Scholarship negotiation help... Forum

[kommatas]

I want to negotiate scholarship money from 2 schools that accepted me, however, I do not know the process that is required to do the negotiation.

So far all I know is that I can email the staff member who emailed me the scholarship information.

Does anyone have any successful letters they are willing to pm me with?

I really do not know how I should word it, if I should explain I have been accepted to other schools with scholarship money too, that the type of work I want plus large loans will be a financial disaster, etc. I am independent and have no money or assets, should I include my current financial situation?

Also, I am kind of worried if I do get my $ bumped up and get accepted to my #1, I would go to my first choice, I feel that might be kind of immoral, any thoughts about this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated..

[romothesavior]

I want to negotiate scholarship money from 2 schools that accepted me, however, I do not know the process that is required to do the negotiation.

So far all I know is that I can email the staff member who emailed me the scholarship information.

Does anyone have any successful letters they are willing to pm me with?

I really do not know how I should word it, if I should explain I have been accepted to other schools with scholarship money too, that the type of work I want plus large loans will be a financial disaster, etc. I am independent and have no money or assets, should I include my current financial situation?

Also, I am kind of worried if I do get my $ bumped up and get accepted to my #1, I would go to my first choice, I feel that might be kind of immoral, any thoughts about this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated..

I PM'd you the letter I used. I have had some success negotiating, so feel free to use my letter as a guide.

As far as any moral questions, there are no ethical dilemmas here. Schools charge INSANE rates to go to law school, and you have every right to try to get that price down. This is going to be one of the most important decisions in your entire life, especially financially, so you should approach the topic of scholarship negotiation vigorously. The worst they will do is say no to your request.

[stace83]

Hey Romo, do you mind PMing me that letter as well? I am in the same boat and it would be great to look at a successful example letter. Thanks

[kommatas]

I want to negotiate scholarship money from 2 schools that accepted me, however, I do not know the process that is required to do the negotiation.

So far all I know is that I can email the staff member who emailed me the scholarship information.

Does anyone have any successful letters they are willing to pm me with?

I really do not know how I should word it, if I should explain I have been accepted to other schools with scholarship money too, that the type of work I want plus large loans will be a financial disaster, etc. I am independent and have no money or assets, should I include my current financial situation?

Also, I am kind of worried if I do get my $ bumped up and get accepted to my #1, I would go to my first choice, I feel that might be kind of immoral, any thoughts about this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated..

I PM'd you the letter I used. I have had some success negotiating, so feel free to use my letter as a guide.

As far as any moral questions, there are no ethical dilemmas here. Schools charge INSANE rates to go to law school, and you have every right to try to get that price down. This is going to be one of the most important decisions in your entire life, especially financially, so you should approach the topic of scholarship negotiation vigorously. The worst they will do is say no to your request.

Thank you for the letter, it will really help me write mine. Also, I think you are right about having ethical dilemmas, if the tuition weren't so high I guess I wouldn't have to write the letter in the first place.

[djgoldbe]

I want to negotiate scholarship money from 2 schools that accepted me, however, I do not know the process that is required to do the negotiation.

So far all I know is that I can email the staff member who emailed me the scholarship information.

Does anyone have any successful letters they are willing to pm me with?

I really do not know how I should word it, if I should explain I have been accepted to other schools with scholarship money too, that the type of work I want plus large loans will be a financial disaster, etc. I am independent and have no money or assets, should I include my current financial situation?

Also, I am kind of worried if I do get my $ bumped up and get accepted to my #1, I would go to my first choice, I feel that might be kind of immoral, any thoughts about this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated..

I PM'd you the letter I used. I have had some success negotiating, so feel free to use my letter as a guide.

As far as any moral questions, there are no ethical dilemmas here. Schools charge INSANE rates to go to law school, and you have every right to try to get that price down. This is going to be one of the most important decisions in your entire life, especially financially, so you should approach the topic of scholarship negotiation vigorously. The worst they will do is say no to your request.

Romo, could you PM me that letter as well? Thanks =)

[M_F_F_L]

I want to negotiate scholarship money from 2 schools that accepted me, however, I do not know the process that is required to do the negotiation.

So far all I know is that I can email the staff member who emailed me the scholarship information.

Does anyone have any successful letters they are willing to pm me with?

I really do not know how I should word it, if I should explain I have been accepted to other schools with scholarship money too, that the type of work I want plus large loans will be a financial disaster, etc. I am independent and have no money or assets, should I include my current financial situation?

Also, I am kind of worried if I do get my $ bumped up and get accepted to my #1, I would go to my first choice, I feel that might be kind of immoral, any thoughts about this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated..

I PM'd you the letter I used. I have had some success negotiating, so feel free to use my letter as a guide.

As far as any moral questions, there are no ethical dilemmas here. Schools charge INSANE rates to go to law school, and you have every right to try to get that price down. This is going to be one of the most important decisions in your entire life, especially financially, so you should approach the topic of scholarship negotiation vigorously. The worst they will do is say no to your request.

Romo, could you PM me that letter as well? Thanks =)

+1

[Interminable_Waiting]

+1

[xeckosk8trx]

I hate to jump on the bandwagon, but can you send it to me as well?

