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Someone suggested a thread to discuss this. A number of schools have taken a "no negotiation on merit scholarships" position. It would probably be useful for all involved to post their experiences with this- the schools, when you were told that was their position, language used, any exceptions they might have made, reasoning they gave, etc. Applicants are at an information disadvantage to schools so the more you know the better off you are!

My experience: BC scholarship offer of 75% tuition, above both 75ths. Used T14 scholarships at same or lower COA to ask for more, was (very politely) told that they make their first offer their best.

Nice, great idea for a thread.

Vanderbilt states on its scholarship emails that "this is their best offer" and that it doesn't "compete" with other offers. I think someone on the Vanderbilt Class of 2020 Thread tried to ask and was very politely shot down.

UVA and Michigan won't budge after their first offers.

Bob loblaw law blog wrote:UVA and Michigan won't budge after their first offers.

This isn't true. It might happen later in the cycle, but UVA will listen to requests for increased aid. Any one person may get shut down, but I have friends here who successfully got increased aid later in the cycle.

UVA2B wrote:

Bob loblaw law blog wrote:UVA and Michigan won't budge after their first offers.

This isn't true. It might happen later in the cycle, but UVA will listen to requests for increased aid. Any one person may get shut down, but I have friends here who successfully got increased aid later in the cycle.

I mean, they did that exactly once out of the last eight cycles (and "do not anticipate" doing it again) and they only do it post deposit date. They made both these things explicitly clear to me. I guess you can say that there is a non-zero chance of them negotiating, but when I looked back at last years UVA thread a few weeks ago I couldn't find a single person who successfully negotiated.

Michigan will also negotiate.