<p>I play the violin, not much of a hook really, but I have been playing for 9 years and I've won several competitions. plus i'm in one of the nation's best youth orchestra's so maybe it's half a hook</p>
<p>the violin is really common so I don't think it's going to be particularly interesting (pressed post before I was done:))</p>
<p>yeah I know I asked this before, but I am still curious:</p>
<p>does the length of an interview matter? I mean, my interviews at Exeter, DA and Choate were went for a l-o-n-g time, but then at Andover, it was like 25 minutes!! Does the length have a significance--does it show what the interveiwer thinks of you in any way?</p>
<p>i don't think so...the interviewer knows how long he needs to find out if your good for the school or not whether it be longer or shorter. I wouldn't worry about how long it was as long as you felt confident about the interview</p>
<p>My Andover interview was about 45 minutes and my St. Paul's phone interview was around 25. I felt like I said more things I wanted to say during the Andover interview, though.</p>
<p>just make sure you have a couple reasons why you want to go to the specific school you're interviewing for, not just because of it's ivy league alumni, or you get to sleep in dorms or whatever</p>
<p>As a parent of a recent Hotchkiss grad and a student at Andover, I think your SSAT score seems fine. Focus on your strength. Hotchkiss has a beautiful new music wing with great practice rooms. If you take music for credit, then you do not have to pay separately for lessons. At Andover, it is extra. I just received a letter from Andover that it will go need blind on its admissions process for the first time. Andover has higher percentage of students on a financial aid than Hotchkiss. Also it is not too late to look at other schools. My D did not decide to apply to BS until the end of December last year and took her SSAT without any prep the first weekend of January. We did not have time to wait for applications to be mailed. I am just glad things worked out for her.</p>
<p>the whole need blind thing to me doesnt make senseeeeeeeeee</p>
<p>because if they really were need blind they wouldnt ask for financial situations after the fact of admission</p>
<p>so at andover is it no advantage to be paying the fulltab?</p>
<p>capritifan - Need blind means they accept you no matter what you finanical aid status is. At most schools that are "need blind" you may get accepted and then not get any financial aid and there is significant discussion about that. However, Andover, Exeter and a few others have recently said that if you are accepted they will meet 100% of your demonstrated need. So they are truly NEED BLIND. Actually, if they were all *truly *need blind, there wouldn't be a check box on the applicaiton that asks about FA. But that's another discussion. </p>
<p>With your question: "so at andover is it no advantage to be paying the fulltab?"<br>
Do you think there should be an advantage at schools for those families who are able to pay full tab?</p>
<p>at some degree yes and at some degree no</p>
<p>it makes sense that if you get accepted and can't afford to go, you should be given the opportunity</p>
<p>BUT
why are you applying to schools if you can't afford it?
that doesn't make much sense financially</p>
<p>its a really grey area but,
why ask for the information at andover?
