Asking For Scholarship Money When None Was Offered (Actual Case)

[battousaiken]

This was the original e-mail sent to the school:


"Dear Admissions Committee,


I am writing first, to let you know how excited I am about the possibility of attending ***** ***** Law School. I am forever grateful to all of you for taking a chance on me and admitting me to the school and I will not disappoint you in any way.


It comes as no surprise for me to say that ***** is my #1 choice and that I will do my best to attend. Unfortunately, my financial situation most likely prevents me from attending without some type of scholarship. I could take the maximum amount of loans available but that will still not be sufficient, as I am married and have a newborn child.


I am petitioning the Admissions Committee for a scholarship so that I can attend the School of Law and once again, promise that I will not disappoint you, should you offer one to me. I am aware that my numbers are not at the level were you usually offer merit-based scholarships to students, but as I wrote in my application, I truly believe that my numbers do not accurately convey the type of student that I am, or my intellectual abilities. If necessary, I would accept a scholarship on a conditional basis, as I am positive that I will do everything in my power to assure you that I am deserving of it.


Please consider my request and get back to me as soon as you can. Thank you for your time,


Sincerely,


*******************

S.S. #: ***-**-****"




This was their very evasive response 2 hours later:


"Dear Mr. *****,


Thank you for contacting ***** ***** Office of Admissions. In regards to your email; we do not have separate scholarship applications or opportunities. All students will be considered for scholarships when they are reviewed by the committee for admissions. Any scholarship will be awarded in an acceptance letter.


Regards,

***** "

This response was useless as I had already known this. I decided to write an e-mail to the Dean of the Law School. This is what I wrote:


"Dear Dean *****,


I recently contacted the Admissions Committee with a reasonable concern about my financial situation and admission to ***** ***** but the response received was simply a reiteration of the Admission Committee's policies. I was actually asking the committee to reconsider their initial (policy) decision and look into the possibilities of awarding me a scholarship.


I have decided to send this second e-mail directly to you in hopes that you can forward it to a person that could take my request into consideration, maybe even, and hopefully yourself. Enclosed (below) is my original e-mail with the request, and the committee's response.


Thank you so much for your time and I apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause you.


Sincerely,


***** *****

S.S. #: ***-**-****"


I haven't sent that last e-mail yet. What do you guys think. Should I send it?

[wildcataz2004]

I wouldn't send it to the Dean of the law school. rather the dean/ director of admissions. Also, your request doesn't make sense- Why should they give you a scholarship just because you're married with a child and loans are available for the complete cost of attendence and you knid of say that they are not enough...just my thoughts

[littletanuki]

Well, I would revise the original email before I send it along to the dean. 

I would lose the parts about you disappointing them.  They have already decided that you probably won't "disappoint" them as they have offered you admission.  They already know that your numbers aren't at the level that they offer merit scholarships to because that's the purpose of the email, to petition for one.  I don't intend to be mean when I say this, but the original email sounds a little...cloying? 

I would just say that you are emailing to request reconsideration for a scholarship.  If you have any scholarship offers from other schools, I would definitely mention those.  I would close by saying that school X is your first choice, and that without a scholarship, it will be exceedingly difficult for you to attend, due to financial constraints. 

[schnorer]

i totally agree with the above.

[kg201]

I was actually in the exact same situation as you.  I was offered no scholarship money or grants aside from federal loans.  Tuition and living expenses would be in excess of 50k per year, and it would extremely difficult to afford to attend without some sort of assistance.  I wrote a letter to the dean of admissions explaining my situation, and that I was extremely commited to attending and contributing to the school.  I would mention a particular aspect of the school that makes it your first choice (specialty field, certain clinical programs, etc.).  Don't sound like you are begging for money.  If you present a convincing reason for being unable to afford tuition, and the school has enough discretionary funds to make an offer, hopefully they will try and accomodate you to some degree.  

DON'T waste your time with the admissions committee.  Address a physical letter to the director of admissions and financial aid.  Wait for a response, and then follow up with a phone call to the same person.  The phone call is what makes the issue personal.  Then, you are not just some applicant sending yet another email to complain.  If you make the effort to talk one on one with someone (director of admissions or whoever is in charge of making scholarship decisions) your chances will be much greater.  I ended up getting a substantial scholarship to the school I plan on attending when I was originally offered nothing.  And it was all because I persisted when I was originally told that there were no funds available.  It was only after I had a phone conversation with someone that I was offered something.  

Good Luck!  If it worked for me, you definitely have a chance.

[stuvxyz]

Call the Dean/Director of Admissions NOT the dean of the law school.

This was the original e-mail sent to the school:


"Dear Admissions Committee,


I am writing first, to let you know how excited I am about the possibility of attending ***** ***** Law School. I am forever grateful to all of you for taking a chance on me and admitting me to the school and I will not disappoint you in any way.


It comes as no surprise for me to say that ***** is my #1 choice and that I will do my best to attend. Unfortunately, my financial situation most likely prevents me from attending without some type of scholarship. I could take the maximum amount of loans available but that will still not be sufficient, as I am married and have a newborn child.


I am petitioning the Admissions Committee for a scholarship so that I can attend the School of Law and once again, promise that I will not disappoint you, should you offer one to me. I am aware that my numbers are not at the level were you usually offer merit-based scholarships to students, but as I wrote in my application, I truly believe that my numbers do not accurately convey the type of student that I am, or my intellectual abilities. If necessary, I would accept a scholarship on a conditional basis, as I am positive that I will do everything in my power to assure you that I am deserving of it.


Please consider my request and get back to me as soon as you can. Thank you for your time,


Sincerely,


*******************

S.S. #: ***-**-****"




This was their very evasive response 2 hours later:


"Dear Mr. *****,


Thank you for contacting ***** ***** Office of Admissions. In regards to your email; we do not have separate scholarship applications or opportunities. All students will be considered for scholarships when they are reviewed by the committee for admissions. Any scholarship will be awarded in an acceptance letter.


Regards,

***** "

This response was useless as I had already known this. I decided to write an e-mail to the Dean of the Law School. This is what I wrote:


"Dear Dean *****,


I recently contacted the Admissions Committee with a reasonable concern about my financial situation and admission to ***** ***** but the response received was simply a reiteration of the Admission Committee's policies. I was actually asking the committee to reconsider their initial (policy) decision and look into the possibilities of awarding me a scholarship.


I have decided to send this second e-mail directly to you in hopes that you can forward it to a person that could take my request into consideration, maybe even, and hopefully yourself. Enclosed (below) is my original e-mail with the request, and the committee's response.


Thank you so much for your time and I apologize for the inconvenience that this may cause you.


Sincerely,


***** *****

S.S. #: ***-**-****"


I haven't sent that last e-mail yet. What do you guys think. Should I send it?