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Negotiating Scholarships 2.0

todduncan2todduncan2 Member
in Law School Admissions 60 karma

Hi.

There was another post on this sometime ago, so I was wondering if there were additional thoughts. Here’s the situation:

I applied to schools on an old (not great) score. The day before Dec test, I got admitted to the PT program I was aiming for, but no $$. Given that the time and $ invested in the Dec test prep was a sunk cost and that I was confident of a significant improvement I took the Dec test (mainly to leverage for $ and to aim higher on apps). I got the Dec score back and it pushed me up 20 percentile points; based on this score improvement I asked for reconsideration at the program to which I had been admitted. They returned a scholarship offer that helped with tuition (about 30% of tuition). I just received admission to another PT program with what would be nearly 70% tuition - similar tuitions at both schools). The second school is marginally more well ranked than the first school in PT rankings and 10 spots higher in the regular rankings.

Is it reasonable and/or good practice to leverage the second school’s offer against the first school’s offer after having asked once for reconsideration for $ and been rewarded for the Dec LSAT score improvement?

Thanks,

TD

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Comments

  • LindsMitchLindsMitch Alum Member
    589 karma

    Is the first school your first choice? I would say yes, leverage away. I mean, it's not like they are going to say "Who does this guy think he is, we are rescinding his offer altogether." Worst case scenario in my view is that you end up in the same place you started: 30% from school 1, 70% from higher ranked school 2.

    I'm sure it does seem a little tricky to have to send another email requesting a second bump, but I imagine schools see this quite often. As long as you are polite and acknowledge that they were generous to offer you an increased award in the first place, I think it's perfectly acceptable to say that some other factors have changed. Especially if the larger offer at school 2 would pull you away from school 1 unless more money is given.

  • tanes256tanes256 Alum Member
    2573 karma

    @todduncan2 go for it! Why not? Tell them that although you would love to attend their school tuition is a huge factor in your decision. Let them know that you have been offered more from the other school and go from there. Let them know that you will definitely attend if they can provide more money or at least match the other school. I'm not sure if you should throw in the 2nd school name but they'll see that that school is higher ranked, etc. and they'll know that they've got to come up off a little more if they want to compete. I have no experience with this but this is exactly what I would do. At this point, would you still attend school one even though you've been offered more money?

  • todduncan2todduncan2 Member
    60 karma

    Thought I'd update this to let people know how it turned out. I sent in a polite letter asking how the College handled these kind of situations. A couple of days later I got a reply which said they don't negotiate scholarships like some schools do, but that the adcom had voted on an increase to the award.

    So, turned out well!

    I went from no award at admission to 50% tuition after two polite inquiries supplemented with a higher LSAT score and a competitive scholarship from elsewhere. With my income going partly toward the part-time tuition bill, I can now be debt free at graduation.

  • Trust But VerifyTrust But Verify Alum Member
    432 karma

    As the great philosopher Young Jeezy says: "Scared money don't make no money".

    Congrats

  • westcoastbestcoastwestcoastbestcoast Alum Member
    3788 karma

    @"Trust But Verify" said:
    As the great philosopher Young Jeezy says: "Scared money don't make no money".

    Congrats

    Jeezy is a wise man

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