Negotiating scholarships works!!!!! Forum

[janetdoe]

Has anyone ever successfully negotiated a scholarship increase after paying the first seat deposit and then not paying the second deposit?

Yes. I was offered large scholarships at both schools. A required only 1 deposit; B required a 1st and 2nd. I paid both 1st deposits. After a week or two, I contacted B and asked if they would consider increasing scholarship amount. They matched school A. They then began to put on the pressure to send and sign off on the 2nd deposit. I have contacted school A, and I will see what they say.

Questions:

1) how should one go about re-negotiating with a school that has already come up?
2) If school A comes up, then should I contact school B AGAIN? How should I phrase it? I was polite, but I just don't want to come off like a ungrateful jerk by asking so many times.
3) if school A does NOT come up, then has anyone simply asked a school (with no other increased scholarships to leverage with) to simply re-evaluate the scholarship amount? if so, has this been successful with any T-20s?

[janetdoe]

Has anyone ever successfully negotiated a scholarship increase after paying the first seat deposit and then not paying the second deposit?

This is a credited strategy. Current school doubled mine after the first seat deposit, and it's a school that TLS wisdom suggests does not negotiate.

This may be an incredibly stupid question but...
You can just not pay second deposit? You won't lose your spot? And you could maybe even use that to negotiate?

I assumed not paying a deposit would mean the school would think, "oh okay he/she isn't coming here. Let's throw away his/her file and open a spot in our class for someone else."

I feel it depends a) on the school and b) on how valuable your candidacy/numbers is to filling out their class profile. I have let deadlines slip, and some have contacted me asking if I plan to enroll, if I had any questions, if they could provide a travel stipend, etc. I have not had a school double my scholarships or anything, though, as some others have experienced.

[chuckbass]

Has anyone ever successfully negotiated a scholarship increase after paying the first seat deposit and then not paying the second deposit?

Yes. I was offered large scholarships at both schools. A required only 1 deposit; B required a 1st and 2nd. I paid both 1st deposits. After a week or two, I contacted B and asked if they would consider increasing scholarship amount. They matched school A. They then began to put on the pressure to send and sign off on the 2nd deposit. I have contacted school A, and I will see what they say.

Questions:

1) how should one go about re-negotiating with a school that has already come up?
2) If school A comes up, then should I contact school B AGAIN? How should I phrase it? I was polite, but I just don't want to come off like a ungrateful jerk by asking so many times.
3) if school A does NOT come up, then has anyone simply asked a school (with no other increased scholarships to leverage with) to simply re-evaluate the scholarship amount? if so, has this been successful with any T-20s?

3) I wasn't in the same situation as you because I didn't get a raise in the first place, but I was able to negotiate a large increase with my T-20 without any leverage. Just emphasize how much you want to attend school B, and explain that the financials are important to you blah blah blah. At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter to them whether or not you don't attend school B because you're attending somewhere else, or just not attending law school at all, so it is in their best interest to try to keep you if they want/need your numbers.

[BaberhamLincoln]

Do you guys think that an LSAT score increase is a guarantee to get you more money? I have a 3/4 scholly with my shittastic 161. I retook and I think ill end up with a 163 or 164 which isn't much better but worth negotiating more money?

[ManoftheHour]

Do you guys think that an LSAT score increase is a guarantee to get you more money? I have a 3/4 scholly with my shittastic 161. I retook and I think ill end up with a 163 or 164 which isn't much better but worth negotiating more money?

Yes. As the cycle goes on, schools are getting more desperate to keep their depositors. Why? Because mostly everyone has committed to some school at this point and mostly everyone has withdrawn from schools they are not deposited at. This is especially true if the school is in danger of losing their median if they lose you or a few students. That's why some times schools throw $$$$ at people who have previously withdrawn even if they have not asked for more $$$$ (See WUSTL last year).

This is what I think helped me negotiate anyway.

If what I say is complete bull@#$, it's still always worth a try. You could turn a little shame into $3,000 a year. Hey, that's still $9,000!

[BaberhamLincoln]

Does it matter I deposited there already?

[ManoftheHour]

Does it matter I deposited there already?

You could always argue, "I got a 165. I haven't decided but I'm thinking I might want to just reapply next year...because according to law school numbers/lst/etc, I could get into better schools/same schools with more $$$." I think the fact that you deposited helps you negotiate because it shows the school that you really are serious about them and are not just using them as a bartering chip.

The school will be all like, "Oh no! I want to keep her. Here's a full ride."

[John Everyman]

Does it matter I deposited there already?

You could always argue, "I got a 165. I haven't decided but I'm thinking I might want to just reapply next year...because according to law school numbers/lst/etc, I could get into better schools/same schools with more $$$." I think the fact that you deposited helps you negotiate because it shows the school that you really are serious about them and are not just using them as a bartering chip.

The school will be all like, "Oh no! I want to keep her. Here's a full ride."

This is credited, my best negotiation this year came from me threatening to sit out a cycle.

[BaberhamLincoln]

Thanks Man

[chuckbass]

Thanks Man

Yeah remember that to the school, there's no difference between you attending another school or sitting out, both mean that you're not going to their school.

[Instinctive]

Just want to add to this thread that you can also totally negotiate need-based aid offers. If different schools give you more (i.e. they evaluate your need and get a different number), you can absolutely share that with the other school and they will play with numbers to help you out.

So don't assume if you're at a need-only school that you can't get more need-based scholarship/grant aid than the initial offer.

