<p>My son will be completing 9th grade at a competitive Jr. Prep next year.
His SSAT was 87 last year - no prep at all. May go up with study guide?<br>
Grades....Solid B and B+'s with some A's and the potential to be all A's (he's admits he is a bit lazy when it comes to school work, however that has been getting better - this past progress report was all A's one B+)
Sports - lacrosse, others are not traditional "team" sports (mountain biking, races motocross, skiing). Good athlete - nothing special - although current school is known to not be a sports school.
Will need financial aid
We all (him, parents, school) agree that a small school is better for him than larger
Head of school said he could get into an DEAS if he turned on the "horsepower" now - he certainly has the academic potential. But he would have to keep it turned on and he needs to think if he wants to be that intense for the next 4 years.</p>
<p>Current list developed with current school includes (a couple of these would be as a day student):
Proctor
Holderness
Kimball Union
Gould
Salisbury
NMH
St. Paul's
Trinity Pawling
Millbrook
Suffield</p>
<p>I know that SSAT's are not the whole story by any stretch, but they the schools above average either 90's or 70's or below. Acceptance rate is either 20% or 50% or over. Are there schools in between? Are we selling ourselves short by looking primarily at the schools with lower scores? We had decided that we were looking for a school that was a good match for our son. But now I'm wavering...
Ideas? Suggestions? General thoughts?</p>
<p>You may want to look at the MAPL schools, most of which fall "in between." They have average SSAT scores ranging from the mid 60's (Hun and Blair ) to the mid 70's (Hill, Peddie and Mercersburg) to the mid 80's (Lawrenceville). They all have strong academics, outstanding facilities and competive sports. All six schools have beautiful campuses, but in very different settings. Blair and Mercersburg are rural and Hun and L'ville are in and near Princeton respectively. Peddie and Hill are not in the best of towns, but Peddie is not far from Princeton, while Hill is close to Valley Forge and Philadelphia. The Peddie/Blair and Hill/Lawrenceville rivalries are among the oldest and most spirited in the country.</p>
<p>I think you have the best chance at day schools which are committed to taking a certain number of financial aid kids from their local area.</p>
<p>Your son, like me 7 years ago, is a good but not outstanding student. He probably would not get into the SPS category of school with or without aid unless he turns up the athletic horsepower. As I just wrote on another board, there is VERY little money for a white boy without a hook, a sport primarily. They just have too many full paying white applicants and bring socioeconomic diversity through their established relationships with diversity programs. A middle class non athlete from North Dakota just won't cut it.</p>
<p>In my experience it's like merit scholarships for college, you need to be at the very top of a school's pool. I only got doable aid from schools where I was at the very top. Turned out fine for me though but I'll warn that after you see the top school's facilities, the stark differences become clear and it's hard to turn back.</p>
<p>As I posted on another thread, I don't necessarily agree with all you said.
We have a couple of options - a boarding school as a day student. We don't have our minds set on any one option - boarding or day. We are looking for the right "fit."
Unfortunately you were caught in the big stock market down turn when endowments were losing value despite increasing contributions. Indpendant school nightmare. That in turn meant less financial aid. Now however, the stock market is increasing and endowment monies available for aid is on the rise (most schools use a rolling 3 or 5 year average to figure what they can draw out). </p>
<p>As I said, we are looking for a good fit and it seems like there are not a lot of "middle" schools.</p>
<p>Your financial analysis makes sense in theory but I don't think it's right. Most schools have not used increased endowments for scholarships as you can see by the desperate facilities boom going on at BSs because the average ones are having survival issues.</p>
<p>Think about it, these schools all have agendas. It is only schools like Andover that tweak the student body by adding more middle class. The average school could care less, a middle class white kid does not make them look better in print or pictures. Their "diversity" dollars are strategically spent.</p>
<p>I don't know, collegekid. Without providing specifics, I will tell you that my older son (absolutely not an athlete) who is a white male has recieve very significant financial aid from several schools.</p>
<p>I think that quite a bit will depend on how desirable the student actually is and well they would fit in with the school.</p>
<p>Are you saying that your son was a non athlete and had no hook and received a no loan ride at a competitive reasonably reputed BS? If yes, it's extremely rare so share the names! In the end, with us, schools admitted it's supposed to hurt and for most it does. They told my parents they would save $2K/yr from my not being home eating and using utilities that they could contribute. The obviously didn't know the size of my house or what we ate. Of course none of this comes up until you're blind sighted.</p>
<p>I'd sure love to hear from kids who applied these last couple of years about if aid was what they expected and how much they think it effected admissions.</p>
<p>They told my parents they would save $2K/yr from my not being home eating and using utilities that they could contribute. The obviously didn't know the size of my house or what we ate. Of course none of this comes up until you're blind sighted.
