<p>There is a lot of speculation out there that many families who applied to boarding schools in the fall will end up not actually enrolling due to the economy.</p>
<p>Do you think that is true, or is that true in your situation? I know some families who now say they will only consider top choice schools, and won't pay for anything less.</p>
<p>Not really. In my family we do not spend excessively but we really have not "cut back" per say due to the economy.</p>
<p>Convincing my son to attend a local school or, as he says, a loco school, would be like attempting to squeeze toothpaste back into the tube at this point. We're in it for the long haul. I have every reason to believe he'll be accepted to at least a couple of schools on his list. That said, FA packages will may be the swing factor in our final choice, depending on the spread.</p>
<p>FA is annoying for a lot of amazing students who need FA. Most safety schools cannot provide adequate financial aid and schools who can are brutally selective. </p>
<p>Depending on the area you live in a local school can be a lot better. I would go local if I could go to: Roxbury Latin, Boston Latin, or Hopkins.</p>
<p>nah, I'm sure we'll be fine...</p>
<p>Ditto nylecoj007. The FA award will probably influence the school my d attends, but we are committed to her going.</p>
<p>At first my chances at affording school were decent. We believed we would get more FA than my family actually could rely on. My dad and I are fighting for the "dream" of boarding school. All the money from my jobs is going to pay for it(One of my bosses is an alumni of one of the schools and she offered to up my pay check if it would be paying for school). I also won a scholarship that is outside of BS.
So basically:
FA+Work Cash+Scholarship> 1 year at any school</p>
<p>My dad has explained about 40 times; If you get declined, don't become depressed, and if you can't go because I can't pay, don't become depressed. </p>
<p>I'll have to quit one job and only work two of them during the summer if I go to boarding school... That is easily one of the things that I'll miss the most.</p>
<p>The economy is making the decision more painful, certainly. For us, though, either our child finds an appropriate school, or we take the gamble of moving. I don't want to move. We all have friends here, we like our house, and our town. I also blanch at the thought of what the public schools will choose to cut next. I suspect that the state tests will soon determine the extent of a public education. </p>
<p>What's a top choice school? I'm not being facetious. I want to find a school which will bring out the best in my child. I know some very happy and successful people who attended boarding schools which are not the "big names." I believe that the high school years can be a wonderful time of personal and intellectual growth, in the right setting. I don't believe that any school is perfect for all applicants. </p>
<p>I am nervous about schools' financial health. The news that some schools are making cuts in the academic programs they offer is not reassuring. I agree that the cuts may make sense for the institutions' stability, but it would be terrible to have your child's language cut after two years have been invested. That concern may lead us to lean toward the school with deeper financial reserves, if we have the luxury of a choice on March 10th.</p>
<p>I don't have strong feelings about college. I heard a piece on NPR in the fall, in which they were speaking of financing college. (<a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93834830%5B/url%5D">http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93834830</a>) A senior had received full scholarships to Vanderbilt and UVA and Ohio State. She opted for Yale. Her parents were to finance the Yale education with a home equity loan, as they didn't qualify for FA. Yale's a great school, but so are Vanderbilt, UVA, and Ohio State. If I had been the girl's mother, she would have had a choice of three schools--Yale not among them.</p>
<p>Luckily my parents are able to sustain our family enough so I don't have to be applying for any Financial Aid. We do cut back a lot, however, like looking to see if we turn off the lights or T.V., saving grocery shopping bags, etc. etc. </p>
<p>My dad almost ALWAYS flips when he sees the electricity bill.</p>
<p>Yes, it is all making me very nervous. We thought we could pay for this when we started the process 10 months ago, but our savings are quickly disappearing. While at this point we could still swing it, I am uncertain of the future and hesitant to use up our reserves. We will look at our options in a few weeks and then make some very hard decisions.</p>
<p>Forgot to post this. My Dad talked with two of my interviewers, both had families that made seven figures and both of them were given scholarships(50% and 70%) to really good public universities(UVA and I think Stanford). Not too sure that the 2nd one was Stanford... </p>
<p>Basically, my dad is reasoning that two years of boarding school MIGHT pay for almost 3 years of college. He said that he would be using some of my college fund for my senior year and only 8,000 for my junior year. I'm hoping that the schools will start having better payment plans. Right now, Kent has by far the BEST and MOST GENEROUS payment plans. They had monthly payments, GREAT loans(2% interest I think) and alot of other options(like locking in this year's tuition for next year!).</p>
<p>Really! Look up on all of the options that they offer. I didn't think they would help alot, but the flexibility was amazing from what I expected.</p>
<p>The tricky bit with the selective boarding schools is that one becomes Less eligible for merit aid for college. Curriculum and Grading is much harder in Prep schools - and scholarship cut offs are generally around 3.4 GPA. Some Public school/grade inflation schools are getting 30% of thier seniors into ""most selective" schools. Which makes one wonder about prep school altogether.</p>
<p>Toadstool, could you cite specific public schools which are getting 30% of their seniors into "most selective" schools?</p>
<p>not exactly. the economy hasnt effected anything in my life....yet. hope it doesnt ever</p>
<p>Next year you might only get to buy 20 new jeans.</p>
<p>Though I do get what Senay means. I didn't realize the economy was really that bad. Of course I've read the news and all this jabber about the Second Great Depression, but really, does it FEEL like the Great Depression you know and love (well, I love studying about the Great Depression. Because I enjoy depression. Muhahahaha)? It feels like financial strains, feeling guilty about that prom dress and spending too much on Starbucks, but I don't really feel I can extract that "economical crisis" element and inject it into my brain. Of course I understand that prices have gone up, won-dollar ratios are stupid, and President Obama is determined to relieve all those under the financing issues umbrella (which is everyone -_-; )</p>
<p>There was an article in our local paper saying that applications to private (day) schools are way up because many parents are concerned about the impact of public school budget cutbacks.</p>
<p>Luckily, the economy has had a minimal effect on my decision to go to boarding school. It has had an effect on my family though.</p>
<p>I sit on the board of a NYC private day school and we expect the economy to effect us in many ways. While we offer some of the most generous aid of any private school in the Country, we know that requests this year will pose an enormous challenge. We have a considerable number of kids already enrolled who need aid when they did not previously. And many kids who need much more than they got in previous years. This is the case at every school.</p>
<p>I think that most schools will first take care of those already enrolled. Like at many colleges, being able to pay in full will be a huge advantage this year.</p>
<p>I would expect to see a lot of wait list movement as yields will probably be lower than usual. Families will have to sit down and look at the cold, hard realities of this deep recession and decide if they want to commit to something expensive for 4 years that they can get a version of for free. I expect many will decide they just can't stretch that far with credit not as readily available and their investments and home equity in the toilet.</p>
<p>This will be a tough year at even the highest endowment schools. Something has to give.</p>
<p>hmom,
I take it you are suggesting that some parents will get cold feet when confronted in the spring with the need to write a $40,000 check. A full pay backs out and is replaced with another off the waiting list?</p>
<p>Yah... many parents will get "cold feet" when they see the bill...</p>