<p>I am looking for other parents who may be in our same situation. Son accepted to Exeter and a private day school but given no financial aid whatsoever. Problem is we are in that tough demographic where we work very hard to make our money (I work 2 jobs and DH works overtime/travels) and our EFC came out at 44,000- almost exactly the cost of bs when you figure in books, fees, ect... It seems like this is the toughest financial position to be in- we make enough to be full pay but we have no cushion at all since we just started making good money a year ago when I started the full time/two job situation.</p>
<p>Is there anyone else out there who applied for FA, child accepted to school but received no aid?</p>
<p>I'd love to talk- brainstorm ways to pay- or discuss if this financial sacrifice is worth it...</p>
<p>My daughter got into two schools (waiting to hear from 2) with very little FA (+/-12K). We're grateful for the offers, but it just isn't realistic. The bottom line is that we have too many assets, but our salaries (stock broker and realtor) have nose dived this year. We'd have to sell our home or use our college savings (4 kids) for her to go. She applied as a merit scholar to all four schools (that is why she chose them). We're crossing our fingers for the other two.
We will not go to extremes for her as far as creative financing. We're in a great school district and she is doing very well.
Good luck with your son.</p>
<p>zuzu'spetals- did your sss amount say you needed the 12,000 or did the schools just award that on their own? I am wondering if they ever give you money if the sss says you don't need it.</p>
<p>I feel your pain! We are still waiting on some decisions for this year but last year our son was accepted at Culver and waitlisted for FA. At that time our PFC was about one third of the cost of boarding school.</p>
<p>We were stunned to say the least. I called the school and spoke with the FA officer at length. The bottom line was no extra money became available for our son and we were strongly advised by the school not to pull the money together for one year and then reapply. Basically once you are in and start paying unless your financial situation chances drastically you will not receive any aid the following years. Needless to say he did not attend Culver.</p>
<p>In your case I would guess because of your PFC that you will not receive any aid from the schools. Unless you can show them reasons not explained on the SSS form. Did you send any accompanying letters of explanation?</p>
<p>I would call the schools just to make sure and make myself very clear on their aid policies, in regards to your case. From what I have read on this forum BS expect you to use all available money to pay for your child. Believe me we have had many discussions about loans, etc and why we should pay for high school. For each family the answer is different. For ours we decided that for this child BS would be something that would change his life and it is worth it. Now we just have to be accepted!</p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you would like to talk further and I wish you the best of luck. This whole process is very difficult.</p>
<p>Only you can decide to whether the sacrifice is worth it -- but I know that you are not the only one in your situation. College will be the same -- both BS and college expect you to make unreal sacrifices to pay for your child's education. This includes selling assets or borrowing against them, changing your lifestyle for one that is less costly and taking out loans -- it isn't pretty!</p>
<p>It might be a good idea to look ahead to the college years -- with an EFC of ~44,000, your student will be full pay at college. It seems like many kids who are full pay, but whose parents feel like they really can't pay that much end up at state schools, due to costs. If that will be the case with your student, maybe you need to decide whether BS or College is where to spend the money. </p>
<p>You have some tough choices to make -- and not alot of time to make them. Talking to other parents is a good start, but ultimately you have to decide what is best for your family.</p>
<p>We also have a son in bs and so any financial decisions made by sss were also reported to his school. They offered 10k. The others were 12k and 13k. I have to assume that the sss made a suggested range of 10-13K.
Before this year, I never thought we would have qualified for FA. But I disclosed everything and it just goes to show how bad the economy is.</p>
<p>PA-C --and all: I posted this on another thread but perhaps to consolidate discussion, I'll post again: </p>
<p>We are in a very similar position. After returning to school for another grad degree, my wife just started working last year. And then this year, my s was offered admission to one of the Ten Schools without aid. The SSS form said we could afford the school completely. Like you, we seem to be on the exact threshold where our assets (modest house in a very expensive state, kids' diminished 529s, and our own meager investments) put us out of the FA category. (And to think, like so many of you, that all of this was achieved through careful scrimping and saving -- eg, buying a smaller house so we could pay it off with a 15 yr mortgage)</p>
<p>Anyway, the cost of this school is over 30% of our gross pay. With taxes, union dues, health care, student loans from grad school, the percentage is much higher. We were terrified of an award that asked us to pay 50% of costs. Paying the whole thing is simply impossible. I've put in a call and email to the financial aid office but have heard nothing yet. Do we take out a home equity loan? Are those things even available these days?</p>
<p>I think HSmomsteph brings up the crucial point--think about college. It will be here in a blink. I am a huge proponent of sending kids to great schools, but given the choice between a great HS and a great college, if I had a decent HS available, I'd hands down choose the best college.</p>
<p>There is so much you can do to supplement a mediocre HS--summer and after school programs, parent involvement, etc. But a great college leads to great jobs and grad schools. It would be a shame for a kid to go to a great HS and have to settle for a mediocre college.</p>
<p>We're in a similar situation. Son was accepted at both 1st and 2nd choices, but changes in our employment had us seeking financial aid this year. Both schools offered none. (We live in New York and must be rich, I guess!)</p>
