Help Needed- Navigating Financial Aid Forum

[a.psu]

To whom it may concern,

I am a graduating senior at Penn State with a 3.9 GPA and 166 LSAT score. I have been accepted into Columbia, NYU, U Penn, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Vanderbilt and Indiana. However, I have only received aid from Indiana and Vanderbilt, but would ideally like to attend Columbia, NYU, or U Penn.

Thus far, I received my financial aid decision from U Penn, and am expected to cover all costs personally without any scholarships from the school. It was suggested to me to forward all pertinent information to the merit scholarship committee, but am unsure how to phrase the communication. Although my parents have a higher salary that inhibits any 'need-based' grants, there salary is accounted for every month and they cannot contribute at all to my law school education--yet their salary is influencing my financial aid package.

I plan to include the scholarship information from Indiana and Vanderbilt, but am aware these aren't exactly 'peer' schools. I am an honors student, highly involved in the community, and of a minority background; should I mention any of these in this email?

I really appreciate anyone who helps.

Thank you.