Negotiating scholarships works!!!!! Forum

[station4]

So I was wondering how successful I could be at negotiating a scholarship at a school that's ranked higher (and I haven't received a scholarship at) than other schools I have received scholarships at.

Trying to get one at #44 CU Boulder

Received scholarships at:
#67 Loyola Chicago $36000
#76 Penn State $9000
#82 Michigan State $75000
#93 Syracuse $60000

I just kinda feel like since my top choice is ranked so much higher than the others they probably want care too much >.>
Any thoughts?

If your cycle is over and you are not expecting any further admits or scholarships, I guess you just make a run with what you have. You might not be too optimistic, but I would still give it my best shot. As long as you are honest and polite, the worst they will say is no. Not knowing any specifics of your situation, I would try to communicate to them that CU is definitely your top choice and the only thing holding you back from sending them a deposit is money.

[EMH99]

Anyone knowledgeable about the negotiation process for T20-T50 schools? PM me, please. Want to run an idea by someone else, and I'm on a deadline. Thanks.

[so_fetch]

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an expired scholarship offer to negotiate?

For example if you have scholarship at School_A with deposit/expiration deadline April 5, but you haven't received the offer yet from School_B. If School_A doesn't grant an extension, can you use School_A's expired offer to negotiate with School_B in the future?

Let's say you are going to School_B either way regardless of money, but you obviously want to maximize scholarship $ as much as possible. School_B is slightly higher ranked,both are top 10.

Thanks in advance sorry if that is really paranoid of me not to say the school names

[Octa14]

I'm negotiating with a T14 school. I have a scholarship from a slightly lower ranked school and an acceptance from a top 10 school and a peer school. The top 10 school has a lower tuition and cost of living than the school I am negotiating with. Should I bring up the difference in COA (about $14k) in my response? Or should I focus on the scholarship with the lower ranked school? Thanks.

[bobbyh1919]

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an expired scholarship offer to negotiate?

For example if you have scholarship at School_A with deposit/expiration deadline April 5, but you haven't received the offer yet from School_B. If School_A doesn't grant an extension, can you use School_A's expired offer to negotiate with School_B in the future?

Let's say you are going to School_B either way regardless of money, but you obviously want to maximize scholarship $ as much as possible. School_B is slightly higher ranked,both are top 10.

Thanks in advance sorry if that is really paranoid of me not to say the school names

This sounds rather unethical to me, assuming I'm understanding correctly.

[Nelson]

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an expired scholarship offer to negotiate?

For example if you have scholarship at School_A with deposit/expiration deadline April 5, but you haven't received the offer yet from School_B. If School_A doesn't grant an extension, can you use School_A's expired offer to negotiate with School_B in the future?

Let's say you are going to School_B either way regardless of money, but you obviously want to maximize scholarship $ as much as possible. School_B is slightly higher ranked,both are top 10.

Thanks in advance sorry if that is really paranoid of me not to say the school names

I actually talked to a 2L at a certain unnamed rigorous Chicago school who negotiated a scholarship using an expired scholarship from a certain Greenwich Village-based T14. But I imagine that was an exception not a rule.

[lameslice57]

Does anyone have experience/thoughts w/ negotiating w/ a school after you put a nonbinding deposit down there?

[landla]

Does anyone have experience/thoughts w/ negotiating w/ a school after you put a nonbinding deposit down there?

I would imagine it only works if you have deposited at multiple places, other than in rare circumstances.

[nini11]

This Thread is awesome. I need some advice please.

My top choice, Northwestern gave me no money.
My second choice, W&M only gave me 8000.
I got a full ride to Hofstra, can I negotiate with NU and W&M ?

If so, how do I approach them, do I call or email?

Thanks in advance!!!

[Danteshek]

USD admissions are known patsies.

[PDaddy]

This Thread is awesome. I need some advice please.

My top choice, Northwestern gave me no money.
My second choice, W&M only gave me 8000.
I got a full ride to Hofstra, can I negotiate with NU and W&M ?

If so, how do I approach them, do I call or email?

Thanks in advance!!!

