Negotiating Aid

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ChosenStressor

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When is the right time to start this conversation with your schools?

And from what i gathered its either over the phone or email and directed to the dean of admissions
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Also, what timeline? I would hate for someone to try to negotiate aid at one school, when that school might have been considering offering more than you were hoping to negotiate for - is it better to wait for the aid/scholarships to come out first and then ask for more?
 
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belvita profile - MDApplicants.com

This mdapplicants profile was really helpful in my scholarship negotiations.

I got a full tuition scholarship pretty early on, so that def played a roll in how early I felt comfortable asking other schools for aid. One point belvita (the mdapplicats profile) brought up that I thought was smart was that ONCE YOU HAVE THE LEVERAGE (have a significant scholarship offer) don't wait till they give aid.. tell them before they disperse the money so that they can prioritize you.. this doesn't have to be negotiation.. just a "in full disclosure of the factors I'm considering when choosing a school" email ..Bc there's a chance that if you tell them after - their funds will be more limited..
 
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Interesting thoughts above. I would be nervous about the possibility of a school saying, "oh, you would be happy to take that?" and then possibly giving you less. On the other hand, if you know a school has limited funds, is it better to tell them now? Do you have to disclose how much or just inform them that another school has given you a scholarship offer?
 
I ended up going for it. I have a little leverage (15-20K), and i figure the schools that I haven't heard back weren't going to consider me unless I said something

Especially because they don't usually give massive amounts of aid out
 
DBC03 said:
Interesting thoughts above. I would be nervous about the possibility of a school saying, "oh, you would be happy to take that?" and then possibly giving you less. On the other hand, if you know a school has limited funds, is it better to tell them now? Do you have to disclose how much or just inform them that another school has given you a scholarship offer?
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I was vague, no amount scholarship was disclosed, I just said another program offered me enough to make it more affordable than their program.. BUUUT

TBD no response yet, emailed over the weekend
 
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Last cycle when I applied I had 3 schools in open negotiations about scholarships. I only discussed how much I was offered until one particular school gave me full tuition. The 2 other schools tried their best to match this. One promised to come back with a better offer on the last day to have multiple acceptance when other scholarship recipients withdrew. They stayed true to their word and did come back with a better offer but I was already in love with school number 1. It was nice to see them fighting for me for a change after spending months jumping through their dam hoops. Turns out I made the right decision and love my school so much I would probably attend if I was offered 0 aid.
 
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ADSigMel said:
Two off the three schools I emailed today already replied! I can’t say that I was thrilled with their responses (LOL), but at least I know now where I stand with them. I feel like I can finally start making plans for the fall.
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What were there responses (vaguely)? I"m thinking of waiting until I get all aid packages but am not sure on timing either.
 
djtallahassee said:
What were there responses (vaguely)? I"m thinking of waiting until I get all aid packages but am not sure on timing either.
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One (from a private school) was “wow, that’s a really great scholarship offer. You should probably take it - I don’t think we can compete.”

The other (from one of my state schools) was, “We’re offering you the biggest scholarship we have that doesn’t come with underserved primary care strings.” Which is great and all, but it only gets me to about the same place as my initial scholarship (to a higher-ranked private school out of state).
 
ADSigMel said:
One (from a private school) was “wow, that’s a really great scholarship offer. You should probably take it - I don’t think we can compete.”

The other (from one of my state schools) was, “We’re offering you the biggest scholarship we have that doesn’t come with underserved primary care strings.” Which is great and all, but it only gets me to about the same place as my initial scholarship (to a higher-ranked private school out of state).
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Gotcha, well at least you have a scholarship somewhere. Maybe counter state 2 with an offer of like 5k off/year? (not sure if it would be unwise, probably couldn't hurt to chip away).

I am thinking I will have to try to negotiate on the basis of some of my accepted schools having lower IS tuitions lower and try the others to match on an even playing field. Probably not a huge likelihood of success, but worth a shot. I'm specifically interested in turning OOS tuition to IS as I think that is fairly easy to do from what I've been reading here. That may be an easier sell then extra scholarships.

I'll probably wait until March. Still hoping to get me another school or two.
 
Anyone ever end up going to a school they were trying to work to get tuition lower at but failed?


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ADSigMel said:
One (from a private school) was “wow, that’s a really great scholarship offer. You should probably take it - I don’t think we can compete.”

The other (from one of my state schools) was, “We’re offering you the biggest scholarship we have that doesn’t come with underserved primary care strings.” Which is great and all, but it only gets me to about the same place as my initial scholarship (to a higher-ranked private school out of state).
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The state school I’m looking at has very limited funds (no full rides, no half tuitions), so I can understand this. I guess it’s good that you have heard back!


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DBC03 said:
The state school I’m looking at has very limited funds (no full rides, no half tuitions), so I can understand this. I guess it’s good that you have heard back!

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They've all got funds and flexibility. They may just not want to use it.
 
