Is it OK to discuss scholarship with interviewer?

[PreMD86]

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I have an interview with a school I would pretty much never consider attending unless offered a scholarship of a quarter or half of tuition. Is it a gigantic faux pas, when asked why I would like to attend this school, to tell the interviewer something along the line of "I am drawn to the facilities, the student body, the research (etc..), but currently have been accepted to another school I'd rather attend unless tuition here was substantially cheaper"? Has anybody done this or know somebody who's done this successfully?

 

[surfstarj]

I have an interview with a school I would pretty much never consider attending unless offered a scholarship of a quarter or half of tuition. Is it a gigantic faux pas, when asked why I would like to attend this school, to tell the interviewer something along the line of "I am drawn to the facilities, the student body, the research (etc..), but currently have been accepted to another school I'd rather attend unless tuition here was substantially cheaper"? Has anybody done this or know somebody who's done this successfully?

When you say it in context of another school's offer, it sounds like asking for a rejection. They might think "Well, that's good, you can just go there then." It just smacks a bit of arrogance, even if you have a 4.5 and a 47MCAT. If you're trying to leverage an offer, i would think it's best to wait until after you're accepted...

 

[taponthecloud]

seems extremely tacky to do it like that. save it for after the interview. plus, if the school you've been accepted to doesn't impress your interviewer, they might come right out and suggest you attend the other school. i don't know how that would help you.

 

[iA-MD2013]

yeah, that doesn't sound like a great idea. you're really asking for a rejection by doing that.

 

[EpiPEN]

how about saying instead,

"I really want to attend this institution, but my financial situation is a little difficult. Do you know of a any good opportunities in this school for me to get a little extra help?"

Although my experience is most interviewers don't know didly about financial aid stuff.

 

[taponthecloud]

how about saying instead,

"I really want to attend this institution, but my financial situation is a little difficult. Do you know of a any good opportunities in this school for me to get a little extra help?"

Although my experience is most interviewers don't know didly about financial aid stuff.

focus on actually getting in the school first. don't discuss finance and tuition during the interview. why would you assume that you're a shoe-in? if you're interviewing this late it probably means your chances aren't the best.

 

[HumidBeing]

Bad idea. Just wait to see if they accept you first. After that, you can contact that school about other school offers and financial concerns. The interviewer isn't going to have any pull over whether you get financial aid. So, bringing the subject up then can only harm you. You want to do whatever you can to INCREASE your chances of acceptance, not undermine them.

 

[Law2Doc]

I have an interview with a school I would pretty much never consider attending unless offered a scholarship of a quarter or half of tuition. Is it a gigantic faux pas, when asked why I would like to attend this school, to tell the interviewer something along the line of "I am drawn to the facilities, the student body, the research (etc..), but currently have been accepted to another school I'd rather attend unless tuition here was substantially cheaper"? Has anybody done this or know somebody who's done this successfully?

Absolutely do not discuss financials with the interviewers. Get accepted. Once accepted, talk to folks about financials but not before. If they can make it work for you then go, if not, don't. But it is premature to talk about scholarships until you get accepted. At the interview stage it can only work against you, never help you, to tell them there is a sticking point. They are looking at a thousand people and looking for a reason to wheedle it down to 200.

 

[PreMD86]

Bad idea. Just wait to see if they accept you first. After that, you can contact that school about other school offers and financial concerns. The interviewer isn't going to have any pull over whether you get financial aid. So, bringing the subject up then can only harm you. You want to do whatever you can to INCREASE your chances of acceptance, not undermine them.

I know the interviewer has zero say in financial aid matters, but I was hoping that the information would be communicated to the adcom in my interview review. If the adcom finds it cocky- fine, I'll attend the other school. If they feel that I'm a candidate that's worth having, and are aware that there's a financial tipping point in my decision, I figured they might be more inclined to consider it.

But yea, I agree I'd probably have more leverage if I actually get accepted there, but I'm just worried it'd be too late?

 

[HumidBeing]

I know the interviewer has zero say in financial aid matters, but I was hoping that the information would be communicated to the adcom in my interview review. If the adcom finds it cocky- fine, I'll attend the other school. If they feel that I'm a candidate that's worth having, and are aware that there's a financial tipping point in my decision, I figured they might be more inclined to consider it.

But yea, I agree I'd probably have more leverage if I actually get accepted there, but I'm just worried it'd be too late?

No, it's not too late then. That's when you actually do have leverage because they've already committed themselves to wanting you as part of their class. Talking about it beforehand doesn't help. It can only hurt.

 

[Law2Doc]

I know the interviewer has zero say in financial aid matters, but I was hoping that the information would be communicated to the adcom in my interview review. If the adcom finds it cocky- fine, I'll attend the other school. If they feel that I'm a candidate that's worth having, and are aware that there's a financial tipping point in my decision, I figured they might be more inclined to consider it.

But yea, I agree I'd probably have more leverage if I actually get accepted there, but I'm just worried it'd be too late?

bad idea and faulty logic. They have dozens of equally qualified applicants they can turn to, and don't really care at this stage if it's you or someone else. If you aren't showing up excited to attend regardless, they are going to hold this against you. AFTER you are accepted, you can talk about money issues, and you may have a bit of leverage. As of now, you are still at the "tell us why we should accept you" stage, not the "what do we need to do to get you to matriculate" stage.

 

[taponthecloud]

Absolutely do not discuss financials with the interviewers. Get accepted. Once accepted, talk to folks about financials but not before. If they can make it work for you then go, if not, don't. But it is premature to talk about scholarships until you get accepted. At the interview stage it can only work against you, never help you, to tell them there is a sticking point. They are looking at a thousand people and looking for a reason to wheedle it down to 200.

whittle😛 ('wheedle' means to pander)

 

[surfstarj]

I know the interviewer has zero say in financial aid matters, but I was hoping that the information would be communicated to the adcom in my interview review. If the adcom finds it cocky- fine, I'll attend the other school. If they feel that I'm a candidate that's worth having, and are aware that there's a financial tipping point in my decision, I figured they might be more inclined to consider it.

But yea, I agree I'd probably have more leverage if I actually get accepted there, but I'm just worried it'd be too late?

What you're saying is that you'd like to put a condition on your own application about whether you will go the school. I don't think an adcom would become more likely to accept you if you say outright that there's a good chance you won't [be able to] matriculate. There are plenty of awesome applicants that don't come with strings attached.

 

[Law2Doc]

whittle😛 ('wheedle' means to pander)

So it does.😡 Sounded good in my head though.

 

[taponthecloud]

So it does.😡 Sounded good in my head though.

wheedle sounds like "guido" 🙂