Full ride notwithstanding, Hofstra isn't going to put fear into W & M (let alone NU) that you won't attend this fall. If you were leveraging against NU significant money from UVA, Duke, Cornell, GULC, or UCLA, it would be a whole new ballgame. And I would suspect that with money from the aforementioned schools, W & M would up your scholly quickly, even if only by a few thousand per year. I would still encourage you to try it, but don't be surprised if they call your bluff and say no. This is coming from a guy who strongly believes in negotiating for more money and better terms, and has helped people do it.

[SilverE2]

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an expired scholarship offer to negotiate?

For example if you have scholarship at School_A with deposit/expiration deadline April 5, but you haven't received the offer yet from School_B. If School_A doesn't grant an extension, can you use School_A's expired offer to negotiate with School_B in the future?

Let's say you are going to School_B either way regardless of money, but you obviously want to maximize scholarship $ as much as possible. School_B is slightly higher ranked,both are top 10.

Thanks in advance sorry if that is really paranoid of me not to say the school names

The scholarship doesn't exist anymore. You may as well make up a scholarship at that point.

[nini11]

This Thread is awesome. I need some advice please.

My top choice, Northwestern gave me no money.
My second choice, W&M only gave me 8000.
I got a full ride to Hofstra, can I negotiate with NU and W&M ?

If so, how do I approach them, do I call or email?

Thanks in advance!!!

Full ride notwithstanding, Hofstra isn't going to put fear into W & M (let alone NU) that you won't attend this fall. If you were leveraging against NU significant money from UVA, Duke, Cornell, GULC, or UCLA, it would be a whole new ballgame. And I would suspect that with money from the aforementioned schools, W & M would up your scholly quickly, even if only by a few thousand per year. I would still encourage you to try it, but don't be surprised if they call your bluff and say no. This is coming from a guy who strongly believes in negotiating for more money and better terms, and has helped people do it.

Hm unfortunately I think your right

[confusedprelaw]

Do you guys think it would be worth leveraging my BU scholarship to get a scholarship at USC? I got $66,000 at BU and nothing at USC. I know there's a ranking gap between the two, which has especially grown since the results of the last rankings, so do you guys think it's worthwhile?

[SilverE2]

Do you guys think it would be worth leveraging my BU scholarship to get a scholarship at USC? I got $66,000 at BU and nothing at USC. I know there's a ranking gap between the two, which has especially grown since the results of the last rankings, so do you guys think it's worthwhile?

It never hurts to try, the worst they can say is "no."

[lightswitch]

I'm having problems negotiating with UT-Austin.

My bargaining chips:
$75000 from Fordham
$120000 from WUSTL
Admission to Cornell (but at sticker)

My stats:
GPA: 3.68
LSAT: 168

I emailed them with the offers/admission just two days ago, and they responded today with:
"Unfortunately awards through our office have been finalized however I would recommend that you look into alternative funding/loans."

I'm not sure if that means that they're out of money, or if they just don't feel like handing me any additional money. They've only given me $21000, so it's still expensive to go there. I must also note that I want to use an improved offer from UT-Austin to negotiate with Cornell's super expensive sticker, since I've lived in New York for the last 4 years and would prefer to stay here.

Do you have any advice? Is there another person to talk to besides the nice people in the financial aid office? Is this sort of stonewalling from them common? Is it still worth it to keep pushing them further?

Thanks in advance.

[mtyler19]

Any idea on what to say after you've used all your leverage? I have been unsuccessful twice. My last 2 options have deposits on Sunday, and I really just want to see if one will up my merit aid. I know I'll be attending but I'm getting kind of desperate at this point, my scholarship was tiny, even in comparison to peer schools. Suggestions on what to say?

[nygrl]

I'm having problems negotiating with UT-Austin.

My bargaining chips:
$75000 from Fordham
$120000 from WUSTL
Admission to Cornell (but at sticker)

My stats:
GPA: 3.68
LSAT: 168

I emailed them with the offers/admission just two days ago, and they responded today with:
"Unfortunately awards through our office have been finalized however I would recommend that you look into alternative funding/loans."

I'm not sure if that means that they're out of money, or if they just don't feel like handing me any additional money. They've only given me $21000, so it's still expensive to go there. I must also note that I want to use an improved offer from UT-Austin to negotiate with Cornell's super expensive sticker, since I've lived in New York for the last 4 years and would prefer to stay here.

