High school seniors have been receiving their final admissions outcomes over the last few weeks of March. Admissions season now unofficially culminates today with Ivy Day, when colleges in the Ivy League release their decisions. Some of our students will feel like they won the lottery today; others will have their dreams shattered.

As we head toward May 1, the enrollment deadline for US colleges, our students are asking these questions, and you may be too: 

• Is there any chance to get off of a college’s waitlist? If so, what can I do to maximize my chances? 

• I can’t afford my top choice school. When and how should I negotiate for more aid?

• How do I know which college to choose when I have multiple good options? 

• What do I need to do after I accept my offer and enroll at my college? 

Is college for joining a fraternity for lifelong bonds and future career connections? Is it to have a diploma from an impressive school that opens the door to the right graduate school? Is it to gain a skill that will land a student a job the day after graduation? With questions like these looming, rare is the student who plans to declare a major in English, philosophy, or history. Nathan Heller’s 2023 “The End of the English Major” in the New Yorker magazine pulls the data: the study of English and history has fallen by a third in US colleges over the last decade. Any student who tells me she wants to study a subject in the humanities usually amends herself quickly: “But I’ll study finance/engineering/computer science so I can have the lifestyle I grew up with.” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that … well, all those nickels would go into my kids’ college funds. 

There’s nothing harder than getting into your dream school and then not having the funds to pay for it. This blog answers common questions such as: Learning the difference between financial aid and merit offers in my college acceptance letter. How to appeal a financial or merit award from a college. And, how to know how much to ask for.

This post describes how to negotiate your award package in whatever form it comes (need-based or not).