Roberrrrto wrote:Hi there,
I was admitted a few weeks ago and received a small scholarship offer. Has anyone tried negotiating a better offer? I tried (while FSU was my only admit) and was told it was not possible now but may be later in the cycle and they would contact me.
I now have a $45,000 scholarship offer from a peer school out of state so I am wondering if I should try again using that scholarship as leverage. I'd really like to go to FSU but am very averse to taking on any more debt.
Any thoughts?
Think about this from the standpoint of the school. They don't have an unlimited amount of scholarship money. It's their most valuable asset in terms of attracting strong candidates. They will get tons of applications throughout the month and into 2014. They won't negotiate scholarships at this point because they need to make sure they'll have enough later on in the cycle.
With that said, once people start deciding on their schools, there's a possibility a candidate who was offered money doesn't go to FSU. They withdraw their application and that money goes back into the pool. That's when you get to negotiate for a better offer. Or FSU ends up not giving out as much money initially, and they have money left over.
Just wait till later in the cycle and send a convincing letter that you are very much interested in FSU. Also, yes, you can mention your other scholarship and use it as leverage, but be careful not to sound like you're taking FSU as hostage.
