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This Strategy Saved My Student $64,000 on College
How to write an effective financial aid appeal letter
I have known twin sisters, Alana and Amanda, from the start of their junior year in high school. Through Capture Greatness’s Scholarship Club, I have the pleasure of coaching them on their college and scholarship journeys. Both young ladies worked very hard to maintain their positions in the top of their graduating class, score high on the SAT, and become standout students for college admission.
Amanda got her letters of admission first. Both of her top choice schools offered her their highest merit scholarship (around $35,000 per year) and some other grants and awards.
Great! Right?
Not so fast. I was floored when I read her financial aid award letters. While she received a very generous scholarship from these Polytechnic Institutes the full cost to attend, either, was over $70,000 per year! For one of the schools she would have to come up with $29,000 annually and the other $32,000.
There was no way her parents could afford to put two daughters through college, at the same time, and pay $30,000 for one, without taking on loads and loads of debt.
So we got to work on an appeal letter.
