<p>Son is a top cross country runner (nationally) and also plays hockey and baseball. Gets good grades and has strong leadership skills. Very well rounded individual. We were approached by a coach at a leading boarding school to consider his school. We had never really considered schools like this given the price tag. We're an upper middle-class family, but even at that the $40k price tag it would be too steep for us. We had only really been shopping the private Catholic schools ($10-$15k). </p>
<p>After discussions with the coach we were left with a feeling that the school was worth exploring given its large endowment and generous history of financial aid pkgs. Went on an interview recently and met with coach. Everything went very well. Had never really explored what the boarding schools offered. We were blown away by our visit and my son is now sold on going that route. He's taking SSAT this weekend. It was obvious to us was that his hook was playing multiple sports and good grades. </p>
<p>I'm going to explore financial aid process. How real is the likelihood of us getting financial aid? And, more importantly, how much is it likely to cover for someone like him/us? 10%? 50%? 80%? 100%? Do they really struggle to find 3-sport athletes with good grades?</p>
<p>I would advise you to explore the school’s website. SPS actually has an estimator. Family size and cost of living is taken in to consideration, as is other children’s tuition. You may be surprised. A week or so after you fill out the PFS (parent financial statement) online, you will get an “estimated family contribution” (EFC). Some schools fund this amount, some more, some less. If you’d like to PM me with the name of the school I’ll tell you what I know (which may be nothing )</p>
<p>So much depends on how much they want your son, what his overall application looks like (grades, SSAT, recs, essays, etc) and what the competition is like.</p>
<p>First, I think that financial aid can go to families with incomes up to 200k. I’m basing this on what I read last year. Exeter had sent my daughter a letter stating that if a family made 75k or less, the student would be eligible for a full ride. I expect similarly endowed schools are comparable. Don’t let the PFS figures scare you. Schools come back with their own figures.</p>
<p>Financial aid estimation. Unfortunately, SSS (the firm that calculates the EFC - Estimated Family Contribution for boarding school) does not provide such a service.</p>
<p>However, from past years and in our personal experience, you can use the FAFSA and CSS Profile estimators (you can google for these) to estimate what SSS will calculate as your EFC. Personally, I’d use both and take an average. You’ll need your tax return and bank/investment statements to do this.</p>
<p>Now, once you have the EFC, you need to know the financial situation of your target school(s). Many of the better endowed schools (like the top Ivies) will grant 100% of the difference between tuition and EFC - so the EFC is actually what you pay. However, many schools will only match 80 to 90% of your EFC as their policy on FA. In this situation you may have to pay significantly more than the EFC.</p>
<p>I think this will get you a good start in getting the idea of how much this venture may cost.</p>
<p>Thanks. So BEST case situation sounds like I should be prepared to pay the EFC, whatever that ends up being. Doesn’t sound like they make exceptions for reducing that even.</p>
<p>There are exceptions, but you should let them know about the situation in advance. SSS tries to capture the major categories of typical hardships (medical debts and what not), but if you have an ongoing issue like costly medical treatment that doesn’t get picked up by the SSS survey, you’ll need to not it in the notes section and discuss it directly with the school. </p>
<p>Likewise, for folks like us who live a distance and have a couple thousand in extra travel expenses just to get her there, some schools will adjust for that as well.</p>
<p>They also listen better when you have a major hook or are in desperate need of your child’s particular skill. ;)</p>
<p>I would guess that if a coach were interested enough to approach your child at a game, he’s an interesting candidate, not only for that school, but for other schools. Good luck!</p>
<p>Upper middle class is a huge range. If you can let me know your income range (PM if you want), I can give you some idea, assuming the school genuinely wants your son. (It does sound like they do.)</p>
<p>All the hooks you mentioned will probably help get your son accepted, but their not supposed to influence financial aid at the top schools because they claim their aid is only need based and not merit based, and decided on separately from admissions. </p>
<p>So if your income is under 200.000 you should qualify for some sort of aid. I know the Choate brochure has a chart on average grants.</p>
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