In college I was offered minimal financial aid even though my situation, when viewed from a rational lens, warranted it. After having every effort blocked by l

In college I was offered minimal financial aid even though my situation, when viewed from a rational lens, warranted it. After having every effort blocked by lower level staff in the office I wrote a snail mail letter to the president of the university, I was very polite, didn't ask for anything, but expressed my displeasure at the situation in a rational fashion. I received a response from his office asking permission to forward the letter to the head of financial aid... That letter saved me >$75K :D Edit : Come to think of it, most of my wins haven't been social engineering as much as persistence.