10 reviews for Understanding Merit Aid
Only logged in customers who have purchased this product may leave a review.
Understanding Merit Aid
$199.00
New York Times money columnist Ron Lieber’s new online video course distills his years of research and reporting on how to save money with Merit Aid into one comprehensive resource for families who are shopping for college. With his course, you’ll learn that Merit Aid is available at most schools, how it works and how to get the highest amount possible. Already have a Merit Aid offer? The course will help you make the best possible appeal to a school for an improved package with even more money.
Pamela H (verified owner) –
Great course! Helped me understand the realities of “merit” aid and kept me rational as my child bucked the trend and did not ED anywhere — a decision that is saving us $18k per year! I also emailed Ron out of the blue, and he responded with some very helpful thoughts on our particular situation. Highly recommend.
Bonnie Schwartz (verified owner) –
After doing Ron’s course I felt much more confident that my daughter, who is quite studious, will receive adequate aid at one of the many colleges in this country that offer it and perhaps through other means as well. My biggest takeaway was a sense of optimism. During this college search and application period, that sense of optimism is priceless. Ron has a lot of knowledge about college aid and how to access it; it is worth it for parents to tap into his knowledge bank to understand better how to move through what can initially seem like an oblique system and process.
Katie Bacon (verified owner) –
Even though I’m in this field, I learned so much from this course. The information here is very empowering. I learned that the merit aid a college offers is not just a static number–Ron Lieber gives specific tools for how to effectively ask colleges for more. I was also fascinated to learn how some elite colleges, including Duke and University of Chicago, have used merit aid to pull excellent students their way. So much about the college admissions process these days makes students and families feel powerless; this course helps families take some of that power back by being as financially informed as possible.
Brian Page (verified owner) –
The return on your investment in purchasing Ron’s course is exponentially better than a 529k. The college pricing and aid system are a maze that only those “in the know” can navigate. Nobody is better suited to take us by the hand and guide us through the maze than Ron Lieber.
Joanna Cohen (verified owner) –
This course has been incredibly helpful to me as I navigate the college application process with my daughter, who is now a senior in HS. I only wish I had taken the course earlier, as I would have been more clear on whether or not my daughter should apply Early Decision, as well as how to seek out schools that would really like a student like my daughter to attend, and therefore are more likely to give her merit aid. This course has been very eye-opening, and I look at the application process in an entirely different light now!
Jane Berk (verified owner) –
As if applying to colleges these days isn’t complicated enough, every so-called “expert” is suddenly seeking you out through tell-tale algorithms and an avalanche of social media sites with advice. They try to seduce you into signing up for their utterly “singular” and “fool-proof” programs for a crazy amount of money when you are most vulnerable… IGNORE THEM ALL except for Ron LIEBER who has the credentials, experience, and unassailably good-conscience to offer the very best advice in a logical and easily digestible manner. Ron spells out the what, how, and why out of the enormously (emotionally and financially taxing) college application process with a level of care and concern that is truly personal. He possesses the rarest combination of assets – – the best parts of working with a financial advisor, therapist, and best friend all in one person!
This program is essential for understanding the challenging proposition of attending and paying for dream colleges without wasting your time or your money. A true life – saver!
Timothy Steeg (verified owner) –
The only take away from this course for me was Ron’s pointing out that college financial aid personnel see themselves as academics and are comparatively underpaid, so the request for more aid needs to be sensitive to that audience. But of course I am not going to talk down to anyone, especially not someone from whom I am asking for assistance. The majority of the content of Understanding Merit Aid focuses on determining which schools are likely to give aid and which are not. The fault is in me for not forcing my kids to apply to schools where the college is playing the money game to compete with other colleges. I let my kids choose their schools applied to based on location, size, available majors, etc. My kids (two high school seniors and a college freshman) have received merit offers of $12,000 from Arizona State, $15,000 from Mizzou, $33,000 from Ithaca, $10,000 from Emerson, $8500 from College of Charleston, $12,000 from Kentucky with no aid offered yet from Syracuse or Penn State. I asked my kids to write to the financial aid offices asking for more merit aid and only changed grammatical/punctuation errors in their emails, even after my taking Ron’s course.
One item of note for those appealing merit awards: last year my daughter received an $8500 merit award from Charleston. I wanted to write the school asking for more, but a college application specialist we hired for about $10,000 told me to hold off on sending that letter. I listened to her for a while, unfortunately, because when I finally decided to write a letter to the college anyway, the response from College of Charleston was that the deadline for requesting additional aid had passed three days before they received my request. Be aware that there are deadlines for appealing merit aid offers!
I wish I could say Understanding Merit Aid was worth the couple hundred I spent. I guess I did learn about how to find schools that compete with other schools with merit aid offers, but for my situation there was no dollar value added.
Ron Lieber (verified owner) –
Thanks for this feedback, and I’m glad you got something out of the course. I interviewed so many admissions professionals put off by how families treat them like used car salespeople. Some of them have told me how much they learned from my work when their own kids were applying, which to me is the highest compliment. And yes, some $10,000 consultants don’t understand merit aid and the peculiar appeal deadlines, because they work mostly with an affluent client base. At just $199, I’m helping families fill the knowledge gaps that many professionals have. Thanks also to pros like Katie Bacon (see her review) who have offered such positive reviews and to other counselors who have bought a license to have everyone in their school take the course.
Josh Hamermesh (verified owner) –
As a father of an incoming college student and teacher of a high school Personal Finance class, I can attest to the value and importance of Ron’s Understanding Merit Aid course. Ron simplifies the complicated web of navigating the merit aid and financial aid processes into tangible and actionable steps. Without the expert advice that Ron provides, it can be very confusing to know how to ask for and obtain merit aid. My main takeaways from this course are — 1) if you don’t ask for aid, you don’t get it; and 2) if you know how to ask for it in a strategic manner, your chances of getting aid are enhanced significantly. I look forward to deploying the tactics I learned from Ron with my son and students. They will benefit greatly from Ron’s advice!
James Robinson (verified owner) –
Super-helpful guide to college funding with clear and useful tips on how to make the most of merit aid offers.
Amy Port (verified owner) –
This is a super useful and insightful short course from someone who understands the complexity of the admissions and financial aid world. It’s unique in the marketplace as far as we’ve been able to find, and it is appreciated!
I’ll also add, I emailed Ron with a question and heard back from him promptly, within minutes. This is someone who clearly cares about parents and kids in the higher education marketplace.