<p>A lot of the schools that you eliminated because of financial aid are very good schools. Middlesex's average award is $29,000 and 29% of the students are on financial aid. I don't think you should eliminate schools because you don't think you will get enough money. I got an adequate amount at a school with a $6M endowment and 20% of the kids on financial aid. Just because less than 30% of the kids are on financial aid doesn't make the school have a snobby feeling. When I visited the school I'm going to for a day, I didn't meet one person that was stuck up. I don't know how the kids at your son's boarding school will know that he is not as wealthy as they are, anyway.</p>
<p>I think this is a great list for your son.</p>
<p>Jonathan1 - Middlesex is a fantastic school, but it is also much more competive than what hsmomstef is seeking. I don't believe FA was the criteria for eliminiation. It's not a fit for several other reasons.</p>
<p>Jonathan,
It is easy to separate the have's from the have-not's in many cases, though. For instance, on parents w/e's, if your folks show up in their trusty old Toyota and (seemingly) everyone else's parents are driving shiny new BMW's, Mercede's, etc., that can cause discomfort for a child. Also, on break....my son used to share with his friends that he was going hiking/camping, while some classmates would be headed off to a tropical location....or Europe. A close friend of mine whose daughter attended Exeter was thrilled when her family sat next to relations of the Rockefellers at an accepted students event. (My friend is "new money" and was thrilled to have her daughter in with monied people). It can be difficult for a teen to be surrounded by people who have many material things....be it clothing, electronics, etc....and not have those things himself.
I would think that in a school with only 30% on fa, that could be problematic.</p>
<p>I wouldn't be in such a rush to narrow the larger list in such a definitive way so quickly. You've got the luxury of time, so exploit it. I'd send away for viewbooks -- boardingschoolreview makes this as easy as hitting a button for each school -- and continue. I'd make it like college football rankings. Keep a top 10 or 6 going, but be open to the possibility that some schools can fade away or some search criteria might become less relevant while others that you've discounted before may become critical. You'll be so much more informed later on. Though, of course, the ones going in as your favorites have an "advantage" of sorts, be open to eliminating them, which means always being open to rediscovering others. If you're going to allow yourself to learn as the months go on, you owe it to yourself to benefit from your newfound wisdom by altering your list accordingly. Think of this as a dynamic process not a process of elimination.</p>
<p>I have just one question: Are any of the schools on your list reaches? And is one of them a safety? It might be good to have one of each on your list. Just a suggestion.</p>
<p>great information!</p>
<p>I think what I will do is look back over the list at schools which he liked, but didn't make the cut for one reason or another. If they are close (location wise) to another school on the list, we will put it back in -- since we could easily visit them both at the same time.</p>
<p>Middlesex does look like a great school -- but he eliminated it because of the lack of an outdoor oriented program and the competitiveness.</p>
<p>keylyme -- you hit the nail on the head with your evaluation of the financial aid situation. He understands that the majority of the kids will be full-pay and his lack of money may be an issue. That isn't much different than any other day -- he doesn't get an ipod because we can't afford it, he doesn't get to go to some neat summer programs because of money, etc. He just wants to make sure that there is a group (albeit a small one) of kids who are also on financial aid. It isn't a matter of kids being "snobby" (although he wouldn't like that) it is more a matter of fitting in and how often his lack of funds will make him stand out.</p>
<p>a good example of this is his trip this summer -- his school's language department planned a trip to Europe for 17 days with EF Tours. There was no way we could afford to pay $3000 for this trip, but he really wanted to go. So -- he applied for two scholarships (who would have thought there were scholarships for middle schoolers to travel on a group) and got $1800 in scholarships, he didn't get any Christmas presents at all -- so he had another $200 from that. He worked hard shoveling driveways and doing all kinds of fundraisers and made another $600 -- and we pitched in the rest, so he could go. The cost of the tour doesn't include lunch, and the program is recommending $40-60 a day for lunch and souviners plus an extra $200 for whatever -- that would be between $850 -- $1250. The most I can give him is $300 (and that really stretches our budget). he will have to eat light and maybe buy a t-shirt. He is ok with this -- the trip to Europe is about what you get to experience, not what you get to buy. That said, the majority of the kids going will have about $800 -- $1000 to spend and it will be interesting to see if it is an issue for him.</p>
<p>helen -- Lawrenceville was eliminated because of FA and it lacks an outdoor program.</p>
<p>What he is going to do is look over the original list and see if there are a few borderline schools that do have the outdoor program component -- and if they are located in proximity to another school he wants to visit, we will add it back onto the list. (maybe Thacher, Millbrook and Putney -- he really wavered on those).</p>
