Connecticut Parents of College Bound Students - Get More Free Money From Connecticut Colleges

One of the hidden gems in the Connecticut college financial aid process is the ability to appeal an awards letter if you don't agree with the amount of financial aid that a school has awarded your child. Most Connecticut parents reluctantly agree to the initial amount that the Connecticut colleges award, never taking the time to wonder if there is more than meets the eye.

However, in my experience the best way to get the best financial aid package from a college in Connecticut starts months before you ever receive a financial aid package. For example make the student as attractive as possible to the college by raising SAT and ACT scores and creating competition for the student by selecting 6-8 Connecticut colleges comprised of a low-cost in-state public college, college in the same athletic conference, similar college in a different region of the country (cultural diversity), similar college that is known to give good awards, similar college where the student will be in the top 25% of the incoming freshman class and most importantly a Connecticut college that has empty seats to fill.

If a student receives a good award offer from a competing Connecticut college, the student should ask his college of choice to match the other college's award offer. However, never use the word match in the correspondence or conversation with the financial aid officer. The word match offends some financial aid officers. It's important to remember that colleges with declining enrollments may be more willing to negotiate with a student because of their desire to fill empty seats.

Colleges in Connecticut may also have scholarships for upper-middle class and wealthy families to attract good students and future benefactors. Special scholarships for minority students are also a good idea. A student should inquire at the college for these scholarships. Some Connecticut colleges may even have special scholarships for students of alumni or legacy students. A college's desire for cultural diversity in its enrollment may lead to increased financial aid offers for students who are from out of the college's geographic region, or who are culturally different from its normal enrollment.

Once you have done all those steps and received an awards offer then you need to determine how much the college was short of meeting 100% of the financial need. Then you need to get the true cost at each Connecticut college and decide which is the best financial aid offer. The best way to do this for many parents is to hire a Connecticut college consultant or a Connecticut admissions counselor. While they or you are doing this research it is a good time to inquire about special circumstances that the college has previously accepted as reasons to amend an awards offer. Checking with the Financial Aid Office/Admission Office about the special circumstances before the initial financial aid award is offered can be done during a college visitation, phone or by letter.

These special circumstances may include:

Death

Divorce/Separation

Disability or Injury

Unemployment

Sickness, medical, or handicap expense

Tuition for private schools

Natural disasters

Dislocated worker

Unusually high child care expenses

Un-reimbursed expenses shown on Form 2106

One-time bonus

CCC loans reported as income

Unusually high income

Unusually low expense

Anything you can use to convince the financial aid officer

Another couple of good tips is to use the Connecticut college admissions office, coach, or any other Connecticut college officials to assist in the appeal and appeal in person, if possible. Always send adequate documentation of the special circumstances and never use the words negotiate or match in the appeal.

Connecticut parents find out how to send your child to the school of his or her dreams...without getting trapped in a financial nightmare of high rate, high payment, expensive debt! Click Here.

Find out the single biggest mistake 9 out of 10 parents make when applying for aid to Connecticut Colleges that literally cost them thousands of dollars! More importantly, how to avoid this fatal error! Click Here.

How to double, or in some cases triple, your eligibility for FREE grant money for Connecticut Colleges. even if you are dead broke or a millionaire making a good six figure income.

Biggest Secret About Financial Aid And Connecticut Colleges That Connecticut Parents Don't Know

One of the biggest secrets that Connecticut parents of college-bound students don't know is that by accepting a financial aid award offer from a Connecticut College you are not required that your student attend that college.

Hear me when I say this...

Your child is not required to attend a college simply because you sign and accept an awards offer!

So if you are like the thousands of Connecticut parents who are juggling timelines from many different schools then accept the initial awards if you are worried and then compare the rest as you receive them.

Let's take a look at this example to see how you could get the best of both worlds.

A student had applied and been admitted to four Connecticut colleges. He received a financial aid award offer from College 1 on February 13th. The award contained a $10,000 per year scholarship for the four years of college. The award offer had an acceptance deadline of March 21st. However, the student had not yet received his award offers from College 2, College 3 or College 4. The student then contacted College 1 and requested an extension of time to accept its award letter. However, the college denied his request and restated that the deadline for accepting its award offer and scholarship was March 21st.

The student then contacted Colleges 2, 3 and 4 and asked them to send their award offers to him before March 21st so that he could compare all four colleges' award letters. Colleges 2, 3 and 4 informed the student that they would be unable to send him their award letters until after March 21st. At this point, the student was faced with a huge decision. Should he accept College 1's award offer by March 21st, without knowing what College 2, 3 or College 4 would offer him, or should he wait until he received their award offers and miss the deadline (and lose the scholarship) for accepting College 1's offer?

Fortunately this student's parents had sought the expertise of a Connecticut college consultant and had attended Connecticut college admission counseling and as a result the student then signed and accepted Connecticut College 1's award offer. By accepting the offer, he safeguarded the award offer and scholarship. Nonetheless, the student was not obligated to actually attend College 1. The student then had time to receive the award offers from College 2, College 3 and College 4 and to review and compare the award offers from all four colleges.

If you are concerned about getting the best financial aid package at a college in Connecticut and do not know how to compare them then click on the link below to get dozens of free tips, strategies and insider secrets that will give you the specific knowledge that can help your student.

Connecticut parents find out how to send your child to the school of his or her dreams...without getting trapped in a financial nightmare of high rate, high payment, expensive debt! Click Here.

Find out the single biggest mistake 9 out of 10 parents make when applying for aid to Connecticut Colleges that literally cost them thousands of dollars! More importantly, how to avoid this fatal error! Click Here.

How to double, or in some cases triple, your eligibility for FREE grant money for Connecticut Colleges. even if you are dead broke or a millionaire making a good six figure income.