<p>I am eligible for fee waivers, both applying to schools and registering for the SSAT. How do I apply for these and what schools give them out?</p>
<p>The schools I'm applying to:
Choate
Andover
Exeter
NMH</p>
<p>I've heard a ton about applying to more schools. My response is, and always will be, that our family live 5-6 hours away and it would mean time and money that my mother, as a teacher, does not have. I want to visit each campus to really get the feel of the school before I apply and/or accept, and more than 4 schools would be such a stress that its not worth it.
Just applying to these schools, plus taking 1-3 SSAT tests, could cost me $300 or more dollars, and at the moment we don't have that kind of disposable income, not to mention travel ($4 a gallon!!) and my mom having to take personal days off of school.</p>
<p>So how do I go about applying for a fee waiver?</p>
<p>Saer,
I don't know how you picked the above schools. We went through Peterson and picked about 25. We had them send us materials (usually included CD) and went through them. We then narrowed it down to reasonable amount. </p>
<p>It is early enough that you should do alot more than what you picked. Do not pick because that is what everybody else did. Look at there packages and figure out you want and where you figure out where you fit.</p>
<p>If you are looking for a lot of FA I would add Groton and St.Paul's to the mix until you decide other wise.
Both offer the 75,00$ income and you go free programm</p>
<p>It's not just financial aid. It's the travel, and the fact that my mother would prefer me to stay at home. Applying to these schools that truly capture my interest and that I really would accept if I got in (as opposed to St. Pauls, which I do not really like personally, and Groton which is much too small and claustrophobic for me) means that if I get accepted with the financial aid I need, I will go. And if I applied to schools I do not like, but got accepted only there with FA, then my mom doesn't want me to go. It would be a waste of time and money.
I am also considering Loomis Chaffee and Hotchkiss.
Don't "bash" my school choices (though I know you were really polite and just informing me) or the fact that there aren't that many of them. It's what's working for my family and our current situation.</p>
<p>Sorry if you took offense to my last post. Not knowing anything about you besides the fact that you will need FA I simply wanted to suggest two school which I know have that.
I by no means was "bashing" your school choices because I think they are fantastic. I also would say that you don't have to visit every school you look at, simply look at 7 or so schools then narrow it down to the schools you really think are worth applying to and visit those. I would never say you are applying to too little an amount of schools. I only applied to two. If you know that you either want to go to those schools or not go away then why waste your time.
I hope you haven't taken any offense to this post or my last.</p>
<p>No, it's fine. Like I said you were polite and just informing me. I get a lot of people telling me... "ur doing it wrongz!!!" but because of travel, time, money, and what schools interest me, it's just those four. Exeter and Andover because of financial aid and wonderful academics and a good community, and NMH because its a great up and coming school. Choate is selective, rigorous, but if it came between Choate and NMH I'd go with NMH (though that may change after visits and such) because of NMH's more relaxed vibe.
Choate cuts off phones during study hours!! ***?</p>
<p>As long as you will be perfectly happy attending your current public school if you don't get accepted (or don't get the FA to attend) at the school's on your list, then you have chosen enough schools. That was not the case for my son -- he really did not want to attend his local public school, so he had a much longer list of schools that he applied to. Keep in mind that with the current admission rates, your odds of acceptance into Andover/Exeter and Choate are about 1 in 5 -- for every 5 kids applying, 1 gets admission. Your chances for admission at NMH are greater (maybe 1 in 3) but there were quite a few kids who were admitted to NMH last spring but not awarded enough FA to attend -- which means they didn't get to go.</p>
<p>You find so many people recommending that you apply to more schools because for the past two application seasons we have kids (just like you) who are sincerely interested in attending BS for all the right reasons. They research, post questions, etc. They ask for advice, which we give, they make their list and then send in there applications -- certain that they will be admitted somewhere. And then March 10th rolls around and they are waitlisted or denied at every school on their list -- and they are stunned. They never expected it to happen and they really don't want to attend their local school --so they start wondering about late applications to less competitive schools (but FA is hard to get late) they start over thinking the waitlist options and start brainstorming about applying the following year and repeating a grade, etc.</p>
<p>We just want this to work out for you. Don't let the little things (like Choate's phone rules -- NMH has the same rule, and shouldn't you be studying during study hours and not chatting on the phone?) obscure the big picture.</p>
<p>Thanks, hsmomstef.
My public school isn't the best, and never will be, but I can succeed there and still receive some opportunities. We have dedicated faculty and relatively good facilities (some schools have the most disgusting hallways and bathrooms- our janitors work so hard!) and it wouldn't be a horrible, horrible thing to remain here for the remaining three years.
I really do want to go to boarding school, but if I get waitlisted or rejected or not enough FA everywhere, then I will remain with my family. I know how little my chances are, and as I've done more research I've come to terms with that.
In my public school, I have the same friends to look forward to, an accelerated program (kind of- honors classes) and being the valedictorian with no problem, where at boarding school I might struggle at first, or for a while. Here I'm a big fish in a small, small pond. I want better, yes, but i'm not miserable here.
So that's my long explanation about my school and why I can live with being rejected.
:D</p>