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What is the best way to negotiate for a higher scholarship at your current school in lieu of transferring? Do you have to have acceptances from higher ranked schools, or can you ask before even going through the process of transfer applications? Also, who do you ask? Dean of students?

Thank you and any other advice would be appreciated.

bump, anyone?

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Exactly what brotherdarkness said. My experience was similar: acceptance in hand then negotiated with the Deans. When they didn't quite come up with enough that I had determined would keep me around, I said thanks, but no thanks.

Thank you brother for your thorough answer. I was hoping there was a way I could negotiate for a higher scholarship without actually going through all the transfer process, I am very happy at my current school but would of course like a higher scholarship if possible.

Do you think it would burn bridges going through the transfer process when I don't plan on doing it?

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Interestingly enough, I had gotten different information (from the same school as brother), that an acceptance from another school would not improve outcomes of scholarship reconsideration (though this information may not have been reflective of the process). It seems that the effect of an offer-in-hand from another school varies significantly depending on the school in question.

As a general rule, I'd think having an offer would better your chances because of the leverage you have. It's conceivable, though, that a school would choose to disconnect the offer from additional scholarship moneyto avoid incentivizing students applying to other schools for leverage purposes who have no intention to transfer.

brotherdarkness wrote:No matter what, though, you'll need an acceptance in hand if you want to have any real bargaining power.

This is how raises work for professors, so it's how schools know how to do business. If you get a job offer, you go see if they will match/beat it.

Perhaps someone, somewhere, has managed to renegotiate a scholarship without having an acceptance to a "better" law school in hand, but I doubt it. If you don't have an out, you have zero leverage.

Brother, someone in our class has done this, so I doubt it is so anomalous as you suggest.

Brother's experiences were very similar to my own. I had to be a bit more proactive in discussing the situation with the Dean, and they were less willing to budge, but so it goes. I transferred out and know it was the best decision.

Go through the process, but it is hard to know what your school may do. Some will throw tons of money at you to stay, and others won't, no matter what. You can try and figure out what your school has done in the past, but it's probably going to be difficult. So throw the dice and see what happens.

I'm transferring applying to transfer from a T2 to a T14, I got a 4.0/4.0 (est. top 1%) first semester. The professor I'm closest with actually asked me if I wanted to transfer, and that he'd write me a letter. He gave me insight into students who had done this in the past.

My school is ranked in the 80s. He had a student last year (spring 2013) with a 3.7 (top 5%) get accepted into GULC EA, and was able to renegotiate a full-ride scholarship with his current school. He was then accepted into UPenn and chose to go there instead of staying on a full ride or GULC.

So it's definitely possible to get a reconsideration with an acceptance in hand.

Is there any chance of getting $$ at your current school if they did not offer any to begin with? I've got an acceptance elsewhere already.