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dopedoer wrote:So, I've read through most of latter parts of this thread and have now twice attempted to ask for an increase to my modest scholarship. Twice, I've received the following stock reply:

Dear Dopedoer,

We have reviewed your inquiry regarding the possibility of increasing your scholarship at . Unfortunately, we regret that we are not able to increase your scholarship at this time. Despite this, we very much hope that you will choose to enroll at Dopesick Law.

If you have any questions about the Law School, please call the Admissions Office at 800-555-5555 or email us at law.admit@dopesick.edu.

Sincerely,
The Admissions and Financial Aid Team

After taking the time to craft a thoughtful request and sincerely laying out my various options and priorities, getting this formulaic blow-off feels a bit insulting. Any insight on an appropriate response is appreciated.

Also, the second deposit deadline is on Monday, June 1. Is there any hope trying again after then or will I have lost all leverage at that point?

FYI you left the school name in there once.

I would try again - why not? You have literally nothing to lose.

Hah, thanks. It's been a long morning. And yeah, you're right. Nothing to lose. I'm just interested to hear how similar efforts played out and, generally, advice on how to respond to these rejections, or if even to acknowledge them.

I was wondering if being at the anticipated LSAT median for a prospective law school gives you decent scholarship leverage late in the cycle (ie in the coming month before submitting a 2nd deposit)?

Or if I would have to be above the median by a point or more?

Polymorphic wrote:I was wondering if being at the anticipated LSAT median for a prospective law school gives you decent scholarship leverage late in the cycle (ie in the coming month before submitting a 2nd deposit)?

Or if I would have to be above the median by a point or more?

If you've already been accepted and you have a new LSAT score, TCR is to send them an email informing them of this change and asking if they could reconsider their offer in light of the new development. Then you mention that if they cannot, you may need to consider applying again next cycle with this new score.

What if you haven't retaken the LSAT? This is the original score you applied and got accepted with.

I was just wondering if having my LSAT score at last years median (and I'm guessing it will be this years median as well), will give me leverage to further negotiate my scholarship?

Or would a school like USC just be able to easily pull someone off of their waitlist to replace me?

Polymorphic wrote:What if you haven't retaken the LSAT? This is the original score you applied and got accepted with.

I was just wondering if having my LSAT score at last years median (and I'm guessing it will be this years median as well), will give me leverage to further negotiate my scholarship?

Or would a school like USC just be able to easily pull someone off of their waitlist to replace me?

What?

Your current LSAT got you your acceptance to the school and initial offer for scholarships. After that, they either increased because of your leverage from peer schools OR because they needed to fill seats with qualified students. Simply sending them an email saying "hey, I'm at your median, please give me more money" would be an absolute waste. You can only negotiate with leverage, which at this point in the cycle might be a WL Acceptance or you threaten to withdraw and reapply.

MurdockLLP wrote:

Polymorphic wrote:What if you haven't retaken the LSAT? This is the original score you applied and got accepted with.

I was just wondering if having my LSAT score at last years median (and I'm guessing it will be this years median as well), will give me leverage to further negotiate my scholarship?

Or would a school like USC just be able to easily pull someone off of their waitlist to replace me?

What?

Your current LSAT got you your acceptance to the school and initial offer for scholarships. After that, they either increased because of your leverage from peer schools OR because they needed to fill seats with qualified students. Simply sending them an email saying "hey, I'm at your median, please give me more money" would be an absolute waste. You can only negotiate with leverage, which at this point in the cycle might be a WL Acceptance or you threaten to withdraw and reapply.

Yeah obviously I wasn't just gonna say "hey I'm at your median so give me more money!". The plan was to threaten to withdraw and reapply.

I was just wondering how much weight they would give that threat/possibility given my 166 LSAT. Or if they wouldn't be worried about their median dropping because they could just easily replace me with someone from the waitlist with a 166 LSAT or higher.

.

Polymorphic wrote:Also, would an acceptance off of the waitlist to a t-6 like Columbia or NYU be really good leverage to increase my scholarship award?

Or would I have to have been offered decent scholly money from the t-6 school?

I also wonder how likely it is to get scholarship money from said t-6 school off of their waitlist (with LSAT and GPA numbers below their 25%)?

Yes, an acceptance off a waitlist is good leverage; anytime the school is at risk of losing you (whether to another school or another cycle) you have leverage. Obviously, money off a waitlist is better leverage, but you will have leverage nonetheless. As for the 166, we would need to know what school you're considering. If there are people on their waitlist with 166s as well, then they would be losing less; if its all 162s, then obviously you're a much greater commodity.

I'm considering USC.

I'm on the waitlist at WUSTL and Columbia.

Polymorphic wrote:I'm considering USC.

I'm on the waitlist at WUSTL and Columbia.

You're on the waitlist at both WUSTL and Columbia?

RareExports wrote:

Polymorphic wrote:I'm considering USC.

I'm on the waitlist at WUSTL and Columbia.