Thanks so much!! I'm trying to increase my Scholarship at Case Western.

[thestoryends]

hay romo can i take a look too? or anybody else's for that matter.

[unknownscholar]

I want to negotiate scholarship money from 2 schools that accepted me, however, I do not know the process that is required to do the negotiation.

So far all I know is that I can email the staff member who emailed me the scholarship information.

Does anyone have any successful letters they are willing to pm me with?

I really do not know how I should word it, if I should explain I have been accepted to other schools with scholarship money too, that the type of work I want plus large loans will be a financial disaster, etc. I am independent and have no money or assets, should I include my current financial situation?

Also, I am kind of worried if I do get my $ bumped up and get accepted to my #1, I would go to my first choice, I feel that might be kind of immoral, any thoughts about this?

Any help will be greatly appreciated..

I PM'd you the letter I used. I have had some success negotiating, so feel free to use my letter as a guide.

As far as any moral questions, there are no ethical dilemmas here. Schools charge INSANE rates to go to law school, and you have every right to try to get that price down. This is going to be one of the most important decisions in your entire life, especially financially, so you should approach the topic of scholarship negotiation vigorously. The worst they will do is say no to your request.

Romo, could you PM me that letter as well? Thanks =)

+1

[dontknowwhereimgoin]

+1 for letter TIA

[mi-chan17]

Romo, or anyone else who has one, would you mind PMing me the email you used?

Thanks!

[raskolnikov32]

.

[tadams86]

+1 if you dont mind.

[climbintolaw]

Romo, I hope you feel appreciated. +1 please.

[djgoldbe]

Why not just post it here in the thread :p

[sunshinefairy]

Me too please =)

[romothesavior]

Haha wow! I never expected to get such a high number of requests for my letter! I'm no expert on negotiating aid, but I feel it is usually best to structure it as follows:
-Show your appreciation of their initial offer
-Tell them you love their school and they are among your top choices
-Explain your financial situation and other offers
-Ask them to reconsider your offer or match another offer

Again, I'm not trying to present myself as an expert (I'm only a OL), but this format has worked for me. For more information on negotiating aid from someone who truly is an expert, check out Church's excellent article. Many people have probably already seen it, but I found the one thing missing from it was a good example of how to structure a letter. Hence, I am posting my letter here as a guide. If you haven't seen it yet, check out the piece:
http://www.top-law-schools.com/forums/v ... 22&t=79373

I've had success with one school so far and had another school tell me they will consider an increase once their deposit deadline passes. So I'm optimistic. Again, I'm no expert on negotiating aid, but feel free to use my letter as a guide. I think the letter is far less important than your numbers, but you do want to make sure you phrase it properly and don't come off as too weak or too arrogant.

My one nugget of advice would be to try to give them a "face" to the name/LSAC number. In other words, if you go to an ASD or a visit to a school, try to talk to someone there about your financial situation and merit aid. They may tell you to email them to explain your situation, but at least they will remember you and it will increase your odds of success. Obviously this strategy can't work for everyone, since it is hard to attend all ASDs and track down admissions people. Nonetheless, I think this strategy helped in getting an increase.

Without further ado, my letter (with school names and personal information retracted). Good luck to everyone!

To the XXXX Admissions Committee,
My name is romothesavior and I am an admitted student for next fall's class. I was thrilled to have been recently awarded a $75,000 XXXX award. Your school has been among my top choices throughout the entire application process, and this scholarship has made XXX an even more attractive option.

Even with your generous offer, I remain extremely debt averse. I have received a full tution scholarship offer at the University of YYYY, which amounts to approximately $100,000. After factoring in the scholarships, I have estimated that the cost of attending XXXX could be almost $50,000 more than the University of YYYY. In addition, I have received a $60,000 scholarship from ZZZZ and an acceptance from AAAA. These great offers have made my decision a difficult one. All things being equal, I consider XXXX to be my top choice, but the state of the legal market makes it difficult to reconcile taking out such a significant debt load.

I am writing to inquire if XXXX would be willing to match the offer given to me by YYYY. Even a modest increase would be a major factor in my decision to matriculate in the fall. I have loved XXXX since I visited last fall, and I sincerely hope to be a member of the class of 2013.

Once again, I am very appreciative of your initial offer and I thank you for your consideration. I look forward to meeting your staff at the Admitted Students Day.

Sincerely,
romothesavior

[bettielocke]

tag

[ccs224]

Hey Romo, do you mind PMing me that letter as well? I am in the same boat and it would be great to look at a successful example letter. Thanks

+1

[romothesavior]

Hey Romo, do you mind PMing me that letter as well? I am in the same boat and it would be great to look at a successful example letter. Thanks

+1

See above. I posted the letter.

[ccs224]

Hey Romo, do you mind PMing me that letter as well? I am in the same boat and it would be great to look at a successful example letter. Thanks

+1

See above. I posted the letter.

Yeah, I saw that after I bothered scrolling through the rest of the posts. D'oh.

[democrattotheend]

Hey Romo, do you mind PMing me that letter as well? I am in the same boat and it would be great to look at a successful example letter. Thanks

Same here. Can you PM me too?

[eleemosynary]

Romo, did you mail the letter or email it?

[kaydish21]

Very helpful, TY ROMO.