<p>Also, groton-girl, maybe you can get your parents to visit some schools with you once you've researched them. If they can see for themselves the opportunities that exist, they might be willing to consider it further.
We don't know your parents' complete financial picture, and their income is just a part of that. Maybe they would be eligible for some aid. In any case, for most people (unless they are truly wealthy) the amount they are required to pay (be it $4000 or $40,000) is usually a challenge for the family and does require some sacrifices.</p>
<p>In my case, my grandparents pay for the tuition, Many thanks to my grandparents.</p>
<p>Groton_girl
While I (and the schools) figure that your parents could maybe do with 3 vacations...</p>
<p>You also must realize where they are coming from. Do they have high stressed jobs where the only relaxation they get are the 4 vacations. Are the vacations the only time that they get to see you and the rest of the family? Before you start condemning them and showing them how important YOU are, you need to step back and evaluate where they are coming from and what the vacations mean to them. Then you need to add that to your presentation.</p>
<p>princess'Dad : I didn't mean to come across as ungrateful, which you may think I am. Both my parents work full time, and my father works in another province. My mom acts as single mother alot of the time, as my dad isn't home. You are correct, in the fact that the vacationa are the only "true" family time we spend together. I have made it clear to my parents I am willing to drop out of some of the trips to help with costs. Not so much family vacations, but personal vacations. I'm going on my second one in two years on sunday. Mind you, they are vacations to help me get out into the french culture to practice my speaking, but they are quite expensive and quite frequent. I'm also considering going to a school in Canada, as there are quite a few around my father's work. That would help with transportation costs, as my father has airplane program that gets tickets at next to nothing. A few in particualr are less expensive, around high 20-low 30 thousand a year. I will try adding that to my presentation though. Thanks for the comment</p>
<p>Groton Girl --</p>
<p>I admire your perseverance and commitment in working towards something that you obviously care a great deal about. I think your enthusiasm will help encourage your parents to think more carefully about your educational plans.</p>
<p>However, if you really want to do this I would suggest several things:</p>
<p>1) Understand your parents situation (as you appear to be doing -- good for you!). Be sympathetic. If this is going to work, they're going to have a fund a huge chunk of it. Your parents I'm sure do not have enough money to buy every thing they want. (Very few people do.) So even though it seems to you that they make a lot of money, they, like everyone else, are making very careful, deliberate choices about where the money is going to be spent. And funding Groton will mean that the money they designated to go to one thing (or several things) would now be redirected towards your education.</p>
<p>1.b) Please realize, this IS a very, very, VERY expensive proposition. Your parents may make $200,000 per year (or so), but that's gross income I'm sure. Taxes are withheld from that income (by the government as required by law) so their actual take home pay would be in the range of $130,000-$150,000. So, you're asking them to sacrifie an entire year of take-home pay to cover your high school education. That is a whole bunch of money, no doubt about it.</p>
<p>1.c) And this was mentioned earlier but needs some elaboration -- what about college??? To fund Groton your parents will probably have to spend nearly all of their discretionary income for the next four years. That may very well be the money they were planning to save for your own (and your siblings') college tuition. You will not receive much financial aid from college because of your parents' income. The colleges will expect you (along with you parents) to completely fund your college education. So you will either have to pay for it from family savings, from your own part-time work and student loans, and/or you'll have to get merit aid based upon your grades, SAT/ACT scores, and extra curricular activities. Given current trends, college is going to cost you another $35,000 to $60,000 PER YEAR. Where is that money going to come from??? So be sympathetic to this entire 8 years' worth of expenses (H.S. plus college) -- for some families, even those of moderately high income like your own, it's just simply not doable, particularly if there is more than 1 child to fund.</p>
<p>2) Ask yourself, what are YOU prepared to do? You mentioned giving up your trips. That's a start. Given that you're just starting H.S. (I assume) you're still too young to work in most states but what about odd jobs like babysitting, lawn mowing, etc etc? What can YOU contribute? I know that if my son wanted a very, very expensive item I would certainly be a lot more symptathetic if he came to me showing how much he had saved and explained how he was doing everything in his capabilities to afford it on his own. Obviously, he does not, and you do not, have the earning power of an educated adult yet, and I would certainly consider that. Hopefully, so will your family.</p>
<p>3) Educate yourself on the values of a boarding school like Groton vs. the other alternatives available to you. Ask yourself: "How can your parents justify to themselves the additional $15000 - $35000 per year that it will take to send you to Groton?" (the cost differential will vary, depending upon your alternatives). By the way, what ARE the alternatives to Groton? Public high schools, magnet schools, local day schools (including those with religious affiliations), also less expensive boarding schools? You should be prepared to discuss each and every one of them, and justify why your heart's dream is better than each of these. Any why spending the extra money will be worth it.</p>
<p>To elaborate, if someone came to me and asked me to spend $130,000 or so on something, I'd certainly want to know why I had to spend anything, first (as compared to, say, public high school) and then why I couldn't just spend maybe $60,000 (as in, private day school). Why is it so important to spend the $130,000 or so for Groton??? What is Groton going to do for you that a $60,000 day school cannot do??? (You need to think about this and have a ready answer.)</p>
<p>4) Finally, you should really consider other alternatives to Groton, especially those that do offer merit aid. You may find that, if you are open minded about it, other schools will offer you the same quality of education and opportunities as Groton, possibly for less money. I'm not in any way denigrating Groton, but among elite schools the impact on the student is as much about "fit" between the student and the school as it is about the school itself. How can you be so sure that you "fit" at Groton, or that you'll fit better there as compared to somewhere else???</p>
<p>Let me approach this from another angle: You have a limited window in which to apply for and be accepted to boarding schools. Imagine that you either did not get accepted by Groton (a possibility) or that you realized you couldn't afford it: what will you do then? Is it "Groton-or-nothing" or would you consider attending a different boarding school? </p>
<p>You'll need a Plan B in case Groton does not work out for you. Is Plan B your local high school???</p>
<p>I would mention one program that offers substantial merit aid to promising students, one with which I am very familiar: Culver Academy in Culver Indiana. Culver offers several full-ride scholarship opportunities that even cover study abroad (e.g. the Batten Scholarships). </p>
<p>I'm sure there are others closer to home...</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>