I heard back from one, and it was like tbd you might hear from us near the end of the cycle when other scholarships start to free up

Other school hasn't responded

I was vague in my emails tho maybe i shoudn't have been?
 
ChosenStressor said:
I heard back from one, and it was like tbd you might hear from us near the end of the cycle when other scholarships start to free up

Other school hasn't responded

I was vague in my emails tho maybe i shoudn't have been?
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It sounds like the scholarships may have already been given out? Are the schools within the same tier?
 
Oh for sure wi
DBC03 said:
It sounds like the scholarships may have already been given out? Are the schools within the same tier?
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the the school that responded they already dished out their merit aid.. and roughly, the one that hasn't responded is technically higher ranked but I wouldn't put it well above
 
Been almost two weeks now still haven't heard from one school.. did i just get ghosted? lol
 
Going to start sending my emails out asking for aid. Will update. Here's to hoping we get some more money to fund our education!
 
Any reason why you guys aren't waiting for the initial financial package? Rule of thumb is wait for the first offer, don't be the one who gives the first number.
 
1) It well help if you actually have some degree of leverage - i.e., another scholarship offer.

2) There is no hard and fast deadline about these kinds of things, but understand that schools are also operating with a lot of unknowns. They only have X amount of money to offer people, and early on in the cycle they are unlikely to get much movement as they are still interviewing people and will want to keep some cash available to offer those that they haven’t yet interviewed or accepted.

3) When asking for money, be direct but be tactful. I would suggest only asking money from schools that you really do actually want to go to but for whom the cost of attendance is a legitimate hindrance. You are likely to come across as more sincere this way.

4) Remember that there is no harm in asking - the worst a school can say is no and you’re in the same position you started in. Asking for scholarships before you get an offer is premature in my opinion, but after that it’s game on. Don’t be shy about asking for additional money, especially if a school is known for being generous with scholarships. It’s likely to be the most money per hour you ever make in your life.
 
djtallahassee said:
Any reason why you guys aren't waiting for the initial financial package? Rule of thumb is wait for the first offer, don't be the one who gives the first number.
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I got my first scholarship offer in mid-January. I considered waiting for my other acceptances to hit me with their offers, but I figured I would be in a better bargaining position if I went ahead and let them know where I stood with regard to my early scholarship. I don’t know whether letting them know I already had money elsewhere was helpful, but I did get three other scholarship offers this week. I can’t say that any of them are quite as generous as the first, but that’s sometimes how it goes in negotiations.
 
Bumping this because I have some questions. Anybody get any scholarship offers yet? I haven't heard from the schools I've been accepted at in the past but recently got an acceptance with a scholarship offer. I think I'm going to go with another school but should I accept the invitation so I can use the acceptance (because it comes with a scholarship) to get more money? Or can I just respectfully decline and still use the offer letter with the scholarship in it?
 
sunshine859 said:
Schools will be able to see that you've declined an acceptance to the school that you're using to bargain about scholarship money. That doesn't look good. Hold onto the acceptance and use the offer letter to bargain.
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Really? Well dang... sorry people on the waitlist. I'll let go of the acceptance ASAP but looks like I need to hold onto it for a month or two.
 
I have scholarships (some more generous than others) and plan to withdraw from a couple of schools that have thus far either offered insufficient scholarships or none as of yet. Still holding out for more money from one school, because I know their pockets are deeper than their initial offer indicated.
 
Who would have thought this process could get more grueling.

I have three acceptances and no aid offers yet. I'm stuck trying to choose between two schools, one of which has like 10K more on its tuition and is, unfortunately, the one I'm leaning towards (it was my first acceptance back in October). I'm pretty damn conflicted. Should I be drafting and sending an email to the school as soon as possible? I am also waiting to hear back from two more schools I interviewed at and hoping that I would have more leverage once/if those come through.

This is pretty frustrating...
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Just to add a contrarian's perspective. I gave up an acceptance at at school that offered a generous scholarship because the one I will be attending was a better familial fit. Sometimes, it's not all about the $$ because if everything goes accordingly, school debt can be paid back sufficiently once one becomes an attending...But get what you can/able!
 
So I got a 20K scholarship from a mid/low tier state school to bring the tuition down to around 35K. Would it be stupid to then ask a high tier private school (Top 25) to match or at least give me some aid? What do you guys think?
 
Anonymityismyname18 said:
So I got a 20K scholarship from a mid/low tier state school to bring the tuition down to around 35K. Would it be stupid to then ask a high tier private school (Top 25) to match or at least give me some aid? What do you guys think?
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It can never hurt to ask. Ground your approach in humility, gratitude, and openness about cost of attendance being a concern and see what they can do! The worst that can happen is they say no; the best that can happen is they say yes.
 
Thank you! ^^ And who do you e-mail for these inquiries? The admissions office or the financial aid office?
 
