5. Upgrade your aid
by Sarah Max
Not happy with your offer? You might try to appeal to the financial aid office for a better one. If your package contains an obvious error, or if you have reason to believe that an aspect of your finances was not taken into consideration, you may be able to successfully appeal. Also, be sure to let the financial aid office know if your circumstances changed after the application was signed, sealed and delivered.
But you may also win an appeal is if your child receives competing offers from two similar schools. (The College Board site, www.collegeboard.com, has an excellent worksheet for comparing offers.) If your child's first choice school made a relatively poor offer, however, see if anything may be done to improve it. "More and more schools are upfront about their willingness to compare competing offers," says Joyce.
Before you pick up the phone, be sure you are ready to state your case. Understand the terms of the current package and be able to articulate exactly what it will take to make the school affordable to you. Typically, the officer will ask you to send the competing offer or documentation of your new financial circumstances before making a decision.
Of course, the better your child's academic record, the better your chances for beefing up the offer. "Colleges want to match their resources with the students they most want to enroll," says Joyce. "This is no time to be shy." Even if your child is at the top of his class, you will want to emphasize affordability. Take care not to appear as though you are negotiating for the sake of negotiating.
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