Scholarship Negotiations - Early Admit vs Regular Admit

[Guest SIPA_MPA18]

I searched through similar threads and couldn't quite come up with a similar situation to mine, so if I missed it somewhere else, just go ahead and re-direct me

I was offered Early Admission to SIPA but the scholarship offer (if there is one) will not be revealed until March when the "main body" admits get theirs. Given how expensive SIPA is and the fact that it is my top choice, does it benefit me to accept my admissions offer scholarship-blind now and pay the deposit to demonstrate my excitement/willingness to enroll or should I wait for offers from other schools to try and negotiate? I just received my admissions offer to NYU Wagner but there was no mention of scholarship info yet and I'm still waiting on Duke Sanford, from which I expect a pretty decent offer if I'm accepted.

Additionally, I am a veteran and will get the Post 9/11 GI Bill (~$21K per year) and some portion of the schools' Yellow Ribbon allotments (TBD). At SIPA, that will leave me short about $12K/year. I plan on taking out student loans to help cover living expenses since I have a pretty large amount of personal debt and NYC apartments have a ridiculous income to rent ratio. 

Any help/advice from current/former students would be appreciated!

[Poli92]

I'm neither a current nor former student, but I would advise waiting. If you accept their offer now, you will give away your bargaining position. Offering a larger funding package is a way for the school to incentivize you to come there, and if you commit at this point, you are signaling to the school that you will go regardless of what kind of funding you get. Also, waiting gives you the opportunity to leverage any other offers that you might receive. 

[loveglove]

I agree with Poli92. In addition, once you have news about financial aid from the other schools you will also be able to use them as a bargaining chip (ie: "NYU gave me 15k, can you bump up that 10k to match it?") 

[Guest SIPA_MPA18]

Thanks Poli92 and loveglove. Common sense when it comes to negotiating says I should of course wait and see what else is offered and my gut tells me that as well. The admissions offices tell you to accept as soon as possible, but I fear losing that leverage if I've already committed to them. 

Has anyone had success negotiating a better scholarship after accepting their admissions offer from a school?

[sp108]

mpp2016, do you know when we hear back from Duke?

[Guest SIPA_MPA18]

10 hours ago, sp108 said:

mpp2016, do you know when we hear back from Duke?

As far as I know it is Early to Mid-March.