You're on the waitlist at both WUSTL and Columbia?

Yes...

RareExports wrote:

Polymorphic wrote:I'm considering USC.

I'm on the waitlist at WUSTL and Columbia.

You're on the waitlist at both WUSTL and Columbia?

I'm guessing WUSTL put me on the waitlist for yield protect reasons.

.

Hikkomorist wrote:

Polymorphic wrote:

RareExports wrote:

Polymorphic wrote:I'm considering USC.

I'm on the waitlist at WUSTL and Columbia.

You're on the waitlist at both WUSTL and Columbia?

I'm guessing WUSTL put me on the waitlist for yield protect reasons.

Reverse-splitter?

No I'm not actually.

My gpa is just under last years median and my LSAT is at last years median.
I had a phone interview with them a while back and I think I didn't make it seem like I had any real compelling reason/ties to the school and city.
Thus, I think they might have the impression that I applied just to apply or for scholarship leverage.

NEED HELP!

Was offered $10,000/yr from the school I want to go to. Before the deposit deadline I leveraged other offers to get a $5,000/yr bump, so now I have $15,000/year. This is at a school with $48k/yr tuition. I sent in my SIR. Recently I basically threatened not to matriculate unless I got more money. They said they couldn't match the other offers I was provided (which were basically full rides), but would be willing to find a reasonable sum for both of us so I would matriculate. They asked me how much it would take to get me to matriculate. Not sure how much to ask for!!!

Should I ask for a lot and assume they will try to negotiate back with a lower offer? Should I ask for a small increase to ensure that I get it? I'm just not sure whether this will be a "yes or no" type situation or a "back and forth" type situation. Ideally I'd love as much money as I can get, but realistically I would like to get $24,000/year which would be a $10,000/year increase. Is that reasonable? Worried about coming across as too greedy/pushy since I already got one scholly bump from them.

Drowninmyowntears wrote:NEED HELP!

Was offered $10,000/yr from the school I want to go to. Before the deposit deadline I leveraged other offers to get a $5,000/yr bump, so now I have $15,000/year. This is at a school with $48k/yr tuition. I sent in my SIR. Recently I basically threatened not to matriculate unless I got more money. They said they couldn't match the other offers I was provided (which were basically full rides), but would be willing to find a reasonable sum for both of us so I would matriculate. They asked me how much it would take to get me to matriculate. Not sure how much to ask for!!!

Should I ask for a lot and assume they will try to negotiate back with a lower offer? Should I ask for a small increase to ensure that I get it? I'm just not sure whether this will be a "yes or no" type situation or a "back and forth" type situation. Ideally I'd love as much money as I can get, but realistically I would like to get $24,000/year which would be a $10,000/year increase. Is that reasonable? Worried about coming across as too greedy/pushy since I already got one scholly bump from them.

I'd ask for more than you want (maybe $30k/year) and expect them to come back with less. Don't worry too much about sounding pushy as long as you ask politely. They've already told you they'll offer you more, you're in a good position. Good luck!

Successfully negotiated a bump from full tuition to full tuition + large stipend, about a month after the second seat deposit. Got off the waitlist at a higher ranked school with a little money and it worked perfectly as a bargaining chip. Keep pushing for that $$$, people!

Sorry to bump but when is the best time to start negotiating scholarships? Late February/early March?

pleadthafif wrote:Sorry to bump but when is the best time to start negotiating scholarships? Late February/early March?

I was under the impression that people will begin withdrawing in March, throwing money back into the collective pot. Schools will begin redistributing this money to students who want their scholarships reconsidered.

I'm thinking March is the best time to negotiate, but hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.

cc1012 wrote:

pleadthafif wrote:Sorry to bump but when is the best time to start negotiating scholarships? Late February/early March?

I was under the impression that people will begin withdrawing in March, throwing money back into the collective pot. Schools will begin redistributing this money to students who want their scholarships reconsidered.

I'm thinking March is the best time to negotiate, but hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.

that makes complete sense, but I would like to hear from someone who has some experience as well

cc1012 wrote:

pleadthafif wrote:Sorry to bump but when is the best time to start negotiating scholarships? Late February/early March?

I was under the impression that people will begin withdrawing in March, throwing money back into the collective pot. Schools will begin redistributing this money to students who want their scholarships reconsidered.

I'm thinking March is the best time to negotiate, but hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.

I was told by an admissions officer when I casually asked her about upping my school that i can email the financial aid office now but they probably would get to it around march so sounds like you're right

Where is the best place to send an email asking for a scholarship increase? I've heard multiple different answers. Should I send it to the general admissions email, general financial aid email, or a specific email within one of those two departments?

rdb wrote:Where is the best place to send an email asking for a scholarship increase? I've heard multiple different answers. Should I send it to the general admissions email, general financial aid email, or a specific email within one of those two departments?

I'd send an email to the general admissions asking who you should talk to regarding scholarship information.

I emailed my specific admissions counselor, but that's because I had already been told who that person was after being admitted.