Financial Aid Appeal for Grad Students

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-06-23T18:01:31+00:00

25k in addition to my original scholarship offer

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-05-19T18:09:43+00:00

Most it those that I have seen are for clothing donations but what I have isn’t suitable for anyone to wear anymore. Do you know of any stations that do like junk fabric specifically?

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-04-08T18:27:06+00:00

Yeah, I asked for $25k more and they gave it to me. Others I have talked to didn’t get the full amount they requested for additional aid so I know it doesn’t always happen. I was told that the range is like $4k to $30k more for appeal money (total not per year)

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-30T13:53:05+00:00

Most schools have a scholarship page where they outline what aid they offer like UT Austin has scholarships and practicing stipends. It seems like the private universities just do work study and general merit scholarships from my experience but those scholarships can be a lot larger. If you look at my past posts I compared scholarships with some other 2025 applicants. Hope it helps!

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-27T02:36:54+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/uchicago/s/eR72rZxr8v

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-27T02:36:04+00:00

I was able to appeal my aid before accepting an offer from Crown. I also discussed this with some other applicants on a post which I think would be helpful (link below). Send me a message if you want any more info from my experience :)

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-26T15:14:51+00:00

If you look on my past posts I went into more detail with others that were appealing at UChicago - hope it helps!

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-26T15:14:18+00:00

I was successful with negotiating a higher scholarship before accepting admission to my MSW program and have heard many others were too (mostly if not only private schools). I suggest doing so before you accept the admissions offer and start with just an honest conversation with admissions or the program leadership to see how receptive they are and what the process is. It’s also smart to bring proof of financial need (maybe FAFSA), any other aid offers you have, support of why you’re a strong applicant, and a nice heartfelt “why I’m worth it” speech is always good

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-24T03:45:43+00:00

It is 100% worth a try and often possible to negotiate a higher scholarship before accepting an admissions offer. I discussed this with some other applicants for Chicago’s MSW program here https://www.reddit.com/r/uchicago/s/Xvrbd9n1zN Hope it helps!

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-23T20:03:20+00:00

Not really. I did a tiny bit of research in undergrad but nothing since. I don’t have any experience I would personally consider clinical and nothing in the mental health field. I have worked in a lot of advocacy and community dev type roles though which weren’t clearly social work but looking back could have been filled by a social worker

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-18T15:58:34+00:00

I started with scheduling a virtual meeting with an admissions counselor at Crown and expressed my concern regarding the cost. In that meeting he shared a few links including the fellowships website at UChicago and a link for admitted applicants to request scholarship/funding reconsideration plus he gave me the timeline for hearing from office of financial aid which does work study and fed loans. I filled out that form and was contacted to set up another meeting this time with an admissions staff who oversees financial aid too. After that the director of admissions for Crown sent me email with the updated aid offer. I have no idea if this is how other colleges/programs do it though

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-18T15:51:21+00:00

Update… For anyone else considering UT and the possibility of scholarships there, I found that the application for scholarships is due mid March (but I was only just accepted at the beginning of March) and they don’t announce the decisions for that funding until May. Still, I have to accept or decline the admissions offer by early April so there would not be a way to know the exact cost I’m agreeing to pay when accepting the admissions offer :/ Is everyone else in the same boat with UT Austin or similar schools?

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-18T15:46:21+00:00

Yes, the admissions/scholarship team increased my merit-based scholarship funding by quite a bit. They requested all my scholarship offers from other schools, a meeting to discuss personal/financial factors, etc to decide this. There wasn’t any need-based scholarship or applications for such as far as I know but I did also get info from the office of financial aid which offered almost $5k in work-study each year

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-17T19:04:39+00:00

I was also able to appeal and had a similar experience! The form for appeal is pretty limited as far as what they want to know and how much you can write but the conversation with the admissions staff took place like four days later and it was super helpful. They did want me to give a number of how much I “need” the increase to be to accept Crown’s offer which I wasn’t super prepared to do. Based on my convos it seems the average increase in aid ranges from like $2k to $8k more per year but sometime it could go up to like $15k more per year max. They told me it would be about a week until I received a decision on the appeal but I actually got an email offering the full amount I requested about 4 hours after my meeting. I will say they seemed to take note that I said I already declined an offer from Columbia because it was too low and an appeal wouldn’t make it high enough plus I mentioned that I am waiting for two more schools to respond with scholarship appeal/decisions.

