What are Good Schools to Leverage for Scholarships? Forum

[luckyirish13]

Does anyone have info about schools we should apply to that have a tendency of offering high scholarship $$$$ while still ranking high enough to look solid? Or suggestions on schools that we should apply to for the purpose of leveraging our ideal schools for scholarship opportunities?

I.E, perhaps we don't intend to go to Arizona State, but they offer you a full ride, which you could then use to ask for more scholarship from your ideal school. Are there good schools to apply to for the purpose of leverage with your ideal schools? (and maybe even go to as a backup option if they make you an offer you can't refuse)

[cavalier1138]

It entirely depends on which school you're negotiating with. Let's say Arizona State gives huge scholarships. That's not likely to sway admissions officers at BU.

T14 schools negotiate with other T14 offers (usually within their own perceived "strata" of the T14). Non-T14 schools negotiate with T14 offers or schools they see as regional peers. Applying to a school solely for potential scholarship money is silly if you have no desire to work in that school's region.

[luckyirish13]

That makes sense, so it's regionally based. I will most likely be applying to Notre Dame and Northwestern. So for regional purposes, WUSL, Minnesota, Iowa, and Indiana are probably good bets.

Are there any schools that tend to be outliers? Ones who have good UNSWR rankings but tend to offer scholarships that are higher than their similarly rated counterparts?

[Future Ex-Engineer]

That makes sense, so it's regionally based. I will most likely be applying to Notre Dame and Northwestern. So for regional purposes, WUSL, Minnesota, Iowa, and Indiana are probably good bets.

Are there any schools that tend to be outliers? Ones who have good UNSWR rankings but tend to offer scholarships that are higher than their similarly rated counterparts?

Well I mean WUSTL offers significantly higher scholarships (pretty regularly) than most of the other schools in the 15-25 range, and everyone knows this, so I don't know how useful an offer from them is for negotiating.