for an increase in money if I give a non-binding deposit and then write a letter a day or two later? Just don't want to "annoy" the committee, since I didn't think I'd get in with my given scores. Thanks again.

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flem

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by flem » Tue Apr 24, 2012 9:02 am

You Gotta Have Faith wrote:As someone who was once admitted off of a waitlist, and obtained a scholarship, I'll offer the following bit of advice:

(1) When is the deposit deadline? Don't miss it. And I'll diverge from the previous poster and say that I genuinely don't think paying your deposit means no leverage. However, I will agree that if it is a very large deposit, you may want to think twice before putting it down, because you are not getting that money back.

(2) I honestly think it works better if you phrase it under the understanding that you are aware they may not be able to give you additional funding, and you remain interested in the school nonetheless, but you figured it was worth asking since you have unique financial hardships and it would be a tremendous help to you, etc. This is roughly how I asked, except I didn't claim any financial hardships, and they upped what I was getting (not much initially) by $5K/year after "discussing" it. If you genuinely aren't going to be able to attend due to that, then say so. But I have my doubts that this will have much impact on them (see below).

(3) Before writing them, decide for yourself how much they must give for you to say yes. Also determine whether you would still be interested if they don't give you anything else. It is very likely that they will say no, despite your plea due to your financial circumstances. Note that thousands of students are delving into $100K+ debt every single year and schools have tended to not be bothered by this.
The first two points seem to go against everything about negotiating I know. The third point is legit.

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Wily

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by Wily » Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:20 am

sportsstar1234 wrote:Thanks a lot!

I do not have anything in writing from the school until I give my deposit - that's why I was wondering about depositing before asking.

It is not a large deposit. With this being said, should I still ask before depositing? Am I ruining my chances of being considered for an increase in money if I give a non-binding deposit and then write a letter a day or two later? Just don't want to "annoy" the committee, since I didn't think I'd get in with my given scores. Thanks again.
I would delay making the deposit until you've negotiated the terms. I just negotiated an offer from a law school from $8,000 to $24,000, and then $30,000 over the course of a few days. It took multiple emails that both expressed strong interest in the school, and also set out that I had additional financial need that couldn't be covered under their existing offer. I also sent scanned copies of scholarship letters from other schools. I think it's best to be persistent, but polite and not groveling, in your letters, and keep trying until you get a "final offer" from the school. Good luck.

sportsstar1234

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by sportsstar1234 » Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:31 am

Can I give my non-binding deposit (so I don't risk the waitlist offer) first?

Then, maybe I can explain my situation, how the school is my top choice, how I couldn't resist not giving the deposit since it is my top choice, but explain the financial concenrs that may inhibit me from attending this first choice school of mine?

Should I include offers elsewhere if they are not substantially more and if they are not comparable schools?

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Wily

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by Wily » Tue Apr 24, 2012 10:47 am

sportsstar1234 wrote:Can I give my non-binding deposit (so I don't risk the waitlist offer) first?

Then, maybe I can explain my situation, how the school is my top choice, how I couldn't resist not giving the deposit since it is my top choice, but explain the financial concenrs that may inhibit me from attending this first choice school of mine?

Should I include offers elsewhere if they are not substantially more and if they are not comparable schools?
I think you should at least take a day to make a shot at getting more money before depositing. As others have said, you lose your negotiating power if you deposit first. If they say it's their final offer, then you can deposit anyway without hurting yourself.

I used offers from schools that were lower ranked than the school I was negotiating with, so I don't think it's impossible to use them as leverage.

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2014

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by 2014 » Tue Apr 24, 2012 11:44 am

They aren't going to pull your offer in response to an email for additional aid unless you miss their deadline. Once you are in you are in, it's not like you are some blatantly inferior person because you were WL'd first. They have extended you an offer of admission and it is in their interest to get you to attend. Just be polite and humble in your email while making a compelling case that you need the help.

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You Gotta Have Faith

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Re: Can I negotiate, how-situation

Post by You Gotta Have Faith » Mon May 07, 2012 4:55 pm

tfleming09 wrote:
The first two points seem to go against everything about negotiating I know. The third point is legit.
I don't think the first point actually has all that much to do with negotiating.. it's just generic advice. Law schools adhere to deposit deadlines. If OP misses it, then there is a problem as some of them will merely say "too bad." The simple point to me is that you can negotiate regardless of whether you have paid a deposit or not.

With regard to the second point, I can see where you are coming from. And if I had more leverage to negotiate with, I would agree with your position and would have approached it differently. But when all the odds are against you (my LSAT was 9 below their median and I'm a non-URM), it's hard to play hard ball and negotiate. They knew I didn't have similar offers from other schools and had let me off the waitlist after requesting to interview me. Approaching it the way I did was the only way I knew might get me a higher offer, and it worked. But if you know of something that works better under those circumstances, then props to you (for real) and I'd be interested in hearing how you might have approached it.

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