<p>@cassat: Wow. Harsh. But at least you knew it wasn’t because you were a weak applicant, so I guess that’s good. Are you at Andover currently (judging from your Location: Andover '14)? If so, congrats! :)</p>
<p>@Weatherby: Would you compare being FP to being a URM? Is it kind of benefit that doesn’t determine your admittance, but could sway them one way or another, or give you a “leg up”?</p>
<p>@Aubreygal: I do not know and doubt anyone can give you a real answer backed by data. Clearly, nearly all schools have limitations and all husband their resources in these trying economic conditions. I imagine FA decisions are very difficult in general but given two equal candidates, it seems logical that the Full Pays would have a statistical advantage on M10. So, I suppose your analogy to URM is somewhat apt except the FA tips it maybe slightly in the wrong direction. This is just my opinion, please do not put much weight on it. GL</p>
<p>The so-called full-pay is not really full pay. Top schools spent close to 80K a year on a student, They charged less than 50K.</p>
<p>The factors are: tuition rates and money drawn from endowment produce income. The biggest expense is salaries, followed by financial aid. So except for the very few cases where admission is need-blind (because a seriously “robust” endowment can afford to subsidize any shortfall from FP admits, at least for a short window), FP is definitely an advantage because even though those families aren’t paying the “total cost” (i.e, every student is somewhat subsidized by the endowment), they are not only paying significantly more than a financial aid applicant, but even to some extent the FP student families are also subsidizing the presence of the FA families (which the schools want and consider to be in the COMMON GOOD, to create the best, most diverse learning environment for all students).</p>
<p>I will also add “Partial Pay” which many don’t talk about is also attractive in the financial aid pool, because it allows the school to spread it’s limited dollars to more families while still drawing some revenue. So if parents don’t need full aid, it may be to their advantage.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, a lot of full pay candidates get turned away so while the odds are better - it’s not a guarantee.</p>
<p>PelicanDad. You have a good point there. Although the tuition does not cover the entire cost of educating students, it is more than some colleges tuition. FP students at least paid their portion of tuition and possibly able to donate more money to cover the other parts of cost involved. I do realized and sympathize with lower socio-economic students who can’t afford to pay for tuition but unusually talented. When economy is bad, it is even difficult to pay full tuition for the middle class FP family. Does anyone know about what percentages of FP students at Andover are middle class family and wealthy family? Apparently, Andover claims to provide financial aids to 46% of student body. What about the other 54%? Are they all wealthy family who make more than 1 million dollars per year of income? I am just curious to know.
ExieMITAlum: I am not sure the odds are better for the FP candidates. PEA reserve slots for lower socio-economic students to promote diversity and give opportunities to those students otherwise can’t afford to attend. Therefore, the FP students are competing for the remaining slots but the AD would not admit this is the case.</p>
<p>Although there are of course unbelievably wealthy people who send their kids to boarding school, not all FP families are “wealthy,” in that “take the private jet to the second home” sense. If both parents work and make a decent income, and the family is extremely frugal (drive old cars, pay off the mortgage, save lots of money for college and retirement and the proverbial “rainy day," forgo expensive vacations, carry little to no debt, etc.) the family may qualify for very little, if any, FA. If the family has money in the bank, they are expected to use that money for tuition - and shouldn’t they, if a better education is what they value? Is it “fair” that another family, with similar income, that makes different lifestyle decisions, carries loads of debt and has little in the way of assets <em>does</em> qualify for FA? Don’t think I want to make that judgement - everyone has their own life to live, with plusses and minuses for each and every decision they make.</p>
<p>That is good point. The system is punishing hardworking and frugal people.</p>
<p>Is it really a system? Boarding schools are private. They are free to utilize limited resources as they see fit and I say this as one who has always been frugal, paid off the mortgage, and does not earn a big income. Even though our income will be below 6 figures this year, we won’t get FA when my son applies next year. </p>
<p>I think it is fair. I have the cash saved that is better invested in my kid than in other alternatives.</p>
<p>Exactly what happened to us and trying not to be resentful because we are thrilled at the opportunity for DS, but we know for a fact (at least two cases) that “wealthier” kids are getting aid. Life just isn’t fair, and we don’t expect it to be, but it’s hard not to be resentful that our self-imposed frugal lifestyle is now an absolute necessity, no wiggle room.</p>
<p>It can be frustrating to look around and assume that others have it easier in terms of financial aid, and I’ll admit to having a seriously less-than-highminded moment when I saw a full FA kid with no real hook wearing very expensive jeans that her father had just given her. But there are so many unseen variables to this whole thing. “Punishing hardworking and frugal people” assumes that those who haven’t been frugal are feckless. There are so many other things that happen – job loss, illness, disability, natural disasters, divorce… sick/aging parents, and those are just a few. And sometimes even lack of planning deserves sympathy – how many of us here never anticipated the impact of the economy and NCLB and/or that our high performing kids just COULD NOT get their needs met locally as we had planned. While I think we are fairly frugal, you can bet that if I had anticipated BS I would have planned differently from before the kids even came along. </p>
<p>So when I get angry, it’s not at the private schools, it’s that we, as a country, have let our public education “system” become so overburdened that few can be adequately served. </p>
<p>But I appreciate the input from everyone on this thread. The whole international applicant thing is playing itself out at colleges too.</p>
<p>@aubreygal
Yes, I’m a sophomore at Andover right now! Thank you!</p>
<p>My experience with financial aid has two extremes, between Choate and Andover. Choate waitlisted me partially because I asked for financial aid. Andover, on the other hand, extended a very, very generous financial aid package to my family. My family was really surprised at that, considering we are pretty well-off and only in need of partial aid. </p>
<p>Prep school admissions can be a game of chance sometimes. So many talented kids are vying for limited spots. Don’t let this discourage you, though!</p>
<p>Wow, thanks everyone! I didn’t know my question could spark such an interesting, informative debate.</p>