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Prep School Admissions Prep School Parents
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<p>Hi, I'm new here and just wanted to introduce myself. I have a current 5th grader who is applying to private independent middle schools here in the Bay Area, CA through A Better Chance. She just took her SSAT last weekend and is taking her ISEE this Saturday. Then on Nov. 15th she has her interview (with ABC, not the schools yet). She had straight A's in 4th grade and scored high on her SAT's (Stanford Acheivement Test). Math is her weakest area, but she still does ok (one grade level ahead). We will get her first term grades for 5th grade tomorrow and I think it will be mostly A's and maybe a few B's.</p>

<p>We are a "middle income" family and I'm wondering what our chances are of getting at least 75% financial aid. We make about $68k for a family of 4 (husband currently doesn't work and takes care of our 3 year old all day and my 5th grader before/after school). Tuition at most of the schools in the area is $20k+. I said on my PFS that I could afford $2700 and hope that's realistic based on our income (I currently pay about $4700 for private Christian school, but it's really stretching our budget). We don't own a home and our rent is $1700/mo. which isn't bad for where we live. Do you think our chances of getting significant aid are good?</p>

<p>I've been browsing the forum for about a week and it's full of great information. I look forward to getting to know some other parents who are going through this process.</p>

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<p>Hi MSHopeful. Good luck to you and your daughter, the ABC program is great and if your daughter is accepted your rep. will work hard to find an appropriate placement for your daughter. I wish I could answer your question about the financial aid but I really don’t know. Your PFS should give you a pretty accurate idea of what the schools will expect from you, but from my personal experience the offers can vary widely. Don’t worry to much about that now, focus on preparing your daughter for her ABC interview and then getting her accepted. Once accepted, the rest will fall into place, hopefully.</p>

<p>Do you plan to pursue boarding school when your daughter is older?</p>

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<p>Thanks for the welcome Emdee. Thanks for the suggestion…I will try to stop worrying about the financial aspect and let it all fall into place. I know that if she is accepted, I will do whatever I can to make it happen!</p>

<p>Right now my daughter says she doesn’t want to go to boarding school…however she may change her mind when she gets older. If not, we are lucky to have some wonderful day schools in the Bay Area for her to choose from.</p>