Scholarship negotiations - need help!

Question

Hey everyone! I'm reaching out for some advice on negotiating scholarships with Ross and Anderson. Anderson is my top choice, but they haven't offered any financial aid to me. On the other hand, Ross has offered me a 25% scholarship, which is great, but I'm hoping to secure more funding.

To strengthen my negotiating position, I have received full scholarships from Kelley and Scheller, 65% from Goizueta, 75% from UNC, and 25% from McCombs. I'm also waiting to hear back from a few more schools this month.

I understand that Ross is a higher-ranked school compared to the ones offering me full scholarships, so I'm not sure if I have any leverage here. Ideally, I'd like to attend Ross if I can secure a 50% tuition waiver, and I would need at least 60% tuition coverage to consider UCLA.

Any tips or insights on how to approach this negotiation would be greatly appreciated! Thank you all for your help!

Admissionado · Answer

iipshitaaaa :

You should definitely reach out to Anderson and see what, if anything, they will do. Ross is considered a peer institution to Anderson, so you may have real success there if you show them proof of your acceptance and the 25% scholarship. The acceptance offers from the other schools may not hold as much weight, but you could include them simply to show you are serious about selecting a program that provides consider aid, which is clearly important to you.

I'm not sure if you will get anything, much less over 50%, from Anderson but you never know. The scholarship determination process is much more of a black box than admissions.

I'm on the fence whether you ask for a certain amount. That might be considered impetuous and ineffective. You may just have to take your shot with Anderson and hope for the best.

FYI, you should also seriously look at third party scholarships to help defray the cost. You would be surprised how effective that can be if you put in the time and are organized.

Admissionado

ExpertsGlobal · Answer

Hello  iipshitaaaa ,

Thanks for writing in.

You should definitely reach out to both Ross and Anderson; while all the other admits might be lower ranked than Ross, they are very competitive, nonetheless.

Your ask should be humbly drafted; you must mention how the school is your top choice and how the financial burden is what is really holding you back. Please do not specify any amount; in good faith, avoid mentioning the names of the other schools; just mention that you have offers from various "US top 15-20 schools".

Where you stand, there is nothing you can lose in asking for additional scholarship; many people do; the worst case scenario is that they won't agree; however, that would still be better than not trying.

Hope this helps.

All the best!

MBAGuide · Answer

iipshitaaaa Congratulations on the admits! I feel that at this point, you can't do much to sway UCLA because it is somewhere between Ross and the others (if you disclose all your admits to them), so UCLA may not want to spend so much effort on recalibrating its endowment for you without getting that serious commitment vibe from you. I would suggest that you try to maximize the grant from Ross. Ross, in your case, will have the understanding that you are hinged on attending the top of your target list if they budge slightly on their endowment. As advised earlier, draft your mails very humbly but strategically and try to get in touch with the personnel in the office directly, and someone might be able to put in a good word regarding the scholarship. Seek guidance from alumni as well. Start utilising your network already to get ideas! In parallel also look out to other avenues for financing as suggested. Get personalized advice tailored to your specific situation. Reach out to us if you need help navigating your unique circumstances in the B School admissions process. We do not cap discussion hours. Best wishes Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD alum, former INSEAD admissions interviewer) Founder, MBAGuideConsulting LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message(WA for faster revert): +91 9971200927| email- mbaguideconsulting@gmail.com

Scholarship negotiations - need help!

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