Do you have any advice? Is there another person to talk to besides the nice people in the financial aid office? Is this sort of stonewalling from them common? Is it still worth it to keep pushing them further?

Thanks in advance.

I tried negotiating with UT and they were pretty clear in my email that I would be receiving nothing, but your email sounds a bit more open ended. It's possible that they're out of funds for now but that they'll keep you in consideration if more funds become available. I would email them back and just ask for a clearer explanation, say you've looked into other funding (assuming you have), and mention that you would like an answer ASAP b/c have deposit deadlines approaching.

Regarding negotiating with Cornell, I would tell them pretty much what you said above - that you really want to attend but are concerned with the high COA. They know their tuition is insanely expensive and they will be more likely to give you something if they know you are serious about attending.

Good luck!

[ThreeRivers]

My Short story of trying to negotiating

Got $69 k from minn
$0 from bu

Tried to use $69 to get $ from bu

Bu said no and tried to make it sound like I was "awarded a loan"

I'm now a gopher

[Volake]

Couple weeks ago i sent an email negotiating my 28k scholarship at UIUC to 56k. I used an offer from Iowa (unknown financial aid) as well as a 56k offer from Chicago Kent and a 90k offer from Depaul. I also mentioned that the latter two of these schools would allow me to save significant money in lodging as they are near enough for me to commute from my current residence.

Thank you contributors to this thread for increasing my knowledge about scholarship negotiation.

[operagrl71]

Need some advice:

So I was planning to try and negotiate with Columbia based on my scholarship offer at U. Chicago and other large offers from mid range t-14, then found out yesterday that I got into Stanford. I still want to see if I can get Columbia to up its offer just to keep the option on the table, but I'm not really sure whether to send them something now and mention that I'm still waiting on Stanford/Berkeley, or wait until I have actual offers in hand. Thoughts?

As of now:
Columbia - $50K intial offer made after notifying them about $62.5K from NYU [didn't know about other scholarships at the time]
U. Chicago - $60K
Duke - $114K
Berkeley - waiting on matching scholarship decision
Stanford - ?

[sjwest]

Does anyone know if it's possible to use an expired scholarship offer to negotiate?

For example if you have scholarship at School_A with deposit/expiration deadline April 5, but you haven't received the offer yet from School_B. If School_A doesn't grant an extension, can you use School_A's expired offer to negotiate with School_B in the future?

Let's say you are going to School_B either way regardless of money, but you obviously want to maximize scholarship $ as much as possible. School_B is slightly higher ranked,both are top 10.

Thanks in advance sorry if that is really paranoid of me not to say the school names

The scholarship doesn't exist anymore. You may as well make up a scholarship at that point.

I actually disagree with this. You can say you were offered a scholarship from that school and that is the truth; you did receive an offer. But keep in mind that the other school is probably well aware of the first school's scholarship expiration dates, as they are peer schools.

It still shows them that someone else valued your enrollment higher than they did, so it's worth a consideration. But they might think you're trying to pull over a fast one.

[painttherosesred]

Is a significant scholarship at Tulane enough leverage to try to negotiate a larger scholarship from Cardozo? Would it be worth it to try this? Anyone know how Cardozo treats scholarship negotiations?

[Real Madrid]

Whats the general decorum as far as "thank you" emails are concerned once a school has upped your offer?

[zor]

Is a significant scholarship at Tulane enough leverage to try to negotiate a larger scholarship from Cardozo? Would it be worth it to try this? Anyone know how Cardozo treats scholarship negotiations?

It worked for me. I went to them with no leverage and they upped mine by $3k, and then I went with a full Brooklyn scholarship and got them up to near-full tuition. This thread was immensely helpful: just be polite and honest.

My negotiation success, for present and future classes:
Temple: $7.5k to $30k
Cardozo: $35k to $38k and then finally $44k
Brooklyn: $35k to $48k
Fordham: Nada, and rude to boot!
Boston University: $20k to $23k
Boston College: Hasn't responded to either of my two emails.

It kind of came back to bite me in the butt, because I assumed people wouldn't negotiate and then I could cross them off my list. In the end, I wound up just opening up my options, making it even harder to choose!