if it doesn't matter what your financial status is
shouldn't they ask after your admittance????</p>
<p>First -- the term "need-blind" seems to be confusing because of the way many schools use it. Only a few schools are need-blind for both admissions and financial aid awards -- I believe Andover, St. Pauls and Exeter. This means that if you are accepted, they will meet your full demonstrated need. They ask for the information with the application so that they can give you your Financial aid award with your admissions acceptance. </p>
<p>Many more schools are "need-blind for admissions". What this means is that they do not consider your need for financial aid when considering to admit you. However -- once you are admitted and your file goes over to the people that determine the FA packages, they do look at your information again and decide not only how much aid they can award but who gets how much. This is why you will see kids get admitted to a school but get no aid.</p>
<p>Another important thing to remember is that the school (even Andover, Exeter and SPS) determines your need -- not your family. Your parents may say that they can spend $10,000 on your boarding school costs -- but the school may look at assets and income and decide they can spend $18,000. Thus -- they may meet your full need and your parents may still decide that they can't pay their expected contribution.</p>
<p>The reason that even need blind schools ask for FA information with the admission stuff is so that when you recieve your acceptance letter on March 10th, you can compare your FA with other schools. You may be accepted into Andover and your parents expected to pay $10,000 (your demonstrated need). However, you might also be accepted into Peddie with a combination of Merit Scholarship and FA and be expected to pay only $5000. That is important information to have when making a decision about which school to attend.</p>
<p>Finally -- since my son needs significant FA, I have done quite a bit of research on this subject. Aside from those school promising to meet 100% of the demonstrated need of a student, most school TRY to meet between 75% and 90% of the demonstrated need, but they work with a limited budget that is given to them each year.</p>
<p>I recently talked with Putney, Fountain Valley and Thacher -- and all three said the same thing. They will do their best to meet 85% of the demonstrated need of a student. I was also told that the stronger the student is overall, the better chance of getting a higher percentage of the need met. The same is true is the student brings something unique to the school -- recruited athlete, unique instrument, etc -- and those students may very well have 100% of their need met if the school really needs them.</p>
<p>What this means is that the typical but strong well-rounded student who applies to a school that doesn't meet full-need that costs $40,000 can expect to pay their family contribution plus an additional 15%. So -- a family whose Expected Contribution is $9000 will be asked to pay $13650 (plus transportation, books and other miscellaneous costs -- except for the need-blind schools, I was told these are not factored into the costs). </p>
<p>This is why it is important to position yourself correctly when you apply -- the stronger you are as a student, the more you bring to the school, the better the fit -- the better chance you have for a good FA package.</p>
<p>thank you ur input is always useful
however,
i dont come close to recieving fanancial aid nor want it so this really doesn'tapply to me
but GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALLL</p>
<p>i hope we all go where we want!!!!!!!</p>
<p>
[quote]
why are you applying to schools if you can't afford it?
[/quote]
Families who can't afford about $40,000 / year can still want the very best education for thier children. They in fact, sometimes are even more committed to providing it as many times the amount they are required to pay is more of a sacrifice than those who CAN afford the full tuitiion. Many times those who can afford the full ride live in areas with wonderful public schools. Those who can't afford it, live in areas with horrible public schools and want to give their children the opportunity to rise above the public education system that is available to them. Schools are committed to having a diverse student body. They could ALL fill thier spots with "rich kids" but they don't WANT to. That is why they provide financial aid and if you ask ANY school - even those with small endowments - ANY school will say their long term goal is to be able to do what Exeter has recently pledged - if you get in, we will meet your demonstrated need.<br>
Families apply who can't afford it because the FA is offered, because they are willing to make sacrafices for their children and they know that they can't attend if they have to pay full price. It does make sense.</p>
<p>
[quote]
why ask for the information at andover?
if it doesn't matter what your financial status is
shouldn't they ask after your admittance????
[/quote]
Many of us have had this discussion before. You are right. They should have 2 seperate files if they REALLY don't take it into account at ALL. But honestly, the schools that accept you and then don't offer aid, even though they have that box on the application, I guess they really don't pay attention to it.</p>
<p>hmmm your right violin isn't a rarity but since you obviously excel in it it could be quite helpful. I play oboe which is really hard and in huge demand but ive only been playing for three years so......</p>
<p>thank u for nlightening me</p>
<p>they should offereaid to everyone</p>
<p>it bothers me that the schools say one thing but have another thing that refutes them</p>
<p>they say theyll meet all needs but, ive had friends whove applied and have not recieved what they wnatedddddddddddddddddddddd</p>
<p>its saddd</p>
<p>i guess ive grown up in a bubble thinking everything will work out perfectly</p>
<p>I think the problem is that the "estimated family contribution" is almost always more than the family feels they can pay. And, most schools don't meet that full need.</p>
<p>I go to a small prep with a $6M endowment and got a lot more than my families EFC would have indicated. I probably shouldn't even be on FA.</p>
<p>So you never can tell. It all depends on how much the school wants you. I'm hoping the schools my son is applying to wants him that much too Jonathan!</p>
<p>lets hope we all get what we wanttttttt</p>