That is all part of the formula that determines your estimated family contribution. Along with your income, the size of your family, how many kids are in school and paying tutition, the equity in your home (that was a killer for your parents), the cost of living in your area...all of that goes into determining your estimated family contribution. Yes, it is more for boarding schools than day schools because of the food and utilities. </p>
<p>I know many white, non-hook, middle class kids that have gotten very nice amounts of aid that have been in the range of their demonstrated need. </p>
<p>Yes, paying for a private school education is a commitment. We understand that. Hopefully we can back on topic which was about schools that might be a good fit for my son. Thanks!</p>
<p>Linda, were these kids without high dollar financial need, the kind who just need $10K or so? My school had lots of those, they discounted like many mid range BSs. Dealing with aid made clear that they dealt with many upper middle class families as compared to us.</p>
<p>As for your list, it depends where you're from. If you're from New England ratchet it down a bit. I would have 3 safety/low reach schools where his GPA is above average and average SSAT no higher than 75, a solid match with SSAT 85 and 2 reaches, only one of which is AESD.</p>
<p>If your son is strong locally I'd have a hard look at your local schools.</p>
<p>Linda -- have you seen my son's current list of schools:</p>
<p>Mercersburg
NMH
Fountain Valley
Conserve
Midland
St. Andrews, DE</p>
<p>He was looking for schools that give decent FA, are not super competitive, where he would be at the top of the class academically, strong in college placement and that had an outdoor program. Location wasn't an issue, since only one is close.</p>
<p>another school that impressed me was Salisbury -- no outdoor program, but you might check it out also.</p>
<p>Does you son really want to stay on the east coast? If not -- take a look at Conserve, he might really like it. The downside is that it is isolated -- but great facilities, great FA and they would really want him -- as a new school, they are really looking for geographic diversity. it might be a good safety/match.</p>
<p>collegekid -- I am not interested in providing names. my older son does not participate in team sports. No loans were ever offered, just grants. His test scores are high, but not off the chart or NMS in 10th grade or anything. he does have a rather unique passion and he is a good student.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to offend Stef if I may call you that. FA at BSs, as you can tell, is a pet peeve of mine. I feel my parents, farmers, were encouraged to borrow more than they should have. They are adults yes, but farmers with no education. They wanted the best for me and literally mortgaged the farm. I'm glad your son found a great school with no loans and I was asking for names because my cousin is hoping to spend 2 years at a prep without borrowing.
searching this site it's hard to find a candidate that wasn't a urm that got great aid. I also want to make clear that I ended up loving my BS years and would do it over, money and all. There are so many posts on here where kids are shocked by their EFC yet the college EFC is nothing compared to what BSs expect and there's little talk here about it.</p>
<p>hsmomstef....you're older kid and younger kid both sound like my older son! He was an excellent student....4.0GPA through middle school. Good, but not great SSAT's, good not great athlete, numerous well-developed interests and involvements and a very engaging personality. His essay (winning Dupont science) and interview were both wonderful. He received significant fa......mostly grants...at a well known New England bs. He is local and white. </p>
<p>My younger son, on the other hand, has a hook and got full grant.</p>
<p>My freshman roommate didn't need aid, but he needed his sport to get in. He had a private coach for his sport in addition to his club coaches and HS coach. His parents flew him home for weekends to work with the coach. He always struggled with academics though and is now a junior at Harvard still playing the sport. Lots of kids like him came in 9th grade and starred on varsity.</p>