Negotiating scholarships works!!!!! Forum

[j.wellington]

Does anyone know of schools that have a strict "no negotiations" policy? That would be helpful to know before I go put myself out there.

[eye]

How would I go about negotiating $$ from a #30 ranked school?

It is my first choice, and I have some leverage in the form of

-Full Scholarship from #23 ranked school.
-$84,000 scholarship from a peer school
-$54,000 fellowship from W & M
-A scholarship from a peer school that will bring tuition down to $6,000 a year


The school I want to negotiate $$ from hasn't awarded any scholarships just yet. I'm afraid that by the time they do award anything, my deadline to accept said scholarships will pass.

My question is, do I mention all of these awards when negotiating money from target #30 ranked school?? Or should I mention 1 or 2.

Any help/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[blurbz]

How would I go about negotiating $$ from a #30 ranked school?

It is my first choice, and I have some leverage in the form of

-Full Scholarship from #23 ranked school.
-$84,000 scholarship from a peer school
-$54,000 fellowship from W & M
-A scholarship from a peer school that will bring tuition down to $6,000 a year


The school I want to negotiate $$ from hasn't awarded any scholarships just yet. I'm afraid that by the time they do award anything, my deadline to accept said scholarships will pass.

My question is, do I mention all of these awards when negotiating money from target #30 ranked school?? Or should I mention 1 or 2.

Any help/opinions would be greatly appreciated!

I would keep it nice and simple. Only mention the full scholarship from number 23. That's the one that will matter most, anyway. Tell them about that but make it clear that if they can help to eliminate some of your financial concerns, they are a top choice of yours.

[sarlis]

Congrats, OP!

[snowpeach06]

Basically, I got WL for FT at Brooklyn, but in for PT. I love the school, and would maybe considering going if I could get some money. I have a 161/3.2. This is over the 75% for LSAT (by 1 point though) and under the 25% for GPA (by .. Do you think there is any chance I could negotiate some money? I got about $15k/year from Case for FT.

[luckyjd]

Does anyone know of schools that have a strict "no negotiations" policy? That would be helpful to know before I go put myself out there.

Emory. Tried it last week.

[Padimud]

Well last night I started down the negotiation path with 2 schools. One has told me that they "would like to discuss" while the other has been shutting down everyone. I am interested to see how this will play out. I have a full tuition scholarship from a T30 and I am trying to use this offer to up offers at other regional T50 schools.

More to come on if/how it works out.

[eye]

Sent out negotiation emails to Boston University and The George Washington Law schools. Before I begin negotiating with my target schools, I decided to give these schools a shot and see what works/doesn't work.

I have a few scholarships from similar ranked schools, but I just mentioned the full ride from IU-Bloomington (rank 23) and attached it to the email.

I will update the results as soon as they come in.
PM me if you want a peek at the email I sent out..

[84Sunbird2000]

I'm interested in this as well, because my biggest bargaining chip is also a full ride to IUB. It's such an attractive offer that I really would have a hard time turning them down for a school that won't offer at least 1/2-3/4 or more if ranked somewhat above.

[AllBusiness]

Sent out negotiation emails to Boston University and The George Washington Law schools. Before I begin negotiating with my target schools, I decided to give these schools a shot and see what works/doesn't work.

I have a few scholarships from similar ranked schools, but I just mentioned the full ride from IU-Bloomington (rank 23) and attached it to the email.

I will update the results as soon as they come in.
PM me if you want a peek at the email I sent out..

So you sent emails to these schools? Not actual letters?

[eye]

So you sent emails to these schools? Not actual letters?

Letters take days to reach their destination. Deadlines to make a decision are fast approaching. So yes, I sent out emails.

[eye]

Dear eye,

Thank you for your email........private information.......

We will review your request and provide you with a response within the next couple weeks.

Sincerely,
BU

[AllBusiness]

Makes sense, eye. I was wondering because I think I will be doing the same today.

[pjog]

Similar question. I really want to go to Northeastern but the scholarship money they offered is a travesty. I've been accepted to way better schools, some with money, some without. Would it be appropriate and even acceptable to try and leverage those acceptances for more money? At the end of the day I will still be in debt, but I'd like to minimize it if it's at all possible.

[eye]

Makes sense, eye. I was wondering because I think I will be doing the same today.

I brewed myself a cup of coffee, allocated about 2 hours of the day to research the target schools and send out an inquiry.

[buffalo86]

I am considering negotiating for more scholarship money from my local public school. I have received considerably more money from a public school in a different state, but when I combine the residency discount with my scholarship offer at my local school, the local school will be cheaper. Do you think that it is a bad idea for me to use the out of state school's scholarship offer as a bargaining chip to get more money from my local school, even though the out of state school would be more expensive? If not, should I mention the possibility of me gaining resident status at the out of state school sometime during my time in law school in my argument. I will add that the out of state school is ranked in the low 20's while my local public school is ranked in the low 40's.

