I understand the whole legacy and genius folks; however, the matriculation list is pretty impressive regardless. And this list includes many students who are already receiving FA at their prep school.
^True. In the laid-back fashion typical of the BS subgroup on CC, I’d assume that BS college advisers know what they’re doing and trust them to do their job.
@GoatMama and @MAandMEmom I know…
Agree completely.
@vegas That is what I have heard also. Some colleges actually give $x amount ($500?) merit award bonus for each A on the transcript! So this does not help students coming from rigorous, tough grading schools, like some BS and even our smallish LPS, which deflates grades as compared to other schools. They say “colleges know we grade tough” and that may be true in the region, but not when applying to universities across the country. We’ve also attended a top high school in another state ("greatschools 10 and US news “gold”) and it wasn’t that hard to get A’s (in honors classes) as compared to the LPS. And, they allowed students to start AP classes as freshmen.
At least for BS, the highly selective colleges know they are so rigorous. But, I think they still will lose some merit $ as compared to public school students where they can can get easier A’s (and this unfairly rewards those at less rigorous public schools!).
Colleges usually “unweight” the GPA and apply their own formula. So I’m not sure how a new 7-pt or 11-pt scale can really help, other than making it obvious the classes were rigorous.
My head is spinning…
We do want DS to go for his overall development…but unless $ is no object, the financials must be considered in the decision.
In my view, adding numeric weight for course difficulty on transcripts (not sure if that’s what SPS will do) would mark a drastic change in how elite prep schools manage their college advising process. I think traditionally, prep schools intentionally avoid being too number/ranking driven when reporting students’ academic performance to colleges. They didn’t need to as elite colleges knew the rigor of their curriculum and were more than willing to accept their students. Furthermore, they wanted to avoid the unhealthy focus and competition for grades among their students. But, things have changed in college admission nowadays. I suppose SPS’ upcoming move in part acknowledges that they now do need to compete with public schools around the country for the coveted spots in competitive colleges.
Regarding merit aid, I echo some of you said that the way of grading in BS is not helping for merit aid. However, keep in mind that colleges at the very top and are most competitive offer no or very little merit aid. For those who have the grades and test scores to get admitted to those colleges (other than those with major hooks but lesser academics), they are likely the ones who would be getting merit aid in some other colleges. Just to share some of my observations…
“They say “colleges know we grade tough” and that may be true in the region, but not when applying to universities across the country.”
Colleges do give merit aid to boarding school kids, even those with no grade inflation and what appear to be lackluster GPAs to the rest of the world. My kids are proof of that. Maybe not some of the top state schools where awarding can be very stats driven but definitely at the LACs around the country. Plus, even at the public schools, some merit is based on ACT/SAT test scores. Going to BS doesn’t put you at a disadvantage for that. I do think many colleges DO take the high school rigor into account. Admissions officials told us as much and we saw the proof of it. Plus, there are schools around the country who would LOVE to have a PEA, PA, SPS (name your kid’s BS here) student attend. They’d love to have a kid actually matriculate and hopefully more down the road. The reality is that the vast majority of BS students and parents want their kids to go to the same set of 30-40 schools, the majority of which provide zero merit aid - the Ivies and NESCAC schools being especially popular.
One hint is to take a look at where many of the faculty kids wind up going. If they aren’t going somewhere on an athletic scholarship, I’ve seen many going to schools like the midwestern LACs, St. Lawrence, Dickinson, where merit aid is available (and maybe FA as well in some cases) and others like that.
I’m sorry but I don’t feel too sorry for the vast majority of BS families and students.
Plus, many BS are increasingly generous with FA to middle class families. Look at SPS’s newish policy. I know many full pay families cut corners to afford private school (I know we sure did!) but I don’t think we represent the true middle class at all.
I think if you are willing to look at colleges that aren’t the most obvious candidates for a boarding school student, you’ll find merit aid.
