<p>I dont even know what they are saying!</p>
<p>I can give you the input of my FP parents. "Whatever, as long as you do your god damn best".</p>
<p>You "profoundly disagree" with "oy" and "lol"? fif was just poking fun at the fact that pan took post #332 seriously. It tickled my funny bone.</p>
<p>I did take post #332 seriously. I have to lighten up. And Sarum, I do not imagine that any kids of professional and high earning parents enroll with aid. Perhaps I misunderstood you.</p>
<p>It was a brain fart!</p>
<p>Not everyone realizes that fun is fun is our pet troll. (I mean that in the kindest, most sincere way.)</p>
<p>fif thinks he appreciates that, but you need to look up the def of "troll"...</p>
<p>
[quote]
But, pan1956, change in # of FA students does not really seem to relate to decrease of diversity. Once admitted, the students all seem to be rather the same. The child of the trust-fund left-wing potter is very similar to the child of the starving left-wing potter.</p>
<p>BS kids and parents of all economic and ethnic classes are amazingly homogeneous - ambitious, motivated, taking the long term view and caring about education. There is not a lot of difference between a rich hockey kid/parent or a poor hockey kid/parent. Rich Asians/poor Asian---they are all in BC Calc and play the violin. Sorry to indulge in sterotypes for the purpose of demonstration, but FA or not, the only diversity is between jocks, artie types, Asians and domestic brainiacs. The matra "But as diversity drops, so goes the quality of the total social-educational experience for all" just doesn't play in the boarding school world.</p>
<p>Why not choose the trust fund left wing potter's kid over the starving artist' left wing kid - they are both left wing potters, but one brings in $40,000 and likely endowment donations to boot.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>1) There is no such thing as a "poor hockey kid/parent" unless you are referring to their skill level. I in fact grew up not too far from Compton and trust me nobody there played hockey. I don't even think there was a ice rink within 15 miles. If you are going to be competitive (enough to get a BS look) in hockey, excluding travel costs, figure on $5K per year minimum. Travel can easily double that or more.</p>
<p>2) Kids are more than the pidgeon holes (jocks, goths, etc.) that people put them in. Having grown up without a lot of money or opportunity, your view of the opportunity before you is much different than those who grew up where the cost of experiences was never discussed. No, it is not discussed in polite company, but if you observe the behavior of kids, you will find that the ones on FA do have a different attitude towards what is available to them. Perhaps it can rub off on those who never questioned what was put before them.</p>
<p>Subtract kids on FA, and you get a culture of expectation. And it does come in degrees, but there is a tipping point where the difference in overall school culture changes.</p>
<p>Even within full pay students, there's a huge range of financial diversity. The ones who just miss out on FA are scrimping and making sacrifices to afford it, and they probably have more in common with the FA families than with the super wealthy for whom the $40 K is inconsequential.</p>
<p>And they all bring different things to the table... :) I don't think diversity is even close to shot at schools, maybe for the 25% (the entering class) there is less but the school will be just as diverse.</p>
<p>Here's a thread about Tufts and Bowdoin suspending need blind admissions:
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/686063-tufts-bowdoin-end-need-blind-admissions.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/686063-tufts-bowdoin-end-need-blind-admissions.html</a></p>
<p>Key word suspending... And only the LAST 5% of the pool, they are bringing it back asap next year.</p>
<p>They are bringing it back when they will be able to afford it, "by the end of the capital campaign." I don't think they'll be need-blind next year. I can hope they will be, because that would mean that the economy recovers quickly.</p>
<p>I think next year will be even more difficult for financial aid, for both colleges and prep schools.</p>
<p>here's an article I just read from the NYtimes</p>
<p>the kids are younger but the situation is similar to making bs decisions.</p>
<p>just saying...</p>
<p>On the CC sidebar, I saw this appropriate thread: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/685554-financial-aid-offices-told-give-more.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/685554-financial-aid-offices-told-give-more.html</a>.</p>
<p>This was just posted on another thread yet I thought it would be a useful addition to this one: [SSAT</a> MEMBERS WEBSITE](<a href=“http://www.memberanda.org/2009xxvi_no3/1.asp]SSAT”>http://www.memberanda.org/2009xxvi_no3/1.asp)</p>
<p>[For</a> Boston-area prep schools, some challenging economic lessons - The Boston Globe](<a href=“http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2009/06/28/for_boston_area_prep_schools_some_challenging_economic_lessons/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Education+news]For”>http://www.boston.com/news/education/k_12/articles/2009/06/28/for_boston_area_prep_schools_some_challenging_economic_lessons/?rss_id=Boston.com+--+Education+news)</p>
<p>An interesting piece of information contained in the article Periwinkle linked is the tuition for the various schools. Although the tuition at schools like Andover is undeniably high, it doesn’t look so bad compared to that at some other area schools, even for day students in lower grades. I’m not sure if I am reading between the lines right, but it sounds like at least one school mentioned is becoming more dependent on FA to fill some of its boarding slots. On the other hand, I don’t think Milton Academy would have any trouble filling all of its day population with qualified full pay students, although the school wouldn’t do that. It seems to be trendy for schools to boast that they are not as dependent on the endowment as some and so aren’t hit as hard by the downturn. But really, what it means is that they don’t have a big endowment and have to cover more of their expenses with tuition and fundraising. In schools with lower endowments, I suspect that more of that fundraising comes from current families, versus alumni.</p>
<p>[Falling</a> Scholarships Make Tuition Harder for Many Families](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/education/27scholarship.html?_r=1&hpw]Falling”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/education/27scholarship.html?_r=1&hpw)</p>
<p>"when dividends and distributions return, we’ll expand,” Ms. Shear said. “It’s just a question of when it will come back.”</p>
<p>Watch what they do not what they say.</p>