<p>alright guy some of you know me ive been on here for quite a long time but most importantly ive been in the prep school game for about 3 years now, anyways i just wanted to let everyone know that basically if you have good grades like a 3.3- 3.5 and have good teacher recs and a few ec's you can get into any prep school if you pay full tuition. im a FA applicant and i use to think that i had just as good of a chance as everyone else but the sad reality that i had to face this year when i applied to hades was that full pay applicants get priority. if you can afford to pay you can go. i am a full fa need student and i use to think that the prep schools didnt take finances too much into consideration but they do, and that a major downfall for all prep schools because the full pay kids dont need the opportunity they can manage to get into a good college on their own, the full fa and kids who need some fa need the opportunity of bs alot more.</p>
<p>food for thought people</p>
<p>I sympathize with you deerhotch (if that is what you’re seeking here) but you have to agree that prep schools aren’t charity groups. Yes, they want to help students with great potential to reach their academic and life goals, but they need to make money because they are private schools, funded only by what they get. This funding is what allows them to continue to nurture students and also make advancements to the school so that their students get the best opportunity. I am sorry that FA kids are the ones that really need this college preparatory experience the most and that “full blow” kids have the money to go to colleges, but isn’t this logic the same for prep schools? Shouldn’t we be blaming the whole education system instead, for favoring richer kids because MONEY is what is needed to run an updated and prestigious school? I understand that money is often a HUGE HUGE challenge to FA kids (Hey, I don’t get to go to a summer camp I got into and was looking forward to go to because of money issues), but prep schools aren’t charities. They are private institutions that seek to educate students in the best way they can, and this requires making a lot of money on their part to make the education the best it can be.</p>
<p>And the assumption that “if you have good grades like a 3.3- 3.5 and have good teacher recs and a few ec’s you can get into any prep school if you pay full blow” is unfounded. What can you say to people who meet these requirements and don’t get in? Mediocre grades and a “few ec’s” don’t mean acceptance to any prep school by any means.</p>
<p>goothebear i can tell that your not very familiar with prep schools but ask any admission officer and they will tell you that they will not turn down a full pay student. this thread is about talking about the truth and the reality of prep school, more than half the kids on this forum are fa applicants and i think that its fair that ppl know</p>
<p>"anyways i just wanted to let everyone know that basically if you have good grades like a 3.3- 3.5 and have good teacher recs and a few ec’s you can get into any prep school if you pay full " “but ask any admission officer and they will tell you that they will not turn down a full pay student.”</p>
<p>@deerhotch: While I’m sure there’s some well-earned frustration behind your words, I think your statement is not a fair representation of the facts. Like most things in life, there is a hard reality and a gradation in the way people experience it. In this case the reality is that a BS education is a scarce resource and costs a lot to provide. Even for full pay families, the generosity of those who have given to the school in the past subsidizes the tuition. </p>
<p>I’ll admit I don’t have all the numbers in front of me, but it seems likely that the supply of students who would like a BS education and have the ability to spend $50k/year for it is probably smaller than the supply of students who would like that same education and do not have the ability to spend $50k/year for it. Simultaneously, while the schools are quite generous overall, only a minority (35-45%) of their students ultimately receive financial aid. If these two assertions are both true, then the FA applicant pool must statistically more competitive BEFORE ADJUSTING FOR APPLICANT QUALITY. I don’t have the ability to provide a full analysis here, but what future applicants REALLY need to understand is that both FA and non-FA applicant pools are very well stocked with exceptionally talented students. Given the acceptance rates at the top schools, it wouldn’t be possible to admit all the FP applicants even if no FA-applicants were accepted. Applying to a top school, even as FP, is no picnic and will continue to get more difficult every year as has been widely discussed on this forum.</p>
<p>Net: Applying to BS, like applying to competitive colleges, is a difficult process, fraught with stress for everyone. </p>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>deerhotch did my post ever say that schools give FA and non FA students equal chances at admission? NO. I actually said that schools obviously do prefer students who can pay the full price because prep schools are not charity organizations. They need money. Don’t take it out on the prep schools for not letting you in because you have no money. They can’t give free education to everyone, and you can’t blame a private institution (who by the way never guaranteed you the opportunity—an opportunity, not a right—in the first place for acceptance) for wanting what’s best for its facilities and current students. And don’t question my familiarity with prep school admissions. Looking at what you wrote about how “if you have good grades like a 3.3- 3.5 and have good teacher recs and a few ec’s you can get into any prep school if you pay full blow,” I question whether you have been paying attention for the last six months (which you call a long time) you have been on this forum. It looks like you need to do more research.</p>
<p>no matter how you put it or what you say the truth is if you can pay you can get into any hades school. thats the bottom line im sorry if you cant handle the facts</p>
<p>And obviously someone is just taking his anger out on an internet forum because he didn’t get into the school he wanted. 
