Negotiating scholarships works!!!!! Forum

[kaitlyn1777]

I'm just a really bad test taker… I don't want to take the LSAT again. Thanks for your support and encouragement though!

Think I can negotiate with FSU?

[Winston1984]

I'm just a really bad test taker… I don't want to take the LSAT again. Thanks for your support and encouragement though!

Think I can negotiate with FSU?

Good thing law school grades are based on participation and homework..

[omzster67]

I'm just a really bad test taker… I don't want to take the LSAT again. Thanks for your support and encouragement though!

Think I can negotiate with FSU?

Good thing law school grades are based on participation and homework..

And the award for best passive aggressive comment goes to....

[Serett]

I'm just a really bad test taker… I don't want to take the LSAT again. Thanks for your support and encouragement though!

Think I can negotiate with FSU?

Good thing law school grades are based on participation and homework..

And the award for best passive aggressive comment goes to....

Maybe if someone had finished his/her post, we'd know.

Edit: I was just trying to compete for the award.

[Winston1984]

I'm just a really bad test taker… I don't want to take the LSAT again. Thanks for your support and encouragement though!

Think I can negotiate with FSU?

Good thing law school grades are based on participation and homework..

And the award for best passive aggressive comment goes to....

You are right, I did sound like a dick. It is just frustrating hearing someone use that logic. Sorry OP, but you really should retake. Even 2 more points could mean a full ride at FSU.

[kaitlyn1777]

+1

[omzster67]

Well I agree you did sound like a dick… Agreed on that. But that's okay. I did retake and had severe test anxiety. Obviously, with a 4.0 I am good at taking tests, so let me rephrase.. I am not a good standardized test taker and am not retaking the LSAT a third time. Thanks for your concern, but perhaps we could return to the question at hand.

^this.

I'm in the same boat as you. I've been advised on here to retake the test but I'm not putting myself through that again, deadline is tomorrow anyways.

Back to your question, I don't have experience at negotiating scholarships yet but I'd wait to see where else you get in to add some leverage. What schools are you still waiting on?

[kaitlyn1777]

Thanks!!

I applied early in the fall, so I've heard back from all of them and accepted to all except Vandy where I was wait listed. William & Mary and FSU are the only ones I've heard back on for scholarships. What about you??

[omzster67]

Thanks!!

I applied early in the fall, so I've heard back from all of them and accepted to all except Vandy where I was wait listed. William & Mary and FSU are the only ones I've heard back on for scholarships. What about you??

Well then you're in a different situation than I was thinking on.

If you were practicing at a much higher score..let's say 166+ I would sign up now and retake in February or June. If you do worse on the test the schools you've been accepted to won't retract their offer...at least I wouldn't think so. And since you're not waiting on other schools then it won't hurt pending applications.

Otherwise just use the normal strategies. Play the two schools off each other. Just based on rankings alone you should be getting a much bigger scholarship at FSU than W&M. just stress to them it's a school you really want to go with specific reasons and the fact that you're above the median LSAT and your gpa.

[kaitlyn1777]

Thanks!!

I applied early in the fall, so I've heard back from all of them and accepted to all except Vandy where I was wait listed. William & Mary and FSU are the only ones I've heard back on for scholarships. What about you??

Well then you're in a different situation than I was thinking on.

If you were practicing at a much higher score..let's say 166+ I would sign up now and retake in February or June. If you do worse on the test the schools you've been accepted to won't retract their offer...at least I wouldn't think so. And since you're not waiting on other schools then it won't hurt pending applications.

Otherwise just use the normal strategies. Play the two schools off each other. Just based on rankings alone you should be getting a much bigger scholarship at FSU than W&M. just stress to them it's a school you really want to go with specific reasons and the fact that you're above the median LSAT and your gpa.

Good point on the LSAT…

I have been reading posts and no one is negotiating in person. I have a face to face meeting with a dean to discuss scholarships and am wondering if that was a bad decision. I definitely don't want to come across as being ungrateful for what they've already given me. It's usually much easier to negotiate on paper rather than in person right?

Do you think being accepted to more highly ranked schools (even if they haven't given scholarship offers yet) is a bargaining tool??

[buddyt]

Just so we're clear, when you say you don't want to "put yourself through that again," you are saying that you are OK with giving up literally tens of thousands of dollars for just tens of hours of work. You'll never again in your life have an opportunity to "make" the kind of hourly rate you can by studying for the LSAT, retaking, and getting significantly more scholarship money.

I don't think face to face meetings with deans are better than sending an email with respect to scholarship negotiating. I basically doubled my half scholly to nearly full simply by a few aggressive-but-polite emails.

[Attax]

Let the negotiations begin! Will report how it goes in respective threads.

[bigfeature]

.

[Attax]

When you negotiate.. Is it better to email the dean of admission or the director of financial office?
In a lot of schools, these two are different people. I'd like to know which one works better.

I started with financial aid. I figured if they weren't appropriate they would let me know/forward it on. Money matters, IMO, go through financial aid.

[aldiddy]

When you negotiate.. Is it better to email the dean of admission or the director of financial office?
In a lot of schools, these two are different people. I'd like to know which one works better.

I would also like to know this.

[sublime]

..

