applying for FA

Prep School Admissions
1

Hi everyone, I have been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I know this topic has been touched on in various threads but I’d love to hear more thoughts from anyone. My daughter is an athlete in 8th grade who is hoping to transition to a Boston area day school for hockey either next year or the year after, planning to repeat a year. (I know there are very few spots for eighth graders, but I would love her to get a middle school “on ramp” year if possible. I went to an top academic prep school and saw how the kids coming in for 9th struggled compared to those of us who had been there from middle school).

We have had some coaches reach out to us, so we think she will have some support from them in the admissions process, but I know they often don’t have as much sway as they like us to think. My question is whether in our case applying for FA would hurt her chances of acceptance. It would be very difficult for us to be full pay, but we do have the option of borrowing from family if necessary. I was planning on applying for FA to see if we could get any assistance, but some posts here are making me rethink. What are people’s thoughts on whether/to what extent FA application will affect admission for an athlete with coach’s support? thanks!

2

It depends upon the school, but absolutely acceptance is not need blind for most of these schools. I know a number of parents told point blank that their kid is in the wait list because of need for financial aid. None of them athletes with coaches’ support. That comes down to how much clout that coach has at that school. Ask the coach.

3

Not sure it is a good idea to borrow money to attend prep school. If you can afford it, then fine pay full fare. But if not, just apply for Financial Aid. Sure your chances will be less.

If you are in the Boston area, def apply to Andover. They are need blind and generally give good financial aid packages.

4

Your chances definitely go down if you apply for financial aid. shrug if you have the support of coaches, that does help your chances, but it is a slog. At Andover (which is famously need-blind), it doesn’t matter how much FA you need, although that doesn’t mean you’ll get an amount more/equal to what you expect from them. I would try to avoid borrowing, however. It’s your decision - do you want to pay up until perhaps 240,000 for your daughter’s high school education?

Try for financial aid is my advice.