Merit scholarships from a college are not always final. Admissions and financial-aid offices sometimes have room to increase a merit award to enroll a student they want, especially early in the cycle. Here is how to ask well.
Email the admissions or financial-aid office, be warm and specific, and make one clear request: whether they can review your merit award. Include your student ID, the competing offer if you have one, and any new accomplishments. Keep it short and never demand a number.
There is no guarantee, and some schools have fixed merit formulas with no flexibility. But it costs nothing to ask, and a courteous, well-supported request is sometimes met. If merit does not budge, pivot to need-based aid and outside scholarships.
For the need-based side, see how to appeal your award, and use our scholarship finder for outside money. Confirm anything federal at studentaid.gov.
If your situation changed, you can appeal. We draft it around your school's own policy.
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