Negotiating scholarships works!!!!! Forum

[thelaststraw05]

Quick question:

Is it poor form to try to winkle more money out of a school that has offered a full tuition scholarship? Books and living expenses are high, and I would rather not have to take out an assload of loans to cover them. A living/book stipend would be marvelous!

I would guess... yes. Asking for them not only to give you a free education, but to pay you to attend their school might be a little over the top.

You might be able to do it in good taste by asking about the availability of fellowships.

[uwgbluedevil]

I would also appreciate some advice if you dont mine PM'ing

[eaa1537]

i would also appreciate any advice pleaseeee

[Jeffro]

Just in December I was able to get an increase from $15000 to $20000/year from a school. I am above 75% LSAT, well below 25% GPA.

I mentioned my outstanding undergrad debt, acceptances from 2 higher schools (including an offer for less money from one of them), and desire to go to said school. Keep in mind, I had already RSVPed to an ASW at this point so they did have some measure of my dedication to attending. A few days following my email request I received an email response notifying me of the increase.

[absolutazn87]

I'm in the process of trying to decide between Penn and Michigan. Michigan recently offered me a Dean's Scholarship which I'd like to send to Penn to try to get merit aid. Based on LSN, it doesn't look like those with my numbers typically get money from Penn so I'm really counting on offers from peer schools to give me a boost.

When do you guys think I should send them this info?

I feel like if I send it now, I may lose my only bargaining chip but if I wait until they send out offers and I get nothing, I may be in a worse position of trying to negotiate from nothing or too much money may have already been allocated to others. What do you think?

reposted from the general admissions forum

[nelaw2010]

This thread is one of the most helpful this cycle. Using the advice I got here I was able to negotiate an additional $34K from a reach school! Now they are covering most of the tuition. I'd say the things that worked in my favor are:

1. I had a slightly higher $ offer from the school's top competitor in the region.
2. I had a significantly higher $ offer from T20 ranked over 20 places higher and an even higher $ offer from another regional school ranked lower.
3. I genuinely needed the money, and this was my top choice.

To add my two cents on advice: Most schools won't negotiate if you come off to cocky, or if they don't believe that you are seriously considering attending. I told this school that they were one of my top choices and that the COA is the major factor that would prevent me from attending.

It also helps to actually need additional aid, and be able to prove that you need it if necessary. In my case I mentioned that I didn't believe that I'd be approved for grad plus or private loans (this is largely because of adverse credit). The schools already had my FAFSA so they were able to see my need (i.e. the EFC).

THIS^^^^^

[gbpackerbacker]

I would also appreciate some advice if you dont mine PM'ing

me too please!

[Woods, Elle]

Tagging! Definitely going to make a phone call soon to my top choice. I'm going, but they are offering me about 1/2 of some others, so it'd be nice to see if I could get more. I'm at their median LSAT and a little above their 25% GPA I think.

[bk1]

Quick question:

Is it poor form to try to winkle more money out of a school that has offered a full tuition scholarship? Books and living expenses are high, and I would rather not have to take out an assload of loans to cover them. A living/book stipend would be marvelous!

I really don't think it is out of the realm to ask. Maybe just say that their estimated CoA is much larger than simply their tuition and try to negotiate for a stipend to cover that.

Also, it isn't like offering stipends is an uncommon practice.

[gokickrocks]

tagged for later

[conroyc]

Love the advice on this thread and will definitely be implementing it a bit later in the cycle... But I do have one question: who do we contact about negotiating scholarships? Dean of admissions? Financial aid? Thanks!

[northwood]

IM going to be contacting the admissions department, but not until next week. I want to make sure I have given the email message enough thought, and wait until my fasfa has been processed. Once I finish typing out my request, ill be able to pm it to ppl- but that wont be until next mondayish.

to be honest, right now, i have been contacting professors at the school and getting more information about hte program, and how it relates to my goals and interests. Ive had some fantastic conversations, but i dont want the entire thing to come off as being insecure. The conversations have been really helpful in helping me narrow down the list to 3 schools. But i wont be committing one way or another until march 1st.

[CrimLaw300]

Anyone know if schools are ever willing to negotiate the stipulations of a scholarship?

