Stipulation Negotiation

That title sounds like it could be a song on Schoolhouse Rock.

Anyway, after posting yesterday about the likelihood of retaining my scholarship at Whittier, I decided to send an email to the Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid an email asking if we could reconsider the stipulations. I know it's not likely, as everyone that I've spoken with has said that their scholarships had the exact same tiered GPA requirement, but, once again, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

Here's what I sent:

XXX -

Thank you so much for the incredibly generous scholarship offer of $26,000 from Whittier Law School. Whittier has always been one of my "top contenders," and the scholarship offer goes quite a long way in putting it right at the top of my list.

However, the requirements on keeping the scholarship greatly worry me, and I'm afraid that, if they remain the way they are currently structured, it would be impractical for me to attend Whittier Law School -- while my first year would be affordable, the likelihood of me keeping my aid package at the same level is low, and the increase in cost would be prohibitive for me.

At this point in my application cycle, I have been offered admission and generous aid packages at other schools, and a majority of them seem that they would be easier to keep. For example, Southern Methodist University offered me over $21,000 a year, renewable as long as I remain in good academic standing (which is a 2.0 cumulative GPA).

I was hoping that there might be a way that the stipulations on my retaining my scholarship might be relaxed, or removed all together, in order to make my attendance more financially feasible.

I appreciate your time and dedication in this matter, and I hope that there is some way that you can consider my request. I look forward to hearing back from you, and am eager to move forward in the process of choosing a school.

Sincerely,

Twenty-Something Law

LXXXXXXXX

So, hopefully that's well-received over there at Whittier, and they at least consider my request. Honestly, if they removed the stips completely I would probably put Whittier as tied with McGeorge on my shortlist. I like Costa Mesa, I have friends who go there and friends who have graduated from there (and currently live/practice in the area), so it wouldn't be a bad time for me socially.

We'll see. If I was a betting girl I'd bet they send me a "haha, you're kidding right? NOPE" email within the next 48 hours, but you never can tell.