Hello,
So I would love to go to boarding school next year but payment is a problem. My family and I can’t even get FA for my brother’s college tuition because we make too much. Is there anything that can help us pay? I know it’s probably too late for any kind of scholarship.
I’m applying to Peddie in hopes of a merit scholarship but there’s a very low chance of getting it.
So what do I do?
Your parents will have to decide what to do. If ordinary cash flow won’t cover costs, the choices are:
This is their area, not yours, so you should share your concerns with them.
The standards for FA at prep school are different from college. So definitely apply for financial aid. The deadline for FA applications varies, but I don’t think anyone has a FA deadline that predates the application due date.
(They aren’t going to look at you FA application until looking at your admissions application and determining that you are a reasonable fit.)
Prep schools often provide some FA to higher income families because they want to have kids from across the economic spectrum. But they will still want to see a contribution from your family.
Realistically, you can expect something if you really need it. You should not, however, expect to attend for free.
Whatever you do, I would NOT take anything out of a college fund, nor would I stop contributing to a college fund. I also would absolutely avoid taking on any debt for high school.
From my experience attending a big name university for undergrad, most of the students there were from public high schools. Some were from rather bad public high schools. The issue was not where they went to high school. It was that they had excelled in high school wherever they were.
If you can afford prep school that is great. However, you really do not need to attend one to do well in life.
It depends on the school - excluding COVID impacts on the institutions’ endowments. There are several BS with generous FA even for “comfortable” families. My DS got a surprising amount of money even though going into the process I was doubtful our income would qualify. We needed the money to make it possible for sure, no way could we shell out 60K per year for HS, but our total income is solid. So do some research. They also factor in family payments such as college tuition so you could do better than your college sibling for support.
If you click the in need of FA button, will schools just not accept you if they can’t give you anything? Or would they accept you but give you nothing?
Could be either. Depends on the school. Some will contact the parents in advance to review choices. But usually they will simply reject you.
@jackb192 - There are also several schools that will accept a student but put them on the financial aid wait list.
Do you know what schools these are? I’ve recently narrowed my list down to Exeter, Andover, Peddie, Deerfield, and Choate Rosemary. Do any of those do the financial aid wait list?
@jackb192 don’t get too wrapped up in the "am I on a ‘regular’ wait list or a ‘financial aid wait list’ thing. Kids get waitlisted for a variety of reasons. Exceedingly few get admitted off the wait list. Focus on getting in, not getting in off of the wait list.
Speaking of getting in: broaden your list. The least competitive school on your list has a 27% admit rate.
Broaden your list.
@DroidsLookingFor I’m only applying to a few prestigious boarding schools. I have like 6 others that are more local and less heard of.