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Articles / Applying to College / Last-Minute Merit Money From Waitlist College?

Last-Minute Merit Money From Waitlist College?

Sally Rubenstone
Written by Sally Rubenstone | June 19, 2019
Last-Minute Merit Money From Waitlist College?
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My son was just admitted off the waitlist at his top choice. He had already accepted an offer at another school with a $25,000 per-year merit scholarship. I know you've said before that financial aid decisions can be appealed, but we didn't apply for financial aid. We'd like to approach this school and ask if they'll match the merit aid the other school has offered (or if they can at least throw us some money). Can I appeal for more money even if I didn't apply for financial aid?

Congrats on your son's acceptance, even if it's something of a mixed blessing when the bills roll in! If your son didn't apply for need-based financial aid at the time that he applied to this college, then it's probably too late for him to apply for it now, although it can't hurt to ask. Your chances of getting good news will be best if your family's financial picture has changed significantly since the application deadline. For instance, has a parent lost a job or become disabled? Have you suffered a major uninsured loss or unanticipated medical expenses?


It is not too late, however, to ask for merit aid ... assuming that your son will attend a college that actually does award merit aid in the first place. Of course, at this point your chances aren't good, and if “The Dean" were a gambler, I'd bet against you. This school has probably already maxed out its merit aid budget. Moreover, college folks typically use merit money to attract their most sought-after applicants who might otherwise enroll elsewhere, and they are less likely to dole out extra dough to students who got in off the waitlist. (In fact, it's possible that one reason that your son went to the top of the waitlist was because he was coded as “No need.") Thus, this college really has little incentive to match the merit grant that the initial college had offered. Even so, give it a shot. Be persistent but polite. Your chances will be best if you can offer a specific reason why a merit grant will turn down some heat on the home front. Even if you aren't facing any of the dire straits named above, you might need a new transmission in your car or a roof on your house, and a few thousand bucks would give you a bit of breathing room.

And if it's too late for any sort of assistance for the coming fall, you should also ask if you can apply for need-based aid for your son's sophomore year, should you think you might qualify. Some colleges have a policy that requires families who don't ask for freshman aid to wait an additional year (until junior year) before they are eligible for need-based assistance.

In any case, there's no downside to contacting your son's new school right away and asking if there's any way to wangle a bit of financial assistance, whether it's via a late need-based aid application or a merit scholarship. Consider this appeal to be a long shot but still worth the old college try ... so to speak!

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Written by

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone

Sally Rubenstone knows the competitive and often convoluted college admission process inside out: From the first time the topic of college comes up at the dinner table until the last duffel bag is unloaded on a dorm room floor. She is the co-author of Panicked Parents' Guide to College Admissions; The Transfer Student's Guide to Changing Colleges and The International Student's Guide to Going to College in America. Sally has appeared on NBC's Today program and has been quoted in countless publications, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Weekend, USA Today, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, People and Seventeen. Sally has viewed the admissions world from many angles: As a Smith College admission counselor for 15 years, an independent college counselor serving students from a wide range of backgrounds and the author of College Confidential's "Ask the Dean" column. She also taught language arts, social studies, study skills and test preparation in 10 schools, including American international schools in London, Paris, Geneva, Athens and Tel Aviv. As senior advisor to College Confidential since 2002, Sally has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the college admissions maze. In 2008, she co-founded College Karma, a private college consulting firm, with her College Confidential colleague Dave Berry, and she continues to serve as a College Confidential advisor. Sally and her husband, Chris Petrides, became first-time parents in 1997 at the ripe-old age of 45. So Sally was nearly an official senior citizen when her son Jack began the college selection process, and when she was finally able to practice what she had preached for more than three decades.

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