<p>Because of self employed income and this being our first time filling out anything for financial aid, I have no idea what to expect. Anyone else waiting anxiously for their family report to pop up? I keep hitting refresh over and over. As if I don't have better things to do...like parent essay for the 3 applications that need completing.</p>
<p>The report usually takes at least a couple of days to show up. If I remember correctly it was like 24-48 hrs</p>
<p>Yeah, it said 24 hours, so I’m trying to be patient. Just baked a batch of cupcakes for youngest kids birthday party tomorrow as a distraction.</p>
<p>Okay, I got it. Not what I was hoping for…<em>sigh</em> I’m gonna need to sell a lot of books really fast.</p>
<p>I’m sorry that it isn’t what you were hoping for. Are you referring to what they say your family contribution should be?</p>
<p>If it’s not what you were hoping for and you disagree with the amount they say you can afford, you have every right to write the financial aid board at the schools you’re applying to and explain to them you’re financial situation. This letter needs to be detailed in a way that shows the board why you would need more aid.GL</p>
<p>Our EFC and the actual aid we have received from son’s school have never been even remotely close. I think some schools just use the data and run it through their own calculators. Don’t worry about it until you have an actual fa award in hand.</p>
<p>Okay, this makes me feel a ton better. I’m a writer, so that means getting a big check and then not seeing much else for 18 months to 2 years. It’s very deceiving looking at one year by itself. I did add quite a bit of notes to the form and a much lower estimates for 2014. Hopefully that will help and I can write a letter also and maybe show a more quarterly break down or something over 2-3 years to give a more rounded assessment. </p>
<p>Thank you so, lovely Moms!</p>
<p>and yes, the family contribution amount. Not sure it’s something we can swing. Actually, I know it isn’t.</p>
<p>Just cast that wide net so that, if all goes well, you have more than one fa award to choose from. My son’s initial award offers varied by thousands of dollars. Surfing around on these boards is one good way to get a sense for which schools are most generous with financial aid.</p>
<p>I definitely need to cast a wider net. There’s one school that is basically the reason we’re even considering BS. It’s not something kids around my area do. There’s only two private high schools in my town and both are religious-one Catholic and one Christian. We have a state funded high school that has a similar application process to boarding schools (SSATs, teacher recs, great grades) but it’s so hard to get into. It’s phenomenal, one of the top high schools in the country, and it’s free. We’re applying there as well but it’s so small and selective, the chances of him getting in are very slim. </p>
<p>I’m afraid to even say the schools we’re considering because they aren’t even in the same universe as what most of the prep school kids/parents on CC are considering or already attending. My son is intelligent but also ADHD and struggles with grades/organization and he’s often bored in class. He needs a hands-on curriculum that challenges him and helps him learn through experiences and be prepared for the adult world when the time comes. He’s always going to face difficulty in heavy academic situations and I don’t want him to drown. When I told him we could try applying to boarding schools he changed so much. He’s so excited about this possibility. We just got his first quarter report card and he got a 3.75 GPA which isn’t HADES material, obviously,lol, but it’s his best middle school report card ever. I know we made the right choice in pursuing it and regardless of what happens next, he’s proven to himself that he can do well if he really wants something. As a parent, my heart is literally soaring just seeing him get excited about his future, seeing him so happy. Middle school has been a rough ride so far.</p>
<p>ItsnotHogwarts: I can see where it might be intimidating to mention the name of a school (or schools) that are not the 8 most mentioned ones on CC. But, please know that there are LOADS of us here (active and lurkers) that are interested in non-hades schools. You might be surprised by the information that comes out of the woodworks. I seriously hope no one on this board would criticize a specific school simply because it is not their own first choice! IMO, it sounds as if you are on the right track so far – you are searching for the right place FOR YOUR KID and not choosing schools simply based on name or reputation. No matter the school (or the level of the school) that is of paramount importance - for all families.</p>
<p>There sure are a lot of writer-parents on this forum!</p>
