<p>Ok, son my 14 yr. old son really wants to go to BS....We applied to many....he was accepted at some with a little FA
or no FA....we need a lot of FA for him to attend so he's been waitlisted at 2....time is running out....I am new to all of this and wondering if there are some lower cost schools we should apply to?? We have about $10k to put towards tuition and can't swing $50k tuition....My thought is if I could find a lower tuition school we might be able to swing it with a little FA...any suggestions? Please!</p>
<p>Most boarding schools will cost way over that. However, there are some with smaller tuitions, as seen here: <a href=“Boarding Schools with the Least Expensive Tuition (2023)”>Boarding Schools with the Least Expensive Tuition (2023). Most of those are religious or military schools.</p>
<p>Try again next go-round. If you really need to make it work this time, maybe you can figure out a way to make it work by supplementing with relatives’ money, government/bank funding, or a merit scholarship. I’m not an expert, but there might be ways for your family to make it work. If something may have been unclear on your SSS, clarify that with the school. Stay in contact with any schools you’re waitlisted or on the FA waitlist for. Unfortunately, this is the reality for a lot of people these days. I’m not sure what else you can do for this particular go-through. </p>
<p>If a few schools offered the same level of aid (I’m assuming they all use the same or similar algorithms to figure out FA), there’s got to be some reason the numbers are coming up that way. Like a vacation home or other assets? Also consider whether you can’t pay more than $10k or if you just prefer not to pay more than that figure.</p>
<p>I have no suggestions on specific schools…as most of the ones mentioned here with any regularity are $45k+. However, you could look at schools that offer merit scholarships. For example, Culver (which is a military academy on the boys side), has a few extremely generous scholarships.</p>
<p>I agree. You’d be surprised the lengths the schools expect you to go to, including the selling or sharing of assets you might not consider. Three cars for two drivers might be an asset. A vacation home or apartment would be an asset. Having kids in private school that costs more than 10k would be a red flag. Even if your money is tied up somewhere, they take assets like that into account. </p>
<p>I know Portsmouth Abbey (RI) and Baylor (TN) offer substantial scholarships that could get the cost into your price range.</p>
<p>The only problem now is that, except for maybe rolling admissions schools, all of those scholarships have been doled out. The OP has a predicament- because it sounds like she hasn’t recieved close to enough aid to make it work, if 10k is really all (s)he can afford. It’s time for outside scholarships or personal funding to come into play if they need it to work this time. Otherwise, they can apply next year. </p>
<p>The other question is why your kid wants to attend a boarding school. Is he trying to get away from public school? There are lower-cost private day schools that might work. Is it to be more challenged? Try home school or an online charter school. Ask yourself this. If things don’t work out in this admissions cycle, you can try one of the above measures to at least get him to a happier place in his education. Then you can apply next year and even have an interesting, meaningful story to write or speak about. </p>
<p>Boarding school, as @stargirl3, has stated many times is not the end-all be-all. For many highly motivated and gifted kids, they’ll have the ability to get into the same colleges from a public school as they will at a boarding school. What boarding school gives is a unique and special experience. But you don’t need it to have an interesting, fun, challenging high school career. Keep a good outlook, but realize this. A home school or charter school might have the same benefits. Being #1 in a class of 500 at a public school where you’re the best athlete, on constant honor rolls, and started a club might be great for you. It’s about figuring out where you need to be. Good luck.</p>