So, I’ve been reading through last year’s results and a common thread I’m finding is highly qualified applicants who need significant or full FA having much fewer acceptances, even ones who have coaches advocating for them. Full pay kids with lesser stats getting multiple acceptances without any hooks (I guess FP is a hook).
My child is very close in stats to these kids, high scores, grades, recruitable, but needing FA. I’m starting to think he doesn’t have a chance. We are not able to widen the net as his sport is only available at certain schools. Not to mention, the need blind schools are the ones hardest to get into.
Full pay is a big plus as most of the boarding schools operate somewhere within a 60/40 - 70/30 FP/FA ratio. Andover is the only school that continues to say it is need blind, but that refers to the application evaluation process; it still has an FA budget and maintains a relatively stable FP/FA ratio year after year. Some schools (like Choate) promise to match 100% of demonstrated need for every student admitted. The key is to be a student the school wants (and stats are only one component of a much broader picture).
Also, don’t evaluate schools by endowment. The size of the endowment is meaningless if your student is not a good fit and is not offered admission. If you search the archives here, you will see that even schools with smaller endowments can be very generous with aid for the students they want.
So, don’t let the FA tail wag the BS dog. Do your research to find the schools that are a good match for your student and family values and apply to those. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. Don’t let FA need keep you from taking those shots.
Thank you! The shots have already been fired, so only time will tell now I have already heard from the FA department at one school which I found to be pretty quick. Maybe they process all the FA applicants regardless of whether they even know if they want them yet. We did choose schools mainly on fit and ECs available, as academics at all the schools were great. Hoping for just one admit.
My kiddo was accepted last year with a very large FA package to 1 of 3 schools she applied to. Not an athlete but with an artistic hook, if there is such a thing. If you have found a good match, and they want your kid and have money it will happen. I think trying to calculate odds is useless as every single applicant and every school is different. Good luck!
You are right, it’s useless to try and figure out the chances! There is one school that feels like the perfect match, but FA could be an issue. Everything else just clicked there from the top to the bottom. Another school which seemed great on paper was cold and impersonal from the beginning, even at the receptionist level. Really hoping our good fit school comes through!
Most schools are trying to meet all their “institutional priorities” AND get some kind of SES diversity.
So if your kid is that critical pitcher or left-footed cack, it may not matter that you need FA.
If your kid looks very much like the typical FP kid but needs FA, it could be a tougher sell because they can get a version of your kid without using the FA budget.
But… many schools, having followed this pattern, have ended up with student bodies that group around both poles of the need spectrum. They are looking for kids from more middle class backgrounds who may need FA for no more than 50% of the cost. And in that group, your kid may be a standout.
It sounds like you have your head on right about this. You just need to cross your fingers and wait! It isn’t necessarily a huge disadvantage to need FA, but it can be a pretty competitive at many schools.
so glad to see this question here and these responses. we are applying for the next admissions cycle and i am so worried about this also. and when you are put on the wait list, are you told it is for fa reasons? and if so, can you get yourself off if you can figure out a way to be full pay?
If you think you can “figure out how to be full pay” and are worried it will hurt to apply for FA. Maybe just go ahead and do that? I think if you can figure out a way to get the money, then maybe the SSS will also tell you to do that.
Middle class families can qualify for more than 50%, and schools will give it. Agree that schools need a middle class, or they would be in a weird place with a student body consisting of the upper 2% and lower 10%. And most middle class families don’t have a spare 30-65k sitting around. Trust the process.
I agree with @G07b10 - schools don’t want to negotiate. It is embarrassing for the family that cannot afford more to be asked to dig deeper. And the family who can pay more but doesn’t want to is probably not going to be a great part of the community.
But schools realize that occasionally a relative might come up with some help, for example, so you wouldn’t be the first to change your FA application after decisions. Totally agree that it’s better to explore this before applying.
thanks so much for all of this feedback. we just don’t know how we will look on paper, we have a large family, not a high annual income - especially for the amount of dependents, but we did save for all 5 of our kids for college, which is what we would be using to pay for bs, it would cover one year of full tuition, but not 2 (which is what our oldest would be applying for) … so i just feel like it is a great unknown how it will be viewed, and its scary to think of the kids (we would be applying to send her sister to bs the following year) having more debt than we intended overall. but then again, i think we will never regret spending money on education.
I wonder what is considered middle class these days? I feel like I am middle class, but my salary is less than the annual tuition and fess at most of these schools. It seems like “middle class” people could qualify for significant aid.
@maybeboardingmom , absolutely. As a friend was doing her annual FA app – and they both work at “good” jobs – she noted that they took into account that they had tuition for 3, commuting costs to earn those “good” salaries, a mortgage, etc. They even took into account expenses for the pets! There are people who make much more than I do who have much less disposable income. Schools really do look at all of this!
Hi! I applied to boarding schools last year and I totally get your panic. Like the others have said, it’s impossible to figure out your chances! I wasn’t an athletic recruit and didn’t have any extraordinary EC’s, so my experience will likely be different from yours. I needed a significant amount of aid and applied to ten schools. I only got into one. This might have been caused by many reasons, like the fact that I was a new sophomore, my extracurriculars, or just that I didn’t fit into the bigger picture. But I do know that it wasn’t because I’m not qualified! Even though I was initially disappointed, I’m now thriving at Westover, with a 4.0 GPA and as a student leader in whatever aspects I can. And talking to full pay friends at my school, I realized many of them got into schools I didn’t with lower stats.
So stats aren’t everything and I think it really is unpredictable. But wherever you do end up, even if it isn’t at a boarding school (and I think that has to be an option that you consider if you can’t widen your net and need financial aid. The first time I applied to boarding schools, granted, my application was much, much worse, I didn’t get in anywhere!), I think you’ll be okay (: Hope this helps!
I’m so happy for you that you got that acceptance, good for you! It sounds like a great school where you are thriving, and where you are able to contribute as a leader. Obviously, per your own experience, FA played a factor in your other application decisions.
Our local options are bleak, so we are crossing fingers and toes here!
I have already heard from the FA department at one school which I found to be pretty quick. Maybe they process all the FA applicants regardless of whether they even know if they want them yet. We did choose schools mainly on fit and ECs available, as academics at all the schools were great. Hoping for just one admit.