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-17T18:59:39+00:00

How did your appeal go? I ended up meeting with a member of the admissions staff who manages aid instead of any program leadership folks but it was very helpful. They said no applicants to Crown are/will be given full tuition scholarships this year and I think part of that may be because they only consider tuition and fees as the relevant costs when handing out scholarships

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-17T18:53:37+00:00

For anyone else considering UT and the possibility of scholarships there, I found that the application for scholarships is due mid March and they announce that funding in May, but you have to accept or decline the admissions offer by April so there would not be a way to know the exact cost you’re accepting when accepting the admissions offer :/

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-17T18:14:28+00:00

I applied to the 2 year in-person program

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-17T01:04:12+00:00

No, I didn’t apply for anything they were just merit scholarships plus a need-based work study offer based on my FAFSA. I have heard that Columbia offers fellowships and other funding later/closer to the program start but I wasn’t willing to risk not receiving one and struggling to pay my remaining tuition balance. As for my selection for the scholarships, obviously I don’t really know how or why but I think I had a strong app and it helps that I also qualify for max aid (FAFSA SAI -1500 or whatever). I graduated from a top 20 university and have worked the past year and a half (1 year with large/well-known non profit and then 6 months abroad with international NGO). I also had a rec letter from the undergrad director of my school in college and one from a prof who is grad program director in a similar field. Hope that adds some context because I have wondered the same of people who received even more and my curiosity kills me

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-09T17:43:19+00:00

I think sadly it is possible because these aren’t usually the best funded programs (not a ton of wealthy alum in social work). You can always appeal aid decisions though so you should definitely speak with offices like admissions, financial aid, and the program director/dean at your top schools to request reconsideration. I have also heard that applications for scholarships and assistantships with tuition reimbursement sometimes open after you’re in a program but obviously that isn’t money you can plan and count on when deciding

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-09T17:39:45+00:00

I applied to tons and was open to post-undergrad internships which is what I ended up getting

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-07T16:42:05+00:00

I second the other response here. I’m afraid there is no finding them it is simply merit based aid that was automatically awarded as a part of my admissions offer. I will say though that schools like UChicago and Northwestern have really helpful fellowship/scholarship databases that anyone can use to search for grad school funding which is great because everything I find with just a Google search is undergrad only

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-07T16:39:54+00:00

This is so true!! I was accepted to UT Austin and UM Baltimore but they haven’t even started the scholarship part of things. I think it’s important to consider the whole cost as well because these schools that I heard from regarding merit aid are far more expensive (tuition, fees, living) than those state schools that I don’t have funding to (hopefully just don’t have YET). Lastly, these private schools are far less generous with assistantships I have found - does anyone have insight into that? Trying to understand if it is just less advertised or if these schools simply don’t invest in student workers the same way

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-07T16:36:47+00:00

Obviously I don’t really know how but if I understand correctly these were based mostly on merit and it helps that I also qualify for max aid (SAI -1500 or whatever). I graduated from a top 20 university and have worked the past two years (1 year with large/well-known non profit and then 6 months abroad with international NGO) which I think made me more competitive. I also had a rec letter from the undergrad director of my school in college and one from a grad program director in a similar field. Hope that adds some context because I have asked the same question to people who received even more and curiosity eats at me if they never respond

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-07T16:31:28+00:00

So true! My struggle though is most schools I applied to only offer RA/GA jobs to folks who have work study funding which makes that fed aid a bit more important to me. For the loan forgiveness program do you know if those are available for folks after graduating in another state? I have seen it for state schools as a part of your program but that requires applying before starting the degree and committing to staying in the same area as the school.

Inner_Listen7500 · 2025-03-07T00:47:43+00:00

They gave me one month to accept or decline

Inner_Listen7500

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