[tech2ip]

Orientation is next Tuesday, is it still possible to negotiate for a merit scholly?
If you have a low LSAT, but tell them you just got a job offer from a V10 firm (tech advisor), would they give you last minute $?

[goldenflash19]

Orientation is next Tuesday, is it still possible to negotiate for a merit scholly?
If you have a low LSAT, but tell them you just got a job offer from a V10 firm (tech advisor), would they give you last minute $?

Very possible and definitely worth a try. Worst that can happen is they say no.

[WichitaShocker]

I am going to attempt to negotiate scholarships, but I am curious who schools see as their competition for negotiations.

Lets use the University of Richmond as an example, which group are they more likely to consider countering offers from:

Group A (Schools in their area)
Washington and Lee
Williams And Mary
George Mason

Group B (Schools Ranked near them)
Pepperdine
Baylor
California-Hastings

This question is purely hypothetical, and I am just using it to try and get a bearing on negotiation tactics.

[ManoftheHour]

I am going to attempt to negotiate scholarships, but I am curious who schools see as their competition for negotiations.

Lets use the University of Richmond as an example, which group are they more likely to consider countering offers from:

Group A (Schools in their area)
Washington and Lee
Williams And Mary
George Mason

Group B (Schools Ranked near them)
Pepperdine
Baylor
California-Hastings

This question is purely hypothetical, and I am just using it to try and get a bearing on negotiation tactics.

Why didn't you just use better schools for the hypo? They're going to consider both, but I would say more likely group A. If you do have a compelling reason to want to go to CA, then using group B could work. I negotiated with schools that were in different markets. Ideally, you would want to use a school that is higher ranked to negotiate that's also in the same area (like using UCLA to negotiate with USC).

[chuckbass]

Also just post the schools you're applying to instead of random hypo, it'd be more helpful

[WichitaShocker]

Also just post the schools you're applying to instead of random hypo, it'd be more helpful

Ohio State and Boston U are the two schools that I thinking of in this situation. The only schools I can think that are near to them in both ranking and geographically are Indiana - Bloomington and BC respectively. What I am trying to determine is whether schools like Case Western or Northeastern have any value for negotiating.

[whitespider]

Bump for a new year.

(Though be warned, conventional wisdom says to hold off on negotiating until later in the cycle)

[Dr. Nefario]

Bump for a new year.

(Though be warned, conventional wisdom says to hold off on negotiating until later in the cycle)

How long should one wait before beginning the game?

[whitespider]

Bump for a new year.

(Though be warned, conventional wisdom says to hold off on negotiating until later in the cycle)

How long should one wait before beginning the game?

Spiv posted that has was talking to a dean early last Feb and they were peeved negotiation emails had already begun. I think the logic is the closer you get to the deposit deadlines, the more leverage you have.

Don't listen to me, though. I've already started (with mixed results).

[ManoftheHour]

Bump for a new year.

(Though be warned, conventional wisdom says to hold off on negotiating until later in the cycle)

How long should one wait before beginning the game?

Spiv posted that has was talking to a dean early last Feb and they were peeved negotiation emails had already begun. I think the logic is the closer you get to the deposit deadlines, the more leverage you have.

Don't listen to me, though. I've already started (with mixed results).

This is credited. My best negotiations happened after double depositing. One of the schools asked me to withdraw from the other one. Told the school I had not made up my mind yet. Got a bump from said school. Then I emailed the other school about the contents of the previous email and the scholly bump (and told them that I still had not decided yet). School B bumped me up too. Wasn't enough. Withdrew. Then school B gave me a full ride. Told school A about it and asked if it was willing to match or bump up. Told me to fuck off.

Ymmv.

[Meow Meowsworth]

Bump for a new year.

(Though be warned, conventional wisdom says to hold off on negotiating until later in the cycle)

How long should one wait before beginning the game?

Spiv posted that has was talking to a dean early last Feb and they were peeved negotiation emails had already begun. I think the logic is the closer you get to the deposit deadlines, the more leverage you have.

Don't listen to me, though. I've already started (with mixed results).

This is credited. My best negotiations happened after double depositing. One of the schools asked me to withdraw from the other one. Told the school I had not made up my mind yet. Got a bump from said school. Then I emailed the other school about the contents of the previous email and the scholly bump (and told them that I still had not decided yet). School B bumped me up too. Wasn't enough. Withdrew. Then school B gave me a full ride. Told school A about it and asked if it was willing to match or bump up. Told me to fuck off.

Ymmv.

Both of these posts are credited. I started my negotiations in early February during my cycle, got a few schools to increase money, and then came back in April to push all of the schools (including the ones who weren't willing to budge in February). All but one of the schools increased their offer, and I just bounced offers from each school off of one another until after the deposit deadline. Then I double deposited, and did exactly what ManoftheHour did with pretty much the exact same result.

[SowhatsNU]

Slightly different question, although I'm hoping I put in on the right forum.

I just finished my 1L fall semester, and thankfully I got (relatively) good grades that put me in the top 20% (roughly) I'm already on scholarship, but I'm thinking of transferring but wanted to renegotiate my scholarship with my current school first. Any idea how I go about that? Any advice?

[HavingFun]

Sorry if it's buried in this thread, I tried digging around but I couldn't find it. Anyone have any idea which schools absolutely do not negotiate?

[vdh2102]

Thoughts on how soon is too soon to start negotiations? Also, does anyone have a feel for how receptive William & Mary is to negotiations? I really want to go there but I just got an offer for a full ride to Washington & Lee-- with a 35K price difference, I can't really justify going to my preference, which makes my soul hurt a little bit.