@laenen is the poster whose mother you are referring to, @Serioussweetie.
My erroneous oversight! Thank you for the correction.
@ChoatieMom I was relaying my upbringing and the struggles and sacrifices my now 80 year old mother had trying to provide for me a quality education to demonstrate to another poster that $2k can be a large sum for some people.
My 7th grade son is doing odd jobs for family and friends to help pay for summer academic camp. Some people have given him a little extra to help out. He will do this again next year to help pay for boarding school. He feels good about contributing to his education. When he applies to boarding schools next year, I think it will show that he is serious about his education.
I understand 2k/year can be a big help to some families, but 2k to most schools that have the capacity to offer significant FA is not huge. The offer is not supposed to be “final”. Negotiation for substantial changes of the original offer would be difficult but a slight tweak is not. However, you have the burden to prove you indeed need 2k more to make it possible for you to attend and that you will be able to make a commitment to attend this school if they adjust their offer.
As someone who has asked for a few extra crumbs, I can tell you that for schools with minuscule endowments, 2k is apparently a lot.
Choate is an example of a school that offers 100% of demonstrated need to students admitted with FA. So, if you can demonstrate clearly that you need those additional funds, Choate will close that gap. If the schools you are looking at have a similar policy (several do, and their FA sites should be clear about this), then you need to gather the documentation that validates the need and present it and you should be successful.
I’m with @panpacific that $2K is not going to raise eyebrows in the FA office. Do your due diligence and good luck.
@PossiblePrepMom thanks for the feedback. That sounds like a great idea. Being able to contribute to your education has some great benefits such as building self esteem and self confidence.
@DonFefe Thanks for your feedback. I can imagine that 2K might be a lot for a school that does not have a large endowment. Guess I will find out!
@ChoatieMom Thank you for your feedback and the best wishes!
The school that I am referencing in my post does not meet 100% of demonstrated need. At least,there is no such indication of this on their website. However, they do disclose that approximately 40% of the student body receives financial aid. This leads me to believe that the school is spread thinly in regards to their financial aid budget. Their endowment size is under 15 million which is on the low end of the spectrum in comparison to schools like Choate or St. Paul’s. I am aware of Choate’s financial aid policy, which is excellent. But since DS is an applicant for 8th grade, he can’t apply now. However, it is a school that we plan to visit. The new state of the art facility that Choate has that features a robotics and design lab sounds fantastic. DS plans to study robotics and engineering, so we will be looking at schools that feature robotics, technology and engineering.
I was planning to submit a form that highlights my monthly budget, which will demonstrate my financial need. After doing some more extensive research and reading posts on this site, I feel much confident in terms of negotiating the financial aid package. I am so happy I found this site; it has a treasure trove of helpful information. I have been enjoying weaving through the forum and finding some valuable nuggets amongst the posts. I really impressed that so many parents are willing to share their experiences and provide tips.
@Serioussweetie Given your son’s interest in engineering and robotics, I suggest at look at SPS.
http://engineering.sps.edu/page
I wasn’t aware when we got our FA offer last year, that it was negotiable. But, in a way, I’m glad I didn’t, because I have a feeling we WILL need to negotiate this year. (Loss of one income) The previous 10 months have been rough (I get a 2 month break on tuition payments! YAY!), but we survived. Between a lot of online selling, odd jobs, a gofundme account (Yes, we crowd sourced), and just plain good fortune, DS has gotten the best education available and has grown immensely as a person. What I’m trying to say, @Serioussweetie , is that YOU CAN DO THIS! And you child will thank you for it! Good luck!
@gusmom2000 I hope you have proactively reached out to your son’s school to let them know about the job loss? Better to ask for a bigger piece of that FA pie before its divvied up.
@doschicos, thanks for the link. This school has been added to my list. 
@gusmom2000, thanks for your feedback. I am sorry to hear about the loss of income. Can I ask how you managed the crowd sourcing? How did people react? It sounds like you are incredibly resourceful. I hope your financial situation improves soon. Yes, I agree that any sacrifice that I need to make to ensure that my DS gets the best education possible is totally worth it!
Yes, on this year’s FA stuff, I did make a (very large) note of the income issue. Crowd sourcing…did not go over so well with gusdad’s family, but friends that really know my kid, and understand why he needs this, were a godsend. I used gofundme, and shared the link on facebook and the like.
@Serioussweetie , boarding school costs more than the published tuition. Be sure you know about and account for other expenses (books, travel, sports, occasional extra fees, quarters for laundry, spending money for your son, supplies for his room, the list goes on and on, and you have a very tight budget. It might be wise to lay out your finances in great detail with a financial aid officer who can either tell you how you can make it work or see that you really can’t and thus perhaps offer more.
@twinsmama Thank you for those helpful tips. I plan to exercise them.
I’m throwing it out there – Choate cost us $8-10K over the sticker price every year. Books, unis, travel (and we often used points), laundry, fees, spring training, etc. DH was working in Hartford for two of those years, and I piggybacked off his hotel/expenses when I traveled, so that add’l amount is not heavily padded with parent expenses. I think $5K is a very conservative additional-expense estimate if your child boards and requires flights home.
Often, for those who receive full-FA packages, these costs are covered as well, but I’m not sure if partial FA accounts for all of this. Choate’s Icahn scholarships cover everything and there is a Beyond The Classroom fund to help other students defray some of the additional expenses, but not all schools offer this. @twinsmama’s advice upthread is wise.
@ChoatieMom that is very helpful information. I have been estimating how much to put aside, and I am beginning to think that I have severely underestimated. It’s probably better to high ball the figure, I guess. Depending on which school my child attends, I am about 2-3.5 hours away respectively. I wonder if there are any threads on CC that might offer insight on a range of how much in additional expenses to expect? I need to do a search and more additional research. Is it polite to ask the school after offer of admission or even before about what sort of additional expenses to expect?