<p>jahphotogal, my heart goes out to you and your daughter. Being on so many waitlists, I hope you can get off of one, have your daughter keep in touch with her a/o, if she has a coach or music director that she has kept in touch with at the school, now is the time to keep those lines of communication open… it is going to be a long slog to try to get off those waitlists but it doesn’t</p>
<p>jahphotogal,
regarding NMH school you may be in the same boat with us. Mr. John Carroll called me and told me if we can say we don’t need FA, then DC would be admitted.
Tough.
You will get the letter saying the same on Monday.</p>
<p>Having survived two previous difficult March 10th decision days, I ache for what I know many families are going through today. It’s helpful to see posts from those who didn’t do so well. It seemed for us, at the time, that we were the only ones not completely overjoyed. For every happy poster, there are many who are silently brooding. We know that now but didn’t back then. </p>
<p>In retrospect, I can see that our search and expectations were pathetic. Nonetheless, watching a fragile/emerging teen ego cope with disappointment is gut-wrenching. I remember it well and it all came back during our first college application season. </p>
<p>Yet, we all look back and laugh now. While my kids didn’t end up at their first choice schools, they both love their schools now and can’t imagine why they were pining for anything else. For our college-bound Senior, her current state of gratitude is a joy to behold, and for the younger one, well, talk about a PERFECT fit… Was it a first choice? No. In fact, after an unsuccessful first round he was a June admit with viable FA. If you have no local options and are willing to look around, some of the less famous (but as we’ve learned, very good) boarding schools will still have openings in May/June or even later. </p>
<p>I hope you can take heart in knowing there are probably hundreds (thousands??) of silently grieving families reading these boards today.</p>
<p>Evrgrn, what’s your best advice for finding those less famous schools with good FA? We are presently waitlisted at her top three choices, one of which said she’d be in now if she didn’t need aid. Our local public school is just OK at best.</p>
<p>Japhotogal, we used BSR and school web sites to determine which schools had the languages and ECs we sought and then looked at places where our SSAT scores were above average. The size of the endowment is not as important, I believe, as how much you might add to their student body.</p>
<p>You can also “sort” on BoardingSchoolReview by “rolling admissions.” There are a lot of really great schools that are still accepting applications.</p>
<p>Great post, evrgrn! Spot on.</p>
<p>Try these all girl schools: Miss Hall’s, Miss Porter’s, Westover, Emma Willard and Grier. </p>
<p>Co-Ed: Berkshire, Blair, Canterbury, Pomfret, Putney, Suffield, Gunnery and Kents Hill School. Some of these are on the Hidden Gems Thread complete with links.</p>
<p>Also- consider a JBS for 9th- generous aid, rolling admissions and expert Secondary School placement. Some Junior Boarding Schools have been around for over 100 years and they’re excellent. </p>
<p>I’ve read your earlier posts and my heart goes out to you and your family. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to help any way I can.</p>
<p>Consider Indian Springs School in Birmingham, AL - a true hidden gem, with rolling admissions. Financial aid may still be available.</p>
<p>Ethel Walker is another all girl possibility, but I’ve heard mixed things about FA. Maybe someone who is more familiar with how they work can weigh in. SBS is down the street from Deerfield- that may also be an all girl school to look into.</p>
<p>This comment seems spot on.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1469372-full-pay-vs-financial-aid-applications-3.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1469372-full-pay-vs-financial-aid-applications-3.html</a></p>
<p>In our case, DC is rejected at Taft, Hill and Wait Listed at Blair, I think due to FA making it more competitive.</p>
<p>Last summer after DC took SSAT and SAT, we received several mail packages and postcards with DC’s name printed large about merit scholarships from</p>
<p>Culver Academy, Portsmouth Abbey School, Fountain Valley School, and McCallie School. </p>
<p>You may want to look into schools with merit aid.</p>
<p>You all are so encouraging and kind and helpful.</p>
<p>I have to say, the prospect of applying to more schools at this point is sort of exhausting - we have to regroup and figure out if we have the energy for that, or if we’d rather wait til next year. I am familiar with some of the school suggested here but not others – we have some more research to do! I’d really love for her to consider an all-girls school but so far that’s been a brick wall.</p>
<p>I have found the posts on this thread to be comforting as my son has gone through great disappointment this past weekend - half wait list and half denials. He was pretty crushed and as much as I had a hard time believing it myself, I kept telling him that there were still a couple of more to come and to see it through, hard as that might be. He had to go to school today and I think he was more embarrassed than anything else. He is at a public school so it probably is not quite as bad than it would be at an independent school. Late this afternoon he was doing his homework and I went down to the mailbox knowing that most likely I would find more bad news. I cannot tell you how stunned I was when I opened the box and saw a fat, orange package. He was accepted at Milton Academy, one of his top choices to begin with, and with a very generous aid package to boot. He is ecstatic and I’m really knowing the truth of “love the school that loves you.”</p>
<p>That said, I know that there are students out there who still haven’t received the one piece of good news that they seek. It may not come for you and for that you have my thoughts and prayers. But it might. My son was readying himself to try to work on the wait listed schools and something could have come through. But, no wait lists now. He’s going to Milton. Know Hope.</p>
<p>^^Great news, great attitude!</p>
<p>Chathan, congratulations, that’s wonderful! There’s no joy in Mudville this morning (literally - my driveway is about six inches deep in mud) - we’re just figuring out what next steps to take (try rolling admissions schools, call our Wait List schools and beg - and ask what the chances of FA might be if we do get off the list, and focus on how to make next year in public school as terrific as possible.</p>
<p>Congratulations Chathan & Payn4ward! Great post Evrgrn!
My D only applied 2 schools — Exeter & Andover, now she is waitlisted in both. 
At this point the chance for her to get off the list is very small, she can not imagine about applying again next year, hope time will heal.</p>
<p>Chathan and Payn4ward, way to go. </p>
<p>I am sure that almost all parents feel the same way-- I feel higher when my kids get what they want than when I do-- I feel worst when they get hurt than when I do. One of the most difficult things about them growing up is that you can’t “make it all better.” And that hurts us too.</p>
<p>exeterhopefulmom and jahphotogal–it is a tough lesson for her to learn at a too young age to have to learn it-- but let her know that the test of a person is what she or he does when life hands them lemons-- will she or he make lemonade? </p>
<p>My heart goes out to your families.</p>
<p>exeterhopefulmom - I feel your pain. My DC applied to the same 2 schools your D did and only these 2. Although we have wonderful choice locally, the one waitlist still hit us really hard. I know that DC has tried best, and the waitlist decision doesn’t change the fact that DC is a great student and person who is valued by many other schools.</p>
<p>jahphotogal - I have two daughters at Indian Springs School this year. They are absolutely loving the school and we have found their FA to be good. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I’ll be happy to try to answer them.</p>