<p>To me, Conserve School seems to be a perfect fit -- 90% of the kids are on FA with excellent packages, 100% boarding, the school is small but with excellent teachers, the facility seems to be top-notch, the focus is on the environment and innovation and the matriculation is good (quite a few to ivies). The only drawback is it's location -- but that is also part of what makes it attractive to him. I know that some past students have complained about not being able to do those normal, teen things (hang out at the mall, go to the movies) but I don't think that would be such a big deal for my son -- he is 13 and I think he went to a mall once before with his grandparents, so he really doesn't get the whole "hanging out at the mall" thing. We see a movie every Christmas and when the new Harry Potter movies come out -- other than that, we get DVDs from the library. </p>
<p>Can anyone take a look at Conserve and see what you think -- <a href="http://www.conserveschool.org/home/home.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.conserveschool.org/home/home.asp</a></p>
<p>AliJ -- I wouldn't say that any one school is a "reach" since all have acceptance rates of 30% or more (St. Andrews, DE is 32% and Mercersburg is 38%) but when you add needing FA into the package, any school could be a reach.</p>
<p>I would say the closest to a safety would be Conserve -- 65% acceptance with 90% of the kids on FA -- and that is his favorite school so far. Midland might also be somewhat of a safety, with a 65% acceptance rate and 40% of the kids on FA, but the endowment is low and the average FA grant is only ~60% of the cost, so the FA might not be enough.</p>
<p>I'll take a closer look later. This popped out. "Founded in 2002..." which would make me look for or be prepared to accept that there will be growing pains. Governance will something to look at very closely. But it looks very neat at first blush.</p>
<p>hsmomstef, could you give me some names of the scholarships your son applied for? I'm looking into going to Europe next summer with Explorica, but it's $4,500 for 21 days.</p>
<p>PM heading your way, Jonathan.</p>
<p>I took a quick look at Conserve School. It looks like an amazing school for someone interested in the environment! Here are a few points I jotted down:
1. Do you think his interest in the environment is a life-long interest? Young people can be mercurial about interests, and often switch dramatically. He might not be happy at this school if his focus changes.
2. The school has accreditation pending with nais. I don't know how significant this is.
3. You want to be certain that they have a 24 hour medical staff and a doctor on call.<br>
4. There is an odd relationship with the founder's former company -- Central Steel & Wire. In fact, the 5 Trustees are executives there. You might want to investigate this relationship a little further.<br>
5. They seem to have a PTA of sorts. You might want to look into this a little. Even if its all boarding, there might be many parents nearby. I don't know. It's just unusual for a boarding school to have a PTA. </p>
<p>It's a unique school and an exciting opportunity for a student like your son.</p>
<p>I looked at conserve for next year because they have rolling admission and still had openings but I decided not to apply for reasons which seem of no relevance to your son(small size, no movies etc)
But it is a great school! I really loved the focus on academics combined with enviroment. I would recommened it highly and all the schools on your sons list seem top notch and they seem to fit him perfectly.</p>
<p>burb parent -- I think his interest in the enviroment is life-long. He may not choose to pursue this area for a career -- but I think the interest will be there. Also -- the school has a focus on innovation and some of their activties (robotics, esp) are areas of interest for him (and areas he has taken outside classes in and gotten awards for). I think that Conserve will have classes to interest him for the long run.</p>
<p>I am not so concerned about accreditation (I used to homeschool and so I know that it doesn't necessarily mean anything).</p>
<p>I will check on the medical and the trustees -- hadn't thought of that.</p>
<p>The PTA does sound a little strange -- I know that about 50% of the students are from Wisconsin (I think a combination of being a new school and it's isolated location). </p>
<p>abercrombie -- good to know. It is just so far from the east coast, it doesn't seem like too many look at it.</p>
<p>From the looks of things, I would say Conserve would be an excellent choice, hsmomstef.</p>
<p>It fits so many of the things that your family and especially your son are about. Non-traditional - check. Potential for FA - check. Academic fit - check, especially coming from a home school environment going to a place with non-traditional instructors. Admissions likelyhood - check.</p>
<p>I assume that it is more the remoteness of location that is your potential issue with the school, rather than the midwestern flavor. I guess logistically, it would be more difficult to fly in and out, but I'd bet there are quite a few kids who need to get to an airport for breaks.</p>
<p>We lived in the Milwaukee suburbs for 3 years before moving south and I had the opportunity to go with my son to a scout camp in that region and can tell you that it is beautiful. Wisconsin can be a bit clannish - it took us a couple of years to break in socially, but in the neutral location of a boarding school, there shouldn't be any problem breaking in socially. </p>
<p>Wisconsinites are also not particularly snobbish, even those with money, as the money in Wisconsin is more from hard industry rather than financial concerns and is not so tradition bound. They are also more conservative financially than people from other regions. They are also more egalitarian about respecting the hard working. So even with a significant population of financially well-to-do kids, there shouldn't be many flashy displays of wealth to make you son uncomfortable.</p>
