You have spent countless hours visiting various schools, narrowing down your choices to a handful of top picks, filling out and agonizing over applications, and waiting impatiently for the acceptance letters to arrive. Now comes the hard part.

Because you don’t want to graduate from college saddled with crushing debt, much of your decision on where to attend college may be based on the size of the financial aid packages you were offered. If your top choice(s) did not open up their wallets wide enough, and you still have time to meet your award letter deadlines, all is not lost!

Under certain circumstances, you may be able to appeal the award: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: appealing award letters, college award letters, negotiating award letters
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You’ve been accepted–and you were awarded money!  From more than one school!  So who has the best offer?  Who provides the most financial aid? Now you have another factor– money–to consider when deciding on your best-fit college. Reviewing award letters can be confusing, so I’ve outlined the key steps to take to determine your best award package:

First Things First
When you receive your award letter, be sure to read it carefully and call the school’s financial aid office if you have questions or if your personal information–like your name, address, Social Security number–is incorrect.  If your Expected Family Contribution is listed, check it against your Student Aid Report and ensure the numbers match. Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: award letter analysis, college award letters, college financial aid, cost of college, student loans
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