<p>Pretty self explanatory. How are scholarship students treated at elite prep schools like Exeter, Andover, Deerfield, etc.? I've recently gotten interested in [possibly] applying for prep schools. My family falls into the threshold that would get full scholarship. Are the students looked down upon or treated any differently? I know people like to say that they aren't but from a social standpoint and stuff, are they? Sorry for my noob-ness. I'm new to the prep school world.</p>
<p>Great question. And I cannot answer it specifically, but I can offer this:</p>
<p>You will be looked down upon all your life by insecure people who need to put others down in order to feel better about themselves. Money has nothing to do with it.</p>
<p>Your choice is to be concerned about small-minded folks, or to be concerned about yourself. If you want to run the admissions gauntlet, I’d say go for it. Full force. Go get the finest education that you can.</p>
<p>That said, it is still a great question and hopefully you will hear from some students and parents who can provide you with some experience-based insights. (My DD is heading to BS for the first time in the fall but this is a standard piece of advice I’ve been giving to my children ever since I can remember.)</p>
<p>My D is at Groton- her dorm is aware of one girl being full scholarship (mainly because she self identified as such, it was in no way advertised by staff) and another in the boys dorm, and guess what?: NO ONE CARES. The kids are judged on who they are, not how much money they have. To prove my point: there is a double legacy, archetypal Boston Brahmin kid in one dorm that is struggling socially. Parental income does not = success, who you are = success.
Since your financial status is private, unless you make it an issue, no one else will. Will there be the occasional jerk who feels that their income makes them special? Sure (although Groton ACTIVELY discourages it, both in its admissions process and every day life). But guess what? you unfortunately can’t avoid life’s jerks!
So apply, be proud of who YOU are, and forget your financial circumstances- this should in no way hold you back</p>
<p>Here’s a question to ask yourself: How aware are you of your friends & classmates household income now? I think this depends on every kid, where they live, and the values their parents have tried to instill…</p>
<p>At many of the schools commonly mentioned on the board, there will be a handful of kids whose parents or grandparents are heads of major companies. Kids with last names that many parents may recognize. But as MDMomofTwo notes above, generally people will only know if you are full (or even partial) scholarship if you tell them.</p>
<p>That said, if you are apprehensive about this sort of thing, I’d look for schools where a high percentage of the student body receives FA. Here’s a link to the Boarding School Review list of the “highest percentage of students on FA”:</p>
<p>[Boarding</a> Schools with the Highest Percentage of Students on Financial Aid - Boarding School Review](<a href=“http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/highest_percentage_students_financialaid.php]Boarding”>http://www.boardingschoolreview.com/highest_percentage_students_financialaid.php)</p>
<p>Some folks like to mention that since the cost of putting each kid through school is upwards of $70k at some schools, EVERYONE is technically on some sort of FA (the balance made up by donations and endowment income).</p>
<p>I will say that having visited 8 schools (including a few of the “top tier” - quotes intentional), the gap in wealth was more visible to my adult eyes at some schools than at others. We steered our daughter towards schools where the gap was less apparent.</p>
<p>It’s such a stupid characteristic to judge a person by, that you should just ignore it if you ever come across it (which I doubt, at BS, of all places!). You’re just as qualified to be at a school than someone who can afford it; perhaps even more so, as most (non need-blind) schools set a higher bar for FA applicants. So be proud of who you are and forget any losers who treat you differently because of the income of your parents (I wish there were italics on CC; just to emphasize how ridiculous this is).</p>
<p>Oh come on, it’s not all paradise! There are certainly schools where students show off their money by wearing expensive clothing. You won’t get to do that. Whether or not that will bother you is up to you. The situation you are more likely to encounter is not being able to participate when friends decide to do some expensive off-campus trip - whether it’s just down to New York for the weekend or a trip to some kid’s winter chalet in Switzerland. Many of the kids you’d be in school with can afford stuff like this . . . and you might, from time to time, feel left out. The good news is that you won’t be alone - there will be plenty of other kids who can’t afford expensive stuff either!</p>
<p>But, all of this varies from one school to another. Some schools are known for having students who like to show off their wealth. Other schools are known for having students who go out of their way to avoid showing off.</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest, though, that if you need full financial aid and are just starting to look into prep schools, that you look at a lot more than just the few you mentioned. Yes, the big name schools guarantee meeting the need of low-income students who are accepted . . . but there’s no guarantee they’ll accept you! It is significantly harder to gain admission when you need full financial aid . . . and if you limit yourself to schools that already have ridiculously low rates of admission, you may be setting yourself up for disappointment. Expand your search to include some smaller schools where your grades and test scores overqualify you for admission. Yes, those schools will have a smaller financial aid budget, but they’re also more likely to be willing to spend it on you, if you’re the right candidate for that school. And if you are lucky enough to be admitted to one of those schools, with the financial aid you need, I guarantee that you won’t feel “overqualified” once classes start . . . the big-name schools are not the only ones that are academically rigorous!</p>
<p>Agree with Dodgersmom, on all of the above, with the caveat that as financial aid diversity goes down, the “wealth factor” is likely to go up. And even at schools where kids go out of their way to avoid showing off, you’re likely to feel the wealth in more subtle ways–from their cell phones to their spending money to their vacations, no matter the school, there will be lots of kids who will have stuff you won’t. </p>
<p>Ultimately, it is up to you to decide whether not having the stuff that many of your classmates have is going to bother you too much. I suspect it will bother you some, even if it’s not a measure of success or a way and no matter your family values. And there will almost certainly be a group who will judge you based on your wealth, though the size of that group will vary widely by school. But high school’s always about groups setting themselves apart–if it’s not wealth it’s athleticism or some other way of measuring social status.</p>