<p>Ah, but why did PEA drop this policy? Simple: this God awful economy. As the Andover paper headline stated “Economy Strains Exeter…”. Yes, the narrow point was the impact of the horrible economy on PEA’, from time to time, the impact of the economy on BS’s, their students and the parents of those students.</p>
<p>For those who were quoting Andover’s FA budget for 08-09 I found this info for Exeter’s 08-09 FA budget: they actually spent more on FA last year than Andover. Exeter is not the big bad wolf.</p>
<p>Financial aid awards range from $4,200 to $38,960
Total financial aid grants awarded …$15,839,450
Students receiving aid…50%
(not including grants to faculty and staff children)
Average financial aid grant …$31,227 (boarding)</p>
<p>Please note the error in my prior post. The last sentence should read… “Yes, the narrow point was the impact of the horrible economy on PEA’s financial aid budget, but the broader point is the impact of the economy on BS’s, their students and the parents of those students.” Sorry for the confusion.</p>
<p>PA-C - Exeter was still need-blind last year, so those numbers aren’t surprising. But by no means was Exeter the big bad wolf then and neither is it now. I can only speak for myself when I say this, but the thing I was angry about was that they didn’t tell applicants during the admissions process when they made the choice to stop need blind admissions. I just felt like I had been kept in the dark.</p>
<p>True- it would have been better if they changed the policy at the beginning of the next admission cycle.</p>
<p>It’s called telling people “on a need to know basis” Tom.</p>
<p>Why shouldn’t they have told FA applicants such as myself?</p>
<p>I’m sure the answers you seek were discussed by the “powers that be” at the school prior to their decisions.
(me trying not to be viewed as negative)</p>
<p>The timing of the Exeter announcement, coming as it did practically on the eve of d-day, was absolutely unconscionable. They effectively pulled out the rug from under the feet of hundreds of hopeful young people. A reputable institution should strive to act with more consideration. And I say this despite the fact that we are not FA applicants. I empathize with those rejected FA applicants who harbor some bitterness toward E.</p>
<p>As an Andover parent (and FA recipient) I guess I’m not supposed to defend Exeter, but in this case I will. First, the impact on endowments from this downturn has been greater than even the worst case scenarios of many money managers. When combined with legal and market restrictions that have caused organizations with even substantive endowments to encounter cash flow issues, it’s easy to see how PEA may have been forced to make a painful choice. I also suspect that they now recognize this won’t be a short-term thing and if they took too many FA students this year they would either have to make draconian cuts to next year’s FA admits or worse, go back on their commitment to meet 100% of the aid needs for existing students.</p>
<p>As for pulling the rug out from under hundreds of students I think that’s a little strong. Given Exeter’s tremendous selectivity no student should have gone into this process assuming they would get in - FA or not. It might be convenient to say, “I applied for FA and that’s why I didn’t get in”, but no one knows that. They could just as easily have been rejected for other reasons and I expect that almost all applied to other schools in addition to PEA. Is there anyone that wouldn’t have applied to Exeter if they’d known a priori that only 1/3 instead of 1/2 of the class would be on FA?</p>
<p>We’ve been the beneficiaries of Andover’s generous aid policies and respect their decision to stay need blind. It’s admirable and I think they will make every attempt to keep it, but should things get worse they will have to consider making changes as well. While it seems odd that Exeter, with its larger endowment, made the decision first, we don’t know all the institutional and money management considerations that went into a very difficult, and given the timing possibly embarrassing, decision. I’m sure it wasn’t made lightly.</p>
<p>I’m sure it wasn’t made lightly either, but what I’m saying is very simply: a little transparency never hurt anyone. I just think it bizarre that the first non-admins to know about the change in policy were readers of the Exonian, a newspaper available only in hard copies.</p>
<p>But you are right - Exeter is very, very selective (especially for FA applicants!) and I, an international heavy FA applicant, certainly didn’t go into the process thinking I was guaranteed an acceptance. In fact, I was mailed a flat-out rejection. Even if Exeter had not been need blind when I handed in my app, yes, you’re right, I still would have applied.</p>
<p>i guess it’s a way for andover to say they are still need blind?</p>
<p>are they need blind to international kids? i’m from canada…</p>
<p>PA-C, it also costs more to go to Exeter which is another reason Exeter handed out more FA.</p>
<p>in 08-09 it was more expensive to go to Andover:</p>
<p>Exeter 08-09 tuition 37,900
Andover 08-09 tuition 39,100</p>