| | Dear Concierge Members,
I know many of you were surprised to not see Russ at last Sunday's coaching session. His advice and guidance has been a tremendous help during the past year and for that I am grateful to him.
Without going into details, Russ and I had differing opinions about how to move forward. Although I knew this time was coming, I had not planned on it happening as quickly as it did.
As I mentioned in last week's email and during the coaching session, the current admissions season is like no other. We're expecting colleges (most likely private ones) to be more open to negotiating financial aid and merit scholarships than in the past.
To better support you in "negotiating/appealing" I planned on bringing in one or two professionals who have more experience in this area.
In addition to appealing offers, we’ve always supported Concierge families till their student's final decision is made and helped with transitioning to college.
Here are topics we'll be covering for the next four months till the end of May:- Jan. 24th: Continuation of How To Appeal College Offers
- Feb: Searching and applying for private scholarships
- March: Criteria and process to use to make a final college decision
- April: Federal and Private Loans and other ways to finance college
- May: Transitioning: Legal paperwork (FERPA, Wills, Health Insurance, etc.) and Insurance (Tuition, Property, Health, Life)
If you have ANY questions, please feel free to reach out by responding to this email and we can chat over the phone or through Zoom.
Best, Debbie |
| | | SUMMARY OF HOW TO APPEAL YOUR STUDENT'S OFFER
As college decisions roll in, you should be thinking about comparing financial aid packages.
Remember - you have until May 1, 2021, to make a decision. If the college mentions a deadline earlier, you should ask why they need to know before May 1st.
Here's a summary of what was discussed last Sunday:- Enter your students offers in our Compare College Offers tool and review offers that other students received at the same schools.
- If you decide to appeal, check the college's website or call the Financial Aid Office to determine if there is a specific process the college wants families to follow - i.e. a special form, uploads or emailing appeals, etc.
- Use the "First-Year Students Incoming Student Profile" as a guide and see if you can determine what the college values in your student (e.g., geography, academics, grades, scores). If so, use this insight as the basis for your Financial Aid Appeal Letter.
- In your Letter, provide a cost number that you can afford or share what a competitor school offered as a negotiation point.
- The email will be more effective if the student writes it, but parents absolutely need to help craft it.
- Attach any academic updates to the Admissions Office (AO) letter to be considered for merit scholarships.
- The letter can be sent to both the Admissions Office (AO) and the Financial Aid Office (FAO).
- Expect to follow-up the email with a virtual visit, phone call, or in-person visit during the spring if an option.
- Financial Aid Negotiation outcomes are highest for private colleges, who can define “need” however they’d like and have more funds for merit scholarships.
- When you speak with the FAO, ask them about "Professional Judgment" to see if your 2020 or 2021 circumstances qualify you for an EFC adjustment, which may lead to your case being considered for need-based financial aid.
- Out-of-State public colleges typically do not negotiate with students on aid packages unless they are in the top 1% of the class and have an exceptional talent, circumstance, or academic interest that can't be met by the home state college.
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| | | | The recording of our January coaching session is available in your Members Area.
The next office hours are Sunday, Jan. 24th at 8:30pm ET. |
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