<p>And I think your family background, from what I've been able to piece together, should make your son the type of student that a school like Conserve wants - someone who has experienced challenges and has taken their own path to success.</p>
<p>Definitely a keeper!</p>
<p>thanks for the good words on Conserve -- sometimes it is hard to tell from a website if a school is good. Since Conserve requires a student visit the campus in order to apply, we will plan a visit there in the fall. </p>
<p>I have mapped out locations, requesting viewbooks and information and printed out the boarding school review info for all the schools. I am going to let the information "gel" for a month or so while my son is busy doing summer stuff and we will revisit the list again in late summer. At most, we could do two visits other than the one to Conserve -- so I am hoping we could arrange a visit to see 2 - 3 schools in one trip. We are going to have to narrow the list down in order to arrange the visits.</p>
<p>Anyway -- thanks to everyone for the comments, support and PM's. if you think of anything else, let me know!</p>
<p>I would put Proctor back on for the outdoor component. Check out their web site - it has great ocean exporation program and has a beautiful campus. </p>
<p>We are going through a similar process with our son right now. We are forunate that we live with in a 2-3 hour radius of most of the schools on our (and your) list. We plan this summer to do some drive through visits. But for now we are checking out the web sites. We were impressed with what Proctor said about the admissions process.</p>
<p>Proctor does look good -- we took it off the list after looking at the college matriculation for the past five years. I don't know if my son will want to apply to a super-selective school, but Proctor doesn't show any kids going to Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, etc. I am kind of looking for that -- at least some placement -- because then if he wanted to apply there, he would have a chance.</p>
<p>Our current school said that the college placement stats are almost meaningless. That if you shine at a school you will be able to go where you want. Top at Proctor vs. mid-pack at Deerfield for example. Yes, the schools know that DA is more "challenging" but they also get 50 kids per class from DA or SP applying to each of the schools you listed. It's the same reasoning of public vs. private school. If the classes are challenging, the grades excellent, the environment "right" and the child develops the right kind of skills, the "name" doesn't always matter. They say if you excel it is more important that it is the "right" place. Although, I'm wondering if Proctor will be challenging enough for my son. </p>
<p>ON THE OTHER HAND.....
I'm the first to say that being an alumni of a big name school opens doors for you. Being able to say that you graduated from DA will open doors that Proctor, Salisbury, etc. others won't. (Except maybe EAS) LOL. For example, check out Kings Academy in Jordan - a majority of the staff and faculty either attended or taught at DA. The King is a 1980 grad. The same people who are working there may not have even gotten an interview if they had gone to a different school. So, it's really hard to say. I think it is a never ending point of discussion.</p>
<p>Linda -- I agree with the statements in your first paragraph to a point. Just because a particular class doesn't have 20% of the kids going to an Ivy, doesn't mean that the school lacks the academics. It may just be doing a better job of placing kids in schools that "fit" them. </p>
<p>I agree -- it is the kid that makes the difference, but my "ok" local public school has sent many more to top schools. </p>
<p>however -- when I look at Proctor, I think the college matriculation list tells a different story. I am not all obsessed with top rankings and Ivies, but when I look at lists -- I am looking for schools that are considered to be at the top: MIT, CalTech, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, Cornell, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, Amherst, Williams, etc. </p>
<p>Proctor's matriculation list for the past five years (so it wasn't just a bad class or anything) shows matriculation only to Cornell -- and not a single other school I mentioned. I think it would be very difficult for a student at Proctor to apply and get accepted into a top, top student -- and they wouldn't have the advantage of coming from a rural high school with limited resources, but a private school that lacks the reputation of being able to prepare kids for the top schools. </p>
<p>My son may not apply to any of those schools I listed, but I want to know that if he works hard and really does want to attend Dartmouth, he would have a chance.</p>
<p>I totally agree -- a never ending discussion!</p>
<p>We go back and forth on this all the time.</p>
<p>Our local "ok" high school also has sent many kids to great schools. I graduated from there but times change. However, in my class 1 was accepted to MIT, one waitlisted - in a class of about 90. </p>
<p>I wonder, is a school like Proctor (not to pick on them alone) not preparing their students for the "top" colleges, or do they just not attract the students who WANT to go to the ultra competitive colleges? </p>
<p>My son wants to go to the Naval Academy. He needs to graduate near the top of his class. Won't happen at DA or St. Paul's (2 on our list). Could happen at Proctor. The outdoor component would be great for him. But the average SSAT scores at Proctor and the admit rates are higher. BUT...Salisbury has similar SSAT scores (maybe a little higher) and slightly lower admit rates and this year they happen to be sending 2 kids to the Naval Academy - both from the lacrosse team. </p>
<p>It's an interesting dilemia which is kind of why I started another thread, I didn't want to hijack yours with my questions even though they are similar. :)</p>