Need more financial aid? Ask for it!
Apr, 12, 2024
Categories: Admissions Consulting | Advice
At this time of the year my clients frequently ask me about whether it is OK to ask the program(s) they have been admitted to for more scholarships or other financial aid. Whether applying to MBA, MPP, MiF, PhD, or any other graduate degree program that grants financial aid, my answer is always “Yes, ask. It never hurts to ask. The school can decline your request, but they may accept it. Sometimes more aid is offered, sometimes not.” However, the way you ask matters. Here are some dos and don’ts.
Just keep in mind that I am not a financial aid expert, but an essay expert, so my advice is based (1) what goes into successful scholarship essays, (2) observations about client outcomes, and (3) conversations with MBA admissions officers over the last two decades. While this advice can apply generally to graduate degrees, my experience and advice is related primarily to MBA programs.
FINANCIAL NEED
Do:
-If you need greater financial support, explain why. Be honest and direct. If you have less savings or will be getting less support than anticipated, state that and explain why. If your personal or family circumstances require that you have greater financial support, explain the situation. If you are international and the USD, Euro, or other school’s local currency’s FX rate has gotten much worse than you anticipated, mention that. Whatever the case, simple and direct fact-based arguments that are easy to understand is what you need here.
Don’t
-If you don’t have a good argument for increased support for your degree on the basis of financial need, don’t make an argument on this basis.
-Threaten to withdraw or ask for a deferment unless you really mean it. No one likes to be threatened and this tactic is almost no chance of success. If you really need to defer make the case for that separately from a request for financial aid.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROGRAM
Do:
-Explain how you intend to contribute at the program. If you have written contribution essays for schools like Wharton or Kellogg or used the optional essay for LBS or INSEAD for this purpose, it will likely be easy. For more about contribution essays, see my posts on Wharton and Kellogg. You may end up restating content used in your application for this purpose. Just keep in mind that the essay you are now reading is likely to be read without reference to your application, so don’t worry about overlap. One suggestion is to keep stories in the contribution content more brief than might be the case for an essay like Wharton’s or Kellogg’s. Emphasize what skill or experience or strength you have that will be a contribution at the program. The more unique, the better.
-If you have a special contribution in mind that is based on extensive networking with current students or alumni, mention them when discussing it.
Don’t:
-Overstate what you can contribute.
-Be vague about what you can contribute. The more specific in terms of activities, classes, and/or clubs, the better.
ARGUMENT ON THE BASIS OF FINANCIAL AID RECEIVED AT ANOTHER PROGRAM
In general, for MBA applicants not coming from demographically underrepresented groups, don’t expect this bargaining tactic to work. Your attendance at a particular school is not a make or break decision for an admissions office. You really should not think you have a great deal of bargaining power in this matter. My conversations with admissions officers over the years indicate that, in general, they don’t want to bargain.
However, in some cases it makes sense to use this tactic. Generally speaking it is best employed when you receive a scholarship at a higher ranked program but are willing to consider attending one similarly or slightly lower ranked. This tactic rarely works the way applicants want it to, which is to convince a higher ranked program to give more financial aid on the basis of a what is being offered by a lower ranking program.
Expect that such arguments related to what is offered at another school will not work. Maybe it does for somebody but I have yet to see a situation where programs of similar or higher ranking cared enough about a specific applicant to offer that person an increased scholarship on the basis that they had received it from another institution. I have had clients admitted to Wharton who had better scholarship offers at CBS and Booth and mentioned this to Wharton and it generated no positive outcome. I have clients admitted to Kellogg and Booth who received a bigger scholarship at one of them but preferred the other and making the case to the preferred school did not make a difference.
ALSO CONSIDER: CALCULATING THE VALUE OF A SCHOLARSHIP
While scholarships or other forms of financial aid are valuable, when you receive one, also simply consider the overall cost of attending a program as well as its ROI.
In some cases, the value of the financial aid does not compare favorably to the overall cost of attending a particular school as well as overall ROI. For more about total costs, I highly recommend reading https://poetsandquants.com/2023/07/24/this-is-what-it-costs-to-get-an-mba-from-a-top-business-school/. I would also talk to students to see whether a school’s total cost of living estimates are accurate.
Good luck!