[lawschool22]

When you negotiate.. Is it better to email the dean of admission or the director of financial office?
In a lot of schools, these two are different people. I'd like to know which one works better.

I would also like to know this.

IME it doesn't matter, it will get to the right place.

Yeah, and a lot of schools will tell you where to direct your financial aid inquiries.

[Attax]

Yeah, and a lot of schools will tell you where to direct your financial aid inquiries.

This, Baylor just told me to contact the admissions people.

[SailorMoon9543]

Is it too early to negotiate??? I just turned in my FASFA info today. I haven't received any info about merit aid from my number one school (I'm assuming they aren't going to offer me any without negotiating because I'm right at their medians). I have been offered $20,000 per year at schools that are ranked mid 70's...(my number one is mid 40's). When is the best time to send the e-mail?

[lawschool22]

Is it too early to negotiate??? I just turned in my FASFA info today. I haven't received any info about merit aid from my number one school (I'm assuming they aren't going to offer me any without negotiating because I'm right at their medians). I have been offered $20,000 per year at schools that are ranked mid 70's...(my number one is mid 40's). When is the best time to send the e-mail?

I would wait until you have all of your offers before you start, so you know exactly where you stand. But also I doubt there would be much harm in negotiating among the others. I'm assuming your first choice is the highest ranked and probably wouldn't be swayed by offers from your other choices anyway, unless they end up being pretty sizable.

[SailorMoon9543]

Is it too early to negotiate??? I just turned in my FASFA info today. I haven't received any info about merit aid from my number one school (I'm assuming they aren't going to offer me any without negotiating because I'm right at their medians). I have been offered $20,000 per year at schools that are ranked mid 70's...(my number one is mid 40's). When is the best time to send the e-mail?

I would wait until you have all of your offers before you start, so you know exactly where you stand. But also I doubt there would be much harm in negotiating among the others. I'm assuming your first choice is the highest ranked and probably wouldn't be swayed by offers from your other choices anyway, unless they end up being pretty sizable.

But is early February too early? I don't want $$$ to run out... when is the best time to ask?

[kdot]

What's the general consensus on showing a school multiple offers to negotiate? It seems reasonable to show different caliber offers (i.e. slightly more $$$ from a similar school & significantly more $$$ from a weaker school), but will it help to show multiple offers of the same caliber?

It seems like saying you received offers of 30k from school x, 28k from school y, and 32k from school z may not be the best course of action.

From a practical standpoint, does it make more sense to use one offer at a time and "work your way up" to the most desirable school?

Anyone have any experience? I applied to a bunch of schools and am beginning to receive offers.Trying to figure out the best strategy to negotiate.

[guano]

What's the general consensus on showing a school multiple offers to negotiate? It seems reasonable to show different caliber offers (i.e. slightly more $$$ from a similar school & significantly more $$$ from a weaker school), but will it help to show multiple offers of the same caliber?

It seems like saying you received offers of 30k from school x, 28k, from school y, and 32k from school z may not be the best course of action.

From a practical standpoint, does it make more sense to use one offer at a time and "work your way up" to the most desirable school?

Anyone have any experience? I applied to a bunch of schools and am beginning to receive offers.Trying to figure out the best strategy to negotiate.

I'd say wait until asked. Otherwise you're just setting a cap on how much they'll offer.
If you say "I got X from a peer school", they know they just need to match, or barely beat X.
If you say that you got scholarships at a peer school (or better) then they'll have to make an offer and hope it's good enough. If it's less than X, you can then go back and ask them to match it (or try to beat it)

[kdot]

I'd say wait until asked. Otherwise you're just setting a cap on how much they'll offer.
If you say "I got X from a peer school", they know they just need to match, or barely beat X.
If you say that you got scholarships at a peer school (or better) then they'll have to make an offer and hope it's good enough. If it's less than X, you can then go back and ask them to match it (or try to beat it)

Thanks for your response. I have to admit: I've been lurking through TLS for a while and hadn't really considered that option. All of the examples I've seen have stated dollar amounts.

Do you think that it makes sense to say (assuming they are all peer schools), "I received scholarships from schools W,X,Y, and Z"? Or just cite one school?

I guess I am trying to figure out if the presence of multiple scholarships would make a school more likely to negotiate.

[lawschool22]

I'd say wait until asked. Otherwise you're just setting a cap on how much they'll offer.
If you say "I got X from a peer school", they know they just need to match, or barely beat X.
If you say that you got scholarships at a peer school (or better) then they'll have to make an offer and hope it's good enough. If it's less than X, you can then go back and ask them to match it (or try to beat it)

Thanks for your response. I have to admit: I've been lurking through TLS for a while and hadn't really considered that option. All of the examples I've seen have stated dollar amounts.

Do you think that it makes sense to say (assuming they are all peer schools), "I received scholarships from schools W,X,Y, and Z"? Or just cite one school?

I guess I am trying to figure out if the presence of multiple scholarships would make a school more likely to negotiate.

Use dollar amounts if you want, but if you do, just say "$XX" is what I would need to make X School financially feasible for me. And that number should be highre than the other schools' offers.

But I would refrain from dollar amounts unless they specifically ask. It's the first rule in negotiation, give away as little information about your position as possible. They may offer you more than you even request, but if you request a certain amount, they will never exceed that.