[biggie]

I'm in the process of trying to decide between Penn and Michigan. Michigan recently offered me a Dean's Scholarship which I'd like to send to Penn to try to get merit aid. Based on LSN, it doesn't look like those with my numbers typically get money from Penn so I'm really counting on offers from peer schools to give me a boost.

When do you guys think I should send them this info?

I feel like if I send it now, I may lose my only bargaining chip but if I wait until they send out offers and I get nothing, I may be in a worse position of trying to negotiate from nothing or too much money may have already been allocated to others. What do you think?

reposted from the general admissions forum

last year my friend got into penn (she applied later in the cycle) and they asked her if she had received any scholarship offers (she got a deans scholarship at michigan) and they matched it. I think her stats were 170/3.8

So I'd definitely give it a shot!!

[lawschool12345]

how possible is it to get money from a school that did not offer you scholarship at first if you have other offers and a high senior year gpa

[Law Sauce]

if you have other offers it is worth a shot, the worst case scenario is a "no"

[uwgbluedevil]

Has anyone ever heard of them rescinding a scholarship after someone asked for the possibility of receiving more?

[ItsMyTimeBoston]

Has anyone ever heard of them rescinding a scholarship after someone asked for the possibility of receiving more?

No

[ItsMyTimeBoston]

Anyone know if schools are ever willing to negotiate the stipulations of a scholarship?

I'm sure some are, although it's probably on a case-by-case basis.

[SwampRat88]

.

[ItsMyTimeBoston]

Need urgent help regarding current scholarship negotiations:

Drake has offered me 17,500/year off 31,980.
Louisville has offered me 8K/year off 30,140.

I have a 159 LSAT/3.57 GPA, and have been accepted into the higher-ranked U. of Kentucky and Case Western (neither has released scholarship information yet)

Louisville is my first choice, and they said they are willing to negotiate the 8k scholarship. They want to know what amount I believe to be "reasonable and competitive" given said information.

Best course of action, anyone?

You should keep a couple of things in mind:

1. Drake and Louisville are both tier 3, so Louisville should match the 17,500.

2. Based on your acceptances to Case and UK alone, Louisville should up the scholarship.

I would start the negotiation based on Drake, then if you are offered money by Case or UK later you can use that as further leverage.

[SwampRat88]

.

[ItsMyTimeBoston]

Need urgent help regarding current scholarship negotiations:

Drake has offered me 17,500/year off 31,980.
Louisville has offered me 8K/year off 30,140.

I have a 159 LSAT/3.57 GPA, and have been accepted into the higher-ranked U. of Kentucky and Case Western (neither has released scholarship information yet)

Louisville is my first choice, and they said they are willing to negotiate the 8k scholarship. They want to know what amount I believe to be "reasonable and competitive" given said information.

Best course of action, anyone?

You should keep a couple of things in mind:

1. Drake and Louisville are both tier 3, so Louisville should match the 17,500.

2. Based on your acceptances to Case and UK alone, Louisville should up the scholarship.

I would start the negotiation based on Drake, then if you are offered money by Case or UK later you can use that as further leverage.

In my response asking them to match Drake, would it be pertinent to mention they are both tier-3's, or is that stating the obvious?

I wouldn't do that. I would, perhaps, state that you have a more than 1/2 scholarship from a peer institution/law school.

That said, you said that Louisville wants you to throw a number out there? You're LSAT is at their 75% and you have acceptances from higher ranked schools. I would aim for a 3/4 scholarship. Start with your money from Drake and if you get push-back, then through in the higher ranked options.

You could also start just by mentioning the Drake money, see how they react and move on from there.

[northwood]

Need urgent help regarding current scholarship negotiations:

Drake has offered me 17,500/year off 31,980.
Louisville has offered me 8K/year off 30,140.

I have a 159 LSAT/3.57 GPA, and have been accepted into the higher-ranked U. of Kentucky and Case Western (neither has released scholarship information yet)

Louisville is my first choice, and they said they are willing to negotiate the 8k scholarship. They want to know what amount I believe to be "reasonable and competitive" given said information.

Best course of action, anyone?

When did you hear about the Louisville scholarship? I just got the acceptance email, but no mention of scholarship.

[applicant135]

who do you call or email regarding negotiating scholarships?