<p>@SevenDad : First and Foremost let me say that I enjoy and respect your posts.
They have provided our family with some great resources in this BS application field trip that will encompose the next 4 1/2 months of our lives . </p>
<p>Our son is entering his sophomore year in September at a large all boys prep school outside of Boston. He will be applying as a repeat sophomore to a hand full of schools and we too will need FA. We are currently paying 60% of the tuition there ( $20,000/yr and we are paying about 12k ).
We are looking for that BS education that private day schools may say they offer but this one does not have. Most of his 9th year classes had over 20 students in them !</p>
<p>Is it easier to get FA at schools if you are only looking at 50 % need as opposed to full aid ?</p>
<p>Which BS are truly "Need Blind " ?</p>
<p>Is his net too small / big / or just right ?
Frankly, I have no idea how big of a net to cast !!
This is the list SPS, Groton, Middlesex, Loomis, Governors, Berkshire and Williston Northampton. </p>
<p>He has above average grades and average SSAT scores but has a decent Hook with football and Baseball. This summer we did a LONG 2 day tour of about 15 schools but it was a Great idea, as he knocked several off. During this trip we also met several coaches ( football & baseball ), and they all seemed to like what he has to offer. Several coaches came to see him play baseball over this summer.
We have kept the dialogue going with all the coaches, in fact, most of them have been emailing us first.
We are off to the Groton school on Friday afternoon to meet both coaches there. </p>
<p>When we do the interview and tour every coach that we have talked to wants to meet again then. I would think that's a good thing :)</p>
<p>@magged: Though Exeter is known to be generous with FA and is committed to “youth from every quarter”, unlike Andover or SAS, they do not explicitly state that they “Admit Students Without Regard To A Family’s Ability To Pay Tuition” [from Andover website] or “admit students regardless of their financial needs” [from St. Andrew’s website].</p>
<p>Since Exeter does not state anything to this effect, it is not considered “need blind” in the same way that Andover or SAS are (at least in the POV of most folks here on CC).</p>
<p>Note that, of the schools I am familiar with (even in a relatively shallow sense), I think Madeira (all-girls) is also need-blind. But since it is single-sex, I don’t lump it in with Andover and SAS. From the Madeira site: “the enrollment decision is made regardless of the request for financial aid”.</p>
<p>Note that Exeter (along with some other schools) does have a “if your HHI is less than a certain threshold, tuition is free” policy.</p>
<p>Second-guessing FA is just that. There are so many factors that affect admission as will as FA awards. Obviously a family that needs close to full FA fills a different social niche than a family that can pay $20,000 or even $12,000 a year, and each school has its own goal as to school finances, diversity of the student body, etc.</p>
<p>Most schools that we looked at emphasized how many “higher income” families receive aid, apparently to encourage people to apply rather than assume they are ineligible for aid. Many schools publish the distribution of their aid–sometimes you have to work to find it. It might not be on their website, but a Google search might turn up an alumni publication, for instance, with this information.</p>
<p>Personally I wouldn’t get too hung up on it. My daughter was put on a FA watilist at a school that seems to say on its website that it will take care of all admitted students. Guess it’s all in the wording.</p>
<p>But she got a most generous FA award from one of the lesser gems that originally I almost did not bring to her attention because their average FA award and endowment are so low.</p>
<p>As far as the net you are casting, take a look at common measures of schools and see if you have a wide range of things like % admitted, FA average award, % receiving FA, SSAT/SAT scores, size, etc. Sounds like you have done a lot of visiting and are getting a feel for it.</p>
<p>I don’t have personal familiarity with most of the schools on your list. We visited SPS and I know that it is one of the most selective schools. I am curious as to how a school would feel about subsidizing a repeat year. With your son in private school I wonder if it is really necessary? Kids like my daughter and son enter BS straight from less than ideal public schools. Just a thought. I’m assuming you have probably discussed this with some of the schools you visited…</p>
<p>We did discuss the repeat year with everyone we met ( admissions and coaches ). I can tell you that 100% of them are on board with the repeat and in fact, one coach was the school’s director of admission and he thought it would work out much better for our son when it comes to financial aid, academics and athletics.
His thoughts are that we would be investing 3 years and not two.
If athletics is his Hook, every coach we spoke to would rather have a Sophomore transfer as apposed to a Junior.</p>
<p>He is very young for his grade, he is one of the youngest in his sophomore class of over 300 kids. While most of his classmates are getting now or will be getting their licenses this year, he is barely 15.</p>
<p>Also, Please understand that we are not repeating as delusional parents who thinks that their child will be in pro sports someday.
In fact, this is 100% his idea and we are supporting him.</p>
<p>If it will in fact help him expand his resume and take classes as a Senior that he would not be able to if he did not repeat, we are all for it !</p>