<p>So we have to figure out what to do. Make more money and possibly get loans, I guess. The upside is that our present school isn't much cheaper than b.s. And he has to decide where he wants to go, too.</p>
<p>Best of luck. I guess the logic is that if you have a low income, and low assets, you can get FA. If you do not, you must spend what you have (until you have a low income and assets??). It seems hard because writing the tuition checks does hurt (unless you are the modern day equivalent of "Rockefeller" - this was my mom's term for anyone really rich - today I guess it is Bill Gates or Warren Buffet). </p>
<p>I have to say from the heart, that I do not know what I would do if I had to borrow the money for tuition now and had college to pay for later. It is one thing to take from savings, and another to take on debt. I would be really torn if I were you, so you have my sympathy, and best wishes.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! Wow- so many responses I am so thankful! It really helps just to "talk" it out a little bit! </p>
<p>I spoke with the FA director today at Exeter and they do not have any loan programs- those programs on that link are just payment plans. The payment plans allow you to spread out the payments over 12 months interest free for a $40 service charge. If we go for it we will definitely use one of those.</p>
<p>We may be able to pay as we go like that without loans but it would mean major sacrifices like no more putting money in the college fund (but not emptying what is already there which is minimal) , no new cars (how many years does a camry last, can we get 20 out of it? LOL ), and no wiggle room for major emergency expenses. So if we went for it the plan would be to pay as we go for four years of bs and then pay as we go for 4 yrs of college. Hopefully pay increases would make it more manageable with each passing year. This would end up being 11 years straight of tuition payments between bs and college for 2 kids! </p>
<p>So we think we could do BS and College without loans but it would be a paycheck to paycheck situation.</p>
<p>Do keep in mind that cost increases at most schools have significantly outpaced inflation and salary increases in most industries. Also add in the extras that come with going to a BS. My sister and her family were really thrown off guard when their BS child wanted to do extra break travel and programs as they were already stretching. </p>
<p>This is a big and a personal decision, but in these unsure times something to think through with total clarity and all of the information. The worst thing is having to make a child leave once they start. </p>
<p>The school I'm involved with is really asking parents to think through whether they can really handle this for 4 years as well as save for college as we doubt we'll have the funds even if there is a job loss. We keep having parent's tell us their kid will get a college scholarship because of the excellent HS and this scares us as we know it's far from being anything to count on. College EFCs do expect families have college savings.</p>
<p>I'd be interested to hear if anyone has any luck with an appeal for aid. I thought it would be an easy decision for us: no aid, no go. But, it could (I stress could) be a life changer for son for various reasons.</p>
<p>The funds supporting scholarships on the college level have shrunk. I do not think that anyone can count upon scholarships for college in the near future. </p>
<p>However, I have another question, which perhaps hmom5 could answer. If the country has lost some 10 years of appreciation, at what point do schools start to decrease tuition in order to reach full enrollment?</p>
<p>Some schools will grant additional aid if asked. It is worth asking. I wouldn't recommend taking on debt for boarding school given the uncertain economy and the costs of college to come. I doubt many schools will reduce tuition, particularly when they can still fill seats with full pay.</p>
<p>At the college level we are seeing a lot of "discounting" this year. This means colleges are offering "merit" aid in larger amounts to make themselves more competitive with state school choices. I would imaging many private schools will take the same approach.</p>
<p>This is not happening at top schools though, as they still have a line up of families happy to pay full freight. </p>
<p>I would imagine many non top boarding schools will have a hard time filling up this year. They are not essential in the way colleges are. Many play the admit/deny game. They admit a kid that needs aid with no aid, which is the same as a rejection for most. Then they wait to see if the family can "find" money, which a significant percent do. A consultant has told me she's seeing schools meet families half way to fill seats.</p>
<p>PA-C -- what are your reasons for applying to BS? Is the school in your district truly dismal and no other place to go? Does your family have a history of BS? If not, think really hard about spending what may not be there next year (due to the state of economy). There are a lot of other costs associated with private schools (BS and day) that are not part of the tuition that you will feel bad not being able to pay as you struggle with tuition. Remember that currently attending a top 10 BS is not an automatic guarantee into an ivy. There are lots of great enrichment programs that you can have your child attend during the summer (such as Oxbridge Academic) if you dont go the BS route</p>
<p>additionally, there has been talk in this forum on how the academic rigors of bs and the no grade inflation policies can make it tougher to receive aid for college e.g. merit based scholarships as many have a minimum GPA requirement. At many of the BS talked about on this forum, the average student gets a B - or B grade point average which would knock them out of the running for merit based aid in college yet these same kids would easily be top 5-10% in their public schools/</p>
<p>creative1 remember schools like these send SO many people to top colleges (and those with need blind policies are EXTREMELY generous) that the barrier is a lot lower. Milton sent 34 people to Harvard alone last year, that's a huge % of their class.</p>
<p>Check out Monticello student loans, it is a bit early to take out loans but it may be the only option. Also reiterate to the school that NO WAY you can go without adequate aid and be explicit what "adequate" is.</p>