<p>garrity -- I appreciate the concern. he would not be skipping a grade (he is in 7th grade this year and will apply next January when he is in 8th grade. he would apply for 9th grade). he is very mature (has spent most summers away at programs for the past three years) and is an older student due to a July birthday. He will turn 15 the July before he goes to boarding school -- so I think he will be fine.</p>
<p>It looks like a great list. My bestfriend from middle school needed a lot of aid. She was only offered it at schools where her stats where WAYYYYY above their averages. She had gone to a top NYC elementary/middle school on full scholarship, got a 96 SSAT and had really good grades but ended up at a second tier boarding school with lots of family loans.</p>
<p>garrity -- how do PG's play a role? is it good or bad? </p>
<p>d'yer -- personally, I would include all the larger schools. I like the options they have. But my son was very insistant on smaller schools -- he actually wanted schools with no more than 300 kids total, but I talked him into going up to about 600 kids in order to give him more options. I think that may be a good compromise. he really wants a small school more than the options and a close-knit community is one of his top concerns. </p>
<p>If you know of any larger schools that are not on the list that meet his requirements but are just a little larger, just let me know. I know that numbers don't really tell all the story -- but we had to have some way to narrow down the field.</p>
<p>Thacher is definitely one he is interested in!</p>
<p>SPSstudent -- aid if definitely an issue. We would not be able to do any family loans -- it would have to be grants or he wouldn't go. </p>
<p>How do I go about finding out whether schools give primarily grants and how well they meet the needs of students? All I have is the % of kids on FA and the endowment. Is there a way to get better info?</p>
<p>The Cate School is elitist. Believe me.. I live right by it. If your son isn't comfortable with snobby, overpriveleged atmosphere with lots fo kids who were "sent" to school, then Cate isn't really the school for him. Thacher is nice, but I personally think the curriculum is limited. Thacher would be a good choice.</p>
<p>And the Midland School has a very weird program. The girls fetch water every morning...</p>
<p>blairt -- thanks for the info. I know the Midland school seems different -- but that appealed to him. He doesn't seem to mind about the limited curriculum at Thacher -- it would be pretty limited at his local school. I worry that he would want more options when he got older, so we will keep that in mind when looking.</p>
<p>PG"s are too mature physically, as they almost always are preping for Division 1 athletics. This often adversely affects the social and athletic lives of the other students. I do not favor admission of athletic PG"s.</p>
<p>I have had dealings with the admissions folks at the Cate School. Without exception they have been unusually kind, helpful and knowledgeable. The campus is gorgeous and the students happy.</p>
<p>I think loans are pretty much part of any school's financial aid package unless you're an athlete they really want. From what I understand, they want everyone to sacrifice. Your best bet for FA probably isn't studying for the SSAT, it's prepping for a sport!</p>
<p>Some schools which do not accept PG"s will admit ice hockey players currently in grade 9 or 10 with the express stipulation that to matriculate they must repeat their current grade. I have only seen this done with grade 9 or 10 kids. They also live together and get easier classes together.</p>
<p>Loans are not always part of financial aid. In fact, many colleges and prep schools are minimizing and even doing away with loans. This is especially true re: URM and first generation college students.</p>
<p>Thacher does seem like a good fit. I live about 20 miles away from the campus.. it's beautiful. Orange groves surround the place, horses run freely..moutains and palm trees.. it's great. Cate.. I mean, I would apply there, because I'm so close and I know people who went there and everything... but it's jsut so.. ugh. There are lots of kids of the people who run Hollywood and stuff.. it just seems so close-minded to me. I took my SSAT there.. and it was a pretty campus (not great facilities), and they had some great student art nearby, but the people make the place..</p>
<p>I would really second-guess Midland. My tutor also tutored a girl who went there and he said they live like Victorians, excepet they learn with modern educational materials. Maybe he would like it, but, although I'm outdoorsy, I think I might just be in hell there... buut everyone has their preference.</p>
<p>i didn;t look at your list attentively, but if you haven't looked already, you should look into the orme school (AZ) and verde valley (AZ).. my father knows the headmaster or something of one of those schools and wanted me to attend, but it just wasn't for me i don't think. They seem like great schools.</p>
<p>cranbrook schools? leelanu?</p>
<p>Oh, is the son a URM? That would certainly help. However, if the mom here is looking for a free ride for a kid with an 80-90 SSAT who is not a URM, he would have to be a prodigy or an athlete in my opinion.</p>
<p>no -- son in not an URM. but he is low-income, which is why the need for FA. we are not looking for a free-ride, we are more than willing to contribute what we can. However, we have no assets (no house, no money/stocks/property) and low income (AGI will be about $35,000 this year, less than $20,000 last year) and I attend school full time (hopefully will graduate and get a job the year he goes to school).</p>
<p>My concern with FA is that we will be asked to take out loans in addition to what the parent contribution would be -- and we couldn't do that. We have plenty of student loans from hubby and I and we would not be able to take on more.</p>
<p>Does this seem realistic? </p>
<p>Blairt -- we will definitely look at midland again. It does sound quite different! We looked at the schools in AZ (orme) but it just didn't seem to have the academics he was looking for. scores, matriculation rates, etc seemed lower than other schools on his list -- plus a few other things he didn't like.</p>
<p>I appreciate the comments of the SPS student. Both of us are correct. Iwas just addressing a larger issue. However, geographical diversity also is important at many schools; and some schools , such as Milton were unusually generous to boarding school applicants three, four and five years ago to build the number of boarders.</p>
<p>yeah but milton doesn't do that anymore. they have a 50/50 ratio now, which is what they wanted</p>
<p>Economic diversity is highly sought after by many,many elite colleges and universities. St. Paul"s School in N.H. is and has been a leader in seeking economic diversity. Exeter is heading that way next year according to the Head of School.</p>
<p>Blairt: You know your schools! That is why I wrote that it was 3, 4 and 5 years ago. Thank you for your comment.</p>
<p>I didn't mean free ride in a sense that you were trying to get over. From what I know from my friends receiving aid, most families are asked to take loans. My friend who's here now is a non URM, low income student on a lot of aid. She says the way it was explained to her is that schools feel to have a real commitment from student and family, loans are part of the package. She says it's not too much, but she's a 2 sport athlete, singer and has very top grades.</p>
<p>I understand that geographic diversity and economic diversity could play a small part -- and I am trying to keep that in mind when adding and eliminating schools on the list. It seems like it is that very top schools that can afford FA for economic and income diverse students and I am not sure his stats are going to be in the top 25% of that group of schools.</p>
<p>he is going to be in a difficult situation -- definite need for good aid, hard to visit schools, great -- but not the very best -- student, recommendations from teachers who have never heard of these boarding schools (kids don't apply to BS from his school). that is why we are doing so much research and asking of questions.</p>
<p>blairt -- I did some more looking at midland. I think they don't really go into detail on their website, so I requested the view book. It should give us a little more info to start with.</p>