I was wondering if boarding schools will tell you specifically that you are accepted but waitlisted for financial aid? As in, if you can find the money, you can attend, but if you don’t have the money and need aid, you will need to wait for a spot to open up.
I have heard of that happening.
Different schools have different practices. Some will admit you and tell you how much they can give you (which may be significantly less than you need), some may put you on an FA waitlist (so if they have funds left over after everyone has committed, you’ll have a shot at them and acceptance), and some will not admit you if they don’t have the $.
There’s no one answer.
My experience with one school was that we were informed that it was not their policy to accept the student if the aid is not available therefore we were denied. We were informed to contact them if there was another source of payment. I declined. At a different school she was accepted but without aid so we also declined. It all worked out because DD ended up with a full 4 year scholarship which included Macbook, transportation, hotel and gas for drop off and pick up, allowance $100 per month and more.
@gardenstategal @Sarrip @one1ofeach thank you all, does anyone know what policy Lville and Choate use? Or has anyone had any experience with that?
@ChoatieMom has experience with that situation at Choate. @stargirl3 has vast experience with this happening at other schools.
Choate’s policy is that the school will meet 100% of demonstrated need for all admitted students, so any applicant who needs aid and who is offered a spot from the waitlist will be funded.
In our case, we applied for aid, and both Choate and NMH informed us that we did not qualify but, if we could somehow swing it, both schools would admit our son. If not, Choate would reject and send the letter with the reason for the rejection. NMH asked us which letter to send–an outright rejection or a WL as a soft rejection as no funds would be forthcoming.
@ChoatieMom @skieurope Thank you for the valuable insight!
I recall from my daughter’s M10, there were 2 schools that specifically asked ‘please let us know ASAP whether you will accept our offer of admission, as there are more than 100 hopeful students on our financial aid waitlist’…
@cameo43 thank you!
Does anyone have information about Episcopal High School or Woodberry Forest School in regards to their financial aid package?
Woodberry says FA is not considered during admission decision but as to the package amount awarded…I have no insight. Below is from an email from Episcopal admissions in response to question on acceptance to school and if financial aid application impacts acceptance decision.
EHS is what’s called in the admissions world “need aware.” We don’t use a FA application or qualification as a major focus of our admissions evaluation, but there can be some admission ties that are broken with that information or some late movement from one pile to the next that is informed by FA. While it is easier to be accepted without a FA application, we would never accept a student that isn’t mission appropriate simply because their family can pay tuition. The other side of that coin, though, is true too… we unfortunately cannot accept all of the qualified students that apply for FA and admissions for that sub-group of our application pool is more competitive. There is also a gradient within the FA pool too, where the acceptance statistics are more favorable for families that qualify for less FA than for those that qualify for more FA.
So, there is an effect, but that effect depends on what the FA application tells us. There are places on the FA application where families can 1) indicate how much they think they can afford for high school tuition and 2) include a narrative where you could explain that FA would be helpful and appreciated but not “a bright line requirement.”
^^That is refreshingly transparent!
@D1swim2kidshoop Thank you so much! Indeed, it is valuable formation.