How do you ask for more aid?

[langfam]

DD has received her awards letters, received some scholarships and grants, but for most we're still short $12,000- $14,000 per year. How did you successfully appeal for more money?

Thanks ladies!:)

[Kareni]

Sharon in MD posted about her successful appeal process recently here.

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Ms. Riding Hood]

In light of our own appeal process, it was very interesting to read Sharon's. I wish I had seen it before. Our experience was very different, possibly because of our particular aid officer or because of different school policy. We, too, began by calling the office. We got no instruction, help or encouragement--just told to write a letter and given no guidance on what to include that might be helpful. We did send in a letter, and found out after over a week that it had been denied--and then, only because we called. It was "just going out in the mail" the day we called in--it would have been practically two weeks after submitting our appleal before we found out via mail! We wrote another letter. Dh called to ask if he might be allowed to address the committe who makes the decisions, thinking that some things are best explained in person. We were told that this is not allowed. However, later in the week we got a call from the director of the financial aid office. He was very kind, and carefully went through all the details of our case with dh--something that had not been done before. In the course of the conversation, this man became aware of a critical detail in our case--something that we had certainly addressed in various forms, but that had somehow been overlooked or missed--and THAT is what made all the difference. The moral of our story is that persistance can sometimes be a key. Not always, of course, since sometimes the facts are the facts and nothing can change that. But if dh had not really followed up with these things with calls, I think we would have been dead in the water. I think the only reason the director called is because our case officer said, "YOU talk to this guy--I'm sick of him!" But I still call this a complete miracle, because of the circumstances, the fact that the director called, the way this missing information came to light--all quite amazing. And if we were left in the dark during the appeals process, the director made up for all this with his conversation. At least after talking with him, we knew that we had been not only heard but listened to. I think if he had still rejected us, we would have been satisfied that we had done our best to get the case across and they had done their best to consider us. One person can make such a difference!

 

Get it in quickly, follow up--that's my advice. As the saying goes, "Work as if everything depends on you, pray as if everything depends on God."