Thank you for your thoughts

[robin600]

OSU doesn't negotiate fwiw

[dp73816]

I firmly believe that ANY school will negotiate, in the right situation.

[buffalo86]

I just have a short negotiation letter right now. To give the letter some context, CU has given me a 5k/year scholarship and is my in state school. With residency discounts, CU would be cheaper than Indiana despite the latter's more generous scholarship offer. As such, I feel a little bit strange writing this additional merit aid request, but with a 3.6 and a 165 (first try) and 172 (second try) on the LSAT, I feel that I should get more from CU. Thanks to anyone that can give me any thoughts.


"I was thrilled to receive my acceptance letter and scholarship offer from CU Law, as I am a proud CU alum. Nonetheless, as April approaches, I have a difficult commitment decision to make between several different law schools, including the University of Indiana-Bloomington where I have been offered a $45,000 scholarship. Thus, I have contacted you to respectfully request consideration for additional merit aid to help me choose CU. I have a strong admissions profile, and I am confident that I will be a leader at CU in the classroom and in the community.

Thank you for taking the time to read and think about my request. Please let me know if you have any questions."

[snowpeach06]

I just have a short negotiation letter right now. To give the letter some context, CU has given me a 5k/year scholarship and is my in state school. With residency discounts, CU would be cheaper than Indiana despite the latter's more generous scholarship offer. As such, I feel a little bit strange writing this additional merit aid request, but with a 3.6 and a 165 (first try) and 172 (second try) on the LSAT, I feel that I should get more from CU. Thanks to anyone that can give me any thoughts.


"I was thrilled to receive my acceptance letter and scholarship offer from CU Law, as I am a proud CU alum. Nonetheless, as April approaches, I have a difficult commitment decision to make between several different law schools, including the University of Indiana-Bloomington where I have been offered a $45,000 scholarship. Thus, I have contacted you to respectfully request consideration for additional merit aid to help me choose CU. I have a strong admissions profile, and I am confident that I will be a leader at CU in the classroom and in the community.

Thank you for taking the time to read and think about my request. Please let me know if you have any questions."

I would just say if the scholarship is per year, or total.

[84Sunbird2000]

Negotiating does indeed work! Got an additional 4k per year from William and Mary!!! I FEEL POWERFUL!

Dean Shealy has been great so far in this process.

[Padimud]

Interestingly enough I failed on what was probably the same day as above at William and Mary. I know negotiating works (as it is working at other schools for me) but W & M is a hard egg to crack. I don't think the success rate is very high. I failed after speaking to her in person and getting the impression it was a a possibility.

However, elsewhere everyone seems to be open to having the conversation. It is all a numbers game and a commitment game. If you can commit to the school when stepping up to the negotiating table, then you have all the power (if they want you). If you can't commit, you are placing yourself at a disadvantage to negotiate as they will be receiving nothing in return of value to them from you.

So my advice, if you step up to a school and say these are the conditions under which I will attend (and include intent and commitment) you will know whether they will move on the offer. Otherwise go fish and keep dreaming!

[sarlis]

OSU negotiation fail.

[Hodgy]

Has anyone tried this with UTK Law? I would like to be able to get a little more $$ from them, but as an undergrad here I already know of the dreaded Big Orange Screw and slice of bureaucracy that comes with attending school here.

[erniesto]

I have successfully asked a school to up my scholarship twice.

Some things that worked for me:

1) Know exactly what you want.
Have a total debt figure in mind (85k over 3 years). Show your need for a scholarship that will make that figure work. Give them an amount, don't just say "I want more moneyz." This is a reasonable way to negotiate at a school who is offering scholarships. Don't ask a school to match another offer, ask them to give you enough to make your debt figure. It might be comparing apples to apples to you, but the admissions dept. likes to think otherwise.

2) Put leverage.
Show them the figures. Make it real easy for that scholarship committee to see where you're coming from with dollar amounts. Make a chart for your exact CoA and total debt. Show how other schools are already fitting your need and this one isn't. If you have no starting offers, then negotiating is going to get rough for you. You might have to try an all or nothing approach.

3) Don't take no for an answer.
I was told by all schools I asked that they did not increase initial scholarship amounts. My attitude towards this response? I'm asking anyways. One met my needs, another I had to tell to take a hike, I'm still waiting on one more.

4) Send in scholarship awards from other schools.
Don't bullshit around. If you have the cards, show them up front. This can't hurt you. In fact, it gives you credibility. The advice that it would make you seem douchy is laughable and amateurish.

5) Be assertive, Be polite, Be nice, Be reasonable.
No-brainer. A school might want you to go there, but it certainly don't have to help you out or meet any of your demands.

HTH

edit: Please don't ask for a copy of my letters, or for me to read over yours. I'm too busy playing video games and eating skittles.