Anonymityismyname18 said:
Thank you! ^^ And who do you e-mail for these inquiries? The admissions office or the financial aid office?
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I dunno. I would start with admissions, assuming they're the right ones for the message/request, but of course ask them if there's someone better for you to contact.
 
Anonymityismyname18 said:
Thank you! ^^ And who do you e-mail for these inquiries? The admissions office or the financial aid office?
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Depends on the type of aid, assuming you're talking about Merit Based Aid most schools make those decisions through a admissions/scholarship committee

So if I was you I would email the admissions committee // update my portal... of course do some research on your school before hand to see their preference
 
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Also OP update here, got a full tuition scholarship (not through leverage lol).. so far its a top choice so no reason to negotiate... unless a "better" schools responds.

Both my earlier negotiation attempts failed, one said wait till l8r m8, the other ghosted me.

Anyway thanks to those that contributed to the thread and best of luck!
 
FHamati said:
Who would have thought this process could get more grueling.

I have three acceptances and no aid offers yet. I'm stuck trying to choose between two schools, one of which has like 10K more on its tuition and is, unfortunately, the one I'm leaning towards (it was my first acceptance back in October). I'm pretty damn conflicted. Should I be drafting and sending an email to the school as soon as possible? I am also waiting to hear back from two more schools I interviewed at and hoping that I would have more leverage once/if those come through.

This is pretty frustrating...
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What exactly are you going to be asking the school if you don't have any aid offers yet?
 
sunshine859 said:
What exactly are you going to be asking the school if you don't have any aid offers yet?
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So my thinking, if one is cheaper then I could leverage the cost of tuition. Something along the lines of how I am drawn to school x and see myself fitting in really well, but the school y's tuition is cheaper thus making it hard to fully commit to school x. Could that not be considered a bargaining chip? I'm waiting to hear back about the aid from both.

But it's a totally valid point you're bringing up. Trying to explore all possible perspectives.
 
In my opinion, that would come across very poorly, and I don't think you have much leverage. You're looking at a difference of $40k in total which, as many on this site will say, is nothing in the grand scope of things. If you were looking at a more significant cost difference, maybe.
 
sunshine859 said:
In my opinion, that would come across very poorly, and I don't think you have much leverage. You're looking at a difference of $40k in total which, as many on this site will say, is nothing in the grand scope of things. If you were looking at a more significant cost difference, maybe.
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Sorry to burst in, but what do you/people on sdn consider a significant cost difference? I'm in a situation where the school I really want to go to is a bit more expensive than others I've been accepted to and I have been trying to figure out what price difference would be worth the extra debt to go to a better school (I'm talking top 25 vs. top 50 schools if that matters)
 
The Unburnt said:
Sorry to burst in, but what do you/people on sdn consider a significant cost difference? I'm in a situation where the school I really want to go to is a bit more expensive than others I've been accepted to and I have been trying to figure out what price difference would be worth the extra debt to go to a better school (I'm talking top 25 vs. top 50 schools if that matters)
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That is a deeply personal decision which only you can weigh the cost of. As someone now looking at paying back all this debt, I would disagree with the post you quoted and say that even $40k - while perhaps is “nothing in the grand scope of things” - is significant. However, perhaps for you it’s not a big deal. Your expectations with respect to your future lifestyle, the value you place on being debt-free vs. not, and a million other variables will factor into that decision, and everyone has different beliefs about those things.

I would just advise that you know what you’re getting yourself into one way or another. Use loan repayment calculators to figure out what you’re actually going to be spending across different situations. Use average salary information to estimate your post-tax earnings and compare to what you’ll be expected to be paying back when you’re making an attending salary (except for real outliers, you will almost certainly be paying the standard 10-year repayment rate once you’re an attending). These kinds of these don’t tell the whole story, obviously, but they will start to give you some concrete information to use to make these decisions.
 
NickNaylor said:
That is a deeply personal decision which only you can weigh the cost of. As someone now looking at paying back all this debt, I would disagree with the post you quoted and say that even $40k - while perhaps is “nothing in the grand scope of things” - is significant. However, perhaps for you it’s not a big deal. Your expectations with respect to your future lifestyle, the value you place on being debt-free vs. not, and a million other variables will factor into that decision, and everyone has different beliefs about those things.

I would just advise that you know what you’re getting yourself into one way or another. Use loan repayment calculators to figure out what you’re actually going to be spending across different situations. Use average salary information to estimate your post-tax earnings and compare to what you’ll be expected to be paying back when you’re making an attending salary (except for real outliers, you will almost certainly be paying the standard 10-year repayment rate once you’re an attending). These kinds of these don’t tell the whole story, obviously, but they will start to give you some concrete information to use to make these decisions.
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Thank you for the insight! I'll definitely be doing some more calculations once I hear back about financial aid!
 
I want to clarify my above post by saying I don't think 40k is enough to go through the perhaps ill-advised negotiating process that the above poster was describing. Deciding how much is a significant difference in terms of your own personal finances is a whole different matter.
 
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