<p>@london203: thank you! That’s wonderful to hear. And I’ve been lurking for 3-4 months around here but didn’t officially sign up until yesterday after completing the PFS. I felt like part of the crowd for real and decided to make it official. Right now, Proctor Academy is the school that made us want to pursue this boarding school path. We haven’t visited yet because we’re very far away. Honestly, we’ll probably need to do a Skype interview and then visit if accepted and the FA award is enough to make attending possible. I’m having trouble finding more schools like Proctor. My son and I are both a bit obsessed with their website and all the videos. He went nuts when he found out about the wilderness orientation and the woods team and the Ocean classroom, and mountain classroom, etc…this is a kid who went to Survivor camp and complained because they were brought food and didn’t have to hunt for it and cook it themselves. I’m sure this will cause many parents to gasp, but I’m more concerned with him gaining those life experiences and self sufficiency than I am about the # of AP classes and such. I just really think he needs to get his hands dirty, see knew sides of the world before he can truly figure out what he wants to do beyond high school. And so much of his ADHD struggles are the transfer of items between home and school and having that all-encompassing, living in your school situation could really help him keep his head in the game. I need to find more schools like Proctor so I cast a wider net as recommended.</p>
<p>@SevenDad: Really? I hadn’t notice the presence of more writer-parents. Well, maybe that means the FA folks at the boarding schools will be used to our sporadic income?</p>
<p>From what I’ve gathered over the years, I think there are more than a handful of writers and/or english teachers on the forum.</p>
<p>FYI, here’s a thread recapping our entire process from 3 years ago…may be of interest to you and any other long-time lurkers:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1174214-one-family-s-bs-search-application-process-start-finish.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1174214-one-family-s-bs-search-application-process-start-finish.html</a></p>
<p>I know there have been some posts on Proctor within the last year. There may have been mention of other schools that might be a good fit for Proctor applicants. Have you tried the search function (search for “Proctor”)… some of those posts might come up and give you more info from a different viewpoint to the school’s… good luck!</p>
<p>One example can be found here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1518879-bs-accommodate-kids-learning-differences.html?highlight=proctor[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/prep-school-parents/1518879-bs-accommodate-kids-learning-differences.html?highlight=proctor</a></p>
<p>It always pains me when I read comments from parents and students who feel that the only schools worth mentioning are the top 10+. I understand this, but time and experience have altered our view of school rankings. We began our, albeit rushed, BS search looking only at schools we had heard of. As our search wore on, and the realities of seeking FA set in, we expanded our search. In the end, one of our kids, actually the one with a more well-rounded application and excellent stats, ended up at a school we had never heard of before. To say the fit has wildly exceeded our expectations is an understatement. </p>
<p>In our now four years as BS parents we’ve had a lot of time to reflect on how our decisions were made. What we’ve come to is that being an exemplary performer at a top 40 school has been better than, perhaps, being a middling flyer at a top 10+ school. This article captures why <a href=“Good Grades Lead to Better Health - The New York Times”>Good Grades Lead to Better Health - The New York Times;
<p>ItsnotHogwarts: PS a friend has her kid at Vermont Academy. She started this year. They give her lots of academic support as she needs it. The other good thing: she got a good amount of financial aid, without which the kid could not have gone away. Maybe VA is worth a look while you are searching.</p>
<p>London203: I have an information packet for Vermont Academy! I’m gonna look it over again with fresh eyes. There was another school that intrigued me when I was researching back in August and now I can’t remember the name of it. It was very odd, though, no grading at all. </p>
<p>SevenDad: I read your post about your experience a while back and it was incredibly helpful! English teachers intimidate the heck out of me. Especially when I speak to English classes. I roll in with my Fight Club themed power point presentation and tell the young impressionable minds how they need to forget all the grammar they learned in school and proceed to break all the rules. I imagine the English teachers on CC could really provide some decent help with essays and such. Me, on the other hand, will recommend using more contractions and plucking out those adverbs and cutting sentences into fragments.</p>