sorry</p>
<p>Not always true Deerhotch. I know of full pay students with 3.5 GPA who were rejected from HADES.</p>
<p>I’d like to see your proof deerhotch. (:</p>
<p>i can tell that choate students dont take constructive criticism to well :)</p>
<p>i don’t see how this is criticism if we aren’t the ones being criticized…
i’m already in a school, unlike you who just blame your rejections on lame excuses.</p>
<p>And I can tell why prep schools didn’t accept you. :)</p>
<p>deerhotch, I know that you may feel disappointed that you may not have gotten into a HADES school. That being said, I don’t think you comments are fair or accurate. All HADES schools are very generous in terms of financial aid and do not reject that many students because of their financial status. Andover is need blind, fa applicants at other HADES schools are at a slight disadvantage in the admissions process (according to their websites at least). Through my research, I have found that the admit rate for fa applicants is about 10% lower than for full pay applicants at many bs.
Groton’s website actually states</p>
<p>“We have been tracking our admission activity over the years and can relate that the admit rates for financial aid applicants have been between 10% and 20% while the admit rates for those not applying for aid have been between 25% and 30% year to year.”</p>
<p>As a hypothetical, a bs may not accept 90% of fa applicants and not accept 80% of full pay applicants. That is not a lot of offers for either group. I highly doubt that 80% of full pay applicants did not have good recs, a few ec’s, and grades below a 3.3. 90% of the full pay applicant body probably have these. </p>
<p>I was personally a full pay applicant with a GPA around 3.7-3.8, many ec’s (awards in them to), good essays, great recs, great additional recs, great interviews, not the best test scores. I was wait listed at the single HADES school I applied to. Both applicant pools definitely have it hard (especially the international applicants which are probably all full pay). It is not an in for preety much anyone. Unless of course you have the ability to donate millions (these are exceptions though).</p>
<p>who said im disappointed never even applied to a hades school lol so i dont get why your trying to assume things and im glad i dont to a hades school i would hate to be somewhere where everyone thinks that their better than everyone else, and everyone dresses and acts like their from the vineyard</p>
<p>again im sorry that you dont understand or get the truth i wish that there was a simpler way of explaining it to you</p>
<p>well… your username is deerhotch which is Deerfield and Hotchkiss… who are HADES schools… its only fair to say so.</p>
<p>You could also make the argument that full pay applicants may be more qualified. Not because fa applicants aren’t as smart but full pay may have came from a better school, got tutors, more opportunities for certain programs. Also, I have the feeling the most legacy applicants are probably full pay, and most people that know big donors to the schools are probably full pay. Keep in mind, applicants with this kind of influence are probably a sma a small minority of the full pay applicant pool.</p>
<p>Never said you applied to a HADES school. Good luck with all your future endeavors. :)</p>
<p>You should be fortunate that bs offer so much financial aid these days, and that you are only at a slight disadvantage. They didn’t for most of their histories. Also, bs students are down to earth for the most part, full pay or not.</p>
<p>your wrong hades kids are the most un down to earth people whom ive ever met, i feel bad that i have even talked to some of them just because they are so ignorant, it just dosnt feel right… hades kids are as down to earth as the jonas brothers are</p>
<p>have you met every single hades student?!?!?! YOU MUST BE SO POPULAR!!!</p>