Chris Teare

My wife and I have tried to raise our daughters with a house rule of "No television at all and no videos on school nights." It's not that we're zealots, on the order of reformed smokers, but rather it's that we remember what a waste our hours in front of the boob tube were.

An especially egregious offering was "Let's Make A Deal," a game show starring Monty Hall.

The show was dumb, but the principle may apply when your offers of college admission and financial aid roll in over the next few weeks. Seniors and parents need to know that they can deal - if for nothing else than at least for a comparable offer from a school the student would prefer to attend.

With the exorbitant price tags involved, contestants in this high stakes college-cost game need to know how to work with financial aid officers before selecting Door No. 1, Door No. 2 or Door No. 3.

Sometimes these negotiations are very straightforward, where accepted students take their aid offer from College X to College Y to see whether Y wants to match, or perhaps even beat, X. Not all colleges and universities like this practice, but I've seen it work for a few students each year. The college that probably has done the most to encourage such fiscal candor is Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Dr. William F. "Bill" Elliott, vice president for enrollment at CMU, introduced me to deeper understanding of financial aid and marketing during a summer conference at Bucknell University in 1988 by playing his unique Beer Can Game. Thinking about colleges as brands with varying market positions, and realizing that the smart ones are paying very close attention to who is and who isn't buying their product, Bill Elliott taught us about competitive pricing.

Elliott, who has been working to determine the fairest aid packages possible for 40 years, says that his goal is to level the playing field. "We seek to make the out-of-pocket expenses exactly the same" so that students can make their decision to enroll based on which school feels right rather than which school costs less. This attempt to neutralize the impact of money was once a widespread practice. Then the Justice Department decided that such collaboration between colleges and universities amounted to price-fixing, and communication between institutions ceased. Rather than continue the comparisons in private, Carnegie Mellon chose, according to Elliott, to make the process "transparent and let the sunshine in."

Elliott stresses that CMU does not do this work over the phone but insists instead on receiving a fax of the actual award letter from the other institution. Then, twice a day, he and the director of admissions engage in "one round only" decisions on what CMU will or won't do to adjust their original offer. CMU believes in this process and uses the data it collects to understand more about its own market position in relation to other colleges and universities.

So Carnegie Mellon is the national leader in talking turkey when it comes to cash. The Fiske Guide To Getting Into The Right College also credits Williams College of Williamstown, Mass. - a perennial winner of the U.S. News & World Report ranking as No. 1 National Liberal Arts College - as also encouraging accepted applicants "to come forward if they get a superior (financial) offer from another college."

Thus when it comes to financial aid awards, it is worth a fax to see whether the first bottom line your college puts forward is in fact its rock-bottom best offer. And this business of appealing is not simply a matter of pitting one offer against another. Sometimes there are matters that you or your family may feel have not been fully understood in the financial aid office. As long as you proceed in a careful and respectful manner, it's worth a parental phone call to an aid officer to make sure all the factors you want considered have been included in the calculation.

As the Fiske Guide puts it, "No less than Harvard has quietly indicated a willingness to be flexible in such cases. Financial aid appeals don't always work, but there is no better way to find out if you really got the college's best offer. As long as you maintain proper courtesy, you have nothing to lose."

As with applying in the first place, the worst thing the college can say to you is, "No, I'm sorry. We can't do that." You've risked rejection once and survived. So, when it comes to money, why not roll the dice yet again?

For you younger students who know you eventually will be applying for aid, please include a visit to the financial aid office when you visit colleges. Personal contact can't possibly hurt when you may eventually need to make a call or send a fax to ask for consideration. Think about it as you would think about seeking a mortgage on your home or negotiating a business loan: Does it help to know your banker? April 3: The University of the Virgin Islands offers numerous four-year scholarships to students meeting various criteria. To be considered, a student must complete the university's scholarship application, have a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, have minimum SAT scores of 500 verbal and 490 math, and have applied for admission to UVI. Scholarships range from $1,000 to full tuition, fees, contracted room and board, and a book allowance. April 14: The V.I. Water And Power Authority offers its Alva C. McFarlane Scholarship to high school seniors pursuing degrees in engineering by starting in the Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics (3-2 Engineering Program) at UVI. The scholarship also can be attained by students seeking a two-year associate's degree at an accredited college or university. The bachelor's degree scholarship amount may range up to $60,000; the associate's degree scholarship is up to $20,000. Criteria include academic performance (grade point average and SAT scores), community service record, performance in a face-to-face interview and financial need. For more information, call 774-3552. April 28: Prosser ICC Foundation offers two scholarships. The Albert A. Sheen Scholarships are two tuition-only grants of $20,000. Applicants must be graduating seniors from a USVI high school with proof of acceptance to an institution of higher learning who are planning to pursue a degree in human resources, marketing, engineering, mass communications, journalism, computer science, education, health or social studies. Prosser ICC also offers 12 Innovative Telephone/UVI Scholarships of $1,000 each to students planning to attend UVI; these are one-time-only awards that Prosser ICC matches on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Forms are available at www.iccvi.com. Click on the Prosser ICC Foundation tab, then on programs and scholarships, then scroll down to the link. For more information, call 713-8998. May 1: The Rotary Club of St. Thomas II offers its Macon M. Berryman Scholarship to UVI. It is good for four years and covers tuition, books and fees related to the tuition. It is only transferable off-island if the recipient is part of a cooperative program with UVI, in which case the student still would be enrolled officially at UVI. Call 775-5147 or 690-0307 for more information or to obtain forms. May 12: The Corporation for National & Community Service is offering The Presidential Freedom Scholarship to high school juniors and seniors who exemplify outstanding leadership and service to their communities. The corporation will award each student $500, which is matched by a local community-based organization. Each high school or Boys and Girls Club is eligible to nominate two students. Students must have completed at least 100 hours of community service in order to be eligible. More information is available at www.learnandserve.gov/about/programs/pfs.asp. For more information, call the office of Delegate to Congress Donna M. Christensen at 774-4408.