Very helpful thanks. But remember, my kid is same kid and comes from same family, whether he attends BS or LPS. And is oldest with younger siblings, we need to pay for college x3. Our income is the same whether we spend $ on S1 for BS or not. We checked the FA box because we simply cannot spend $60K/yr (even for 2yrs - 11th grade applicant) for BS. And our income would be upper middle class on paper. But we live in a $$ city/suburbs so it does not go far.
You touched on the fact that not all BS students go to Ivy league now. Times have changed. My son wants to major in computer science. UC-Berkeley is top notch, but pricey out of state ($36K?). UC schools have a strict grade based formula for merit dollars, from what I have heard. LAC’s give great aid but many do not have strong CS programs.
“LAC’s give great aid but many do not have strong CS programs.”
Sure some do. I know several students majoring in CS at LACs and who have had great internships and job offers in their junior year.
@sunnyschool Is your child currently in BS or applying? As far as affordability, BS isn’t the right financial choice for all families. If you qualify for need based aid from boarding school, by all means, apply for it. If you don’t or don’t get aid and it will eat into your ability to pay for college for all 3 kids, remember that BS is a “want” not a “need”. You have a LPS your kids can attend. Boarding school should be chosen based on the education not on college admissions.
Yes…we are choosing on education, and he is only going if gets FA/merit aid.
LAC yes, I know they all have CS now…but there can be a big difference between programs. He already knows several languages, has had PT jobs in programming, etc. So he needs to be in a challenging program.
Believe me, the couple kids I know in CS at LACs are no slouches when it comes to languages and programming. 
Besides, since he has been able to learn CS on his own apparently, you should consider looking for colleges down the road on criteria other than just the CS major.
Because our kids only do those high school years once, it’s hard to know if they’d be “the same kid” if they had the 4 year experience at a different school (public or private ). I am pretty sure DS would not have been the same kid, or the same applicant to college, had he not attended the BS he did. Maybe I am justifying the investment, but I feel like he was a much better version of himself as a result of that experience.
With a lackluster GPA but lots of rigor, DS got generous merit aid at a couple of schools he applied to, but again, I don’t know if he’d have gotten more, less, or the same had he stayed in LPS. It’s a tough choice for sure. On M10, you’ll know what BS will cost, so that unknown will be gone. You can evaluate whether the 2 years is worth that to your family.
But I would not assume it will make a difference to your college costs. It might, but it might not. Many of DS’ friends at BS made their college choices based on affordability, not prestige. What most people find is that if you are willing to go down a tier or 2 in selectivity, your college costs drop significantly as a result of merit aid. If you can get the fit right, it’s a bargain, and for a kid with a BS education, who knows how to engage, it can work really well. But it depends on the kid, the school, etc. Hoping M10 gives you helpful news!
@panpacific, let me clarify that SPS is not adding a numeric weight for course difficulty. Also, they are not using numeric grades or calculating GPA during the school year; the traditional letter grades continue to be used. The new 7-point scale and GPA equivalent on 4-point scale will be used for college admissions only, to the best of my understanding.
Letter grades of ABCD or letter grades of ABCDEFG? Otherwise without any weight added, how could the 4 level letter grading be converted to a 7 point scale? And what’s the point of converting them back to a 4 point scale, which is based on a 4 letter grading system in the first place? @GoatMama
The SPS traditional grading system (P for Pass, HP for High Pass, H for Honors, and HH for High Honors) was expanded by adding a “+” at 3 levels: HH+, H+, and HP+. This resulted in a 7-point GPA scale where P is 1 and HH+ is 7. For college admissions, in addition to grades on the SPS 7-point scale, the school will provide conversions to the 4-point GPA scale, where HH+ is 4.5. It’s my understanding that this was done to help the college admission process.
This is similar to Andover’s and Exeter’s multi level (more than 4) grading system, except the conversion to 4 point scale for colleges. This system will be more effective in differentiating the top performers, as far as I’m concerned.
^Sounds right
So I suppose this is the same as having A+, A, A-. B+…
The A+ for this particular school is a 4.33 and is unweighted.