Local scholarships

For seniors, don't overlook local scholarships, which that can be a big help. Here is an updated list of ones still available. There are five more listed this week, along with five from last week where the deadlines have not passed yet, and all are listed again in the chronological order of the deadlines. In addition to these local offerings, students should be sure to check www.FastWeb.com for national scholarship competitions. April 7: Tropical Shipping offers its four-year Academic Scholarship, which can be worth up to $8,000 per year. In addition to initial criteria including 3.0 grade point average, financial need, SAT or ACT scores, community service, essay, interview, recommendation, and acceptance to an accredited institution, this scholarship committee requires recipients to submit their college grades for review at the end of each term. For more information, call 776-8767. April 21: The University of the Virgin Islands offers the Jason Carroll Memorial Fund Scholarship Essay Context to seniors in the St. Thomas and St. John district. Local high school seniors are encouraged to submit a 1,000-word essay titled "How the Virgin Islands will stop the excessive violence in its community" to UVI's Office of Institutional Advancement, No. 2 John Brewers Bay, Faculty West No. 7, St. Thomas, VI 00802-9990. Criteria include: VI resident, under the age of 20, demonstrated personal commitment against violence, willingness to participate in the Mothers Against Guns run-walk on May 21, 2006, and a minimum 2.5 grade point average. Men are strongly encouraged to apply! April 29: Caneel Bay offers its $10,000 scholarship to one or more Virgin Islands students from the St. Thomas-St. John district who are planning on entering or currently are attending an accredited institution of higher learning. Selection is based on academic performance, financial need and extracurricular activities. Candidates must submit letters of acceptance or transcripts from an institution of higher learning, three letters of recommendation or reference, an essay on career goals and how the schooling planned will prepare them to attain these goals, and a secondary school transcript. For more information, contact Caneel Bay Human Resources at 776-6111. May 1: The V.I. Board of Education Territorial Scholarship Application and Promissory Note offers students the chance to seek additional grants and loans. For more information, call 772-4144 on St. Croix or 774-4546 on St. Thomas. June 30: Sterling Optical offers its four annual Adams-Mahepath Scholarships of $1,250 each for one year to graduating seniors. Call 774-8500 for more information. Private SAT tutoring: Antilles School faculty members Mike Cook and Cameron Tareen offer private SAT tutoring. Both are trained instructors of Thomson Peterson's SAT Preparation Course and experienced one-on-one tutors. Students may sign up for hourly tutoring with either instructor at the rate of $60 per hour. Discounted packages that combine English and math review are available. To sign up, contact mcook@antilles.vi or ctareen@antilles.vi SAT Prep series on TV: The V.I. Public Television System, WTJX TV 12, will air an SAT Prep series at noon on Saturdays and Sundays and at 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The SAT's "Writing Section" will be covered at 6 tonight. The "Introduction to the Math Section" segment is at 6 p.m. Thursday. This weekend will feature algebra at noon Saturday and geometry at noon Sunday. Students who need additional information about the subjects covered should log on to www.standarddeviants.com or call Goldhill Entertainment at 800-238-9669. ACT Online Prep: The ACT will be offered on April 8 and June 12. Talk to your school counselor to register and obtain a practice test. In contrast to the SAT's three sections - critical reading, math and writing -the ACT has four sections: English, math, reading and science. Colleges understand that the ACT optional essay is not an option to Virgin Islanders, and they almost all accept ACT scores without a writing sample. The students I work with tell me that they have found the questions on the ACT to be more manageable than those on the SAT but they feel the need to work quickly to complete each section. I urge juniors to take both the ACT and the SAT then use the tables available at www.collegeboard.com to determine which score is superior before submitting the better result. You can prepare online for the ACT at www.actonlineprep.com for $19.95.

SAT and ACT Prep