<p>Hi,
I am a mother of 3 boys. Last year our oldest son (14) was sent applications from Culver, Lake Forest Academy and Mercersburg. We had never even considered a prep school but he feel in love with the idea. He wants to attend the US Air Force academy and so we went to visit Culver. We all loved it and he was accepted with early admission. We applied for financial aid and the SS group said we should receive around $16,000. We got nothing and were shocked.<br>
Now he can't attend this fall and because we were so new to this process has no safety backup.
The Culver financial officer said he would have higher priority for aid as a sophomore.
Heres my question (finally!) Have you ever heard of that before and where else should he apply for his sophomore year for better chances for aid? He really wants to go but with Dad a pilot at UAL we need lots of aid! Thanks.</p>
<p>Welcome! You will find this forum to be a great source of information!</p>
<p>There are many, many excellent schools out there -- off the top of my head, take a look at Mercersburg (more competitive than Culver, sends kids to service academies, used by the Naval Academy as one of the prep schools), Conserve (good safety, good FA), and NMH (good matriculation and good FA).</p>
<p>At this point what you really need to do is decide what your son is looking for in a school. You already know that FA is one thing -- but what about academics? Will he need higher level classes in certain subjects? Any special interests? What about athletics? Participating in athletics is very, very important for service academy entrance -- make sure the schools offer athletics that he in interested in and will give him the opportunity to play varsity level early. What about clubs and extracurriculars? What is he interested in?</p>
<p>Some other things to consider: distance from home, cost (not all schools cost the same -- so your dollars can stretch further at some schools), number of kids on FA, size, % kids boarding, weather, special programs, etc. </p>
<p>What may be important to one family might not be important to your family -- so start by deciding what you think would be a good fit for your son and your family.</p>
<p>As far as this year -- if your son' stats are good, there are some excellent schools that may still be looking for students (and may have FA available). Check out NMH and Conserve. </p>
<p>He might consider repeating 9th grade -- many boys repeat 9th grade, it would give him an advantage academically and athletically -- and it is not considered a bad thing at all.</p>
<p>My son will be attending NMH this coming fall -- he needed significant FA, wanted a school with a focus on community service and the environment, wanted a school with no dress code and a casual atmosphere, preferred a smaller school, very interested in crew, lacrosse and football, wanted a school with good college matriculation and solid academics. Because of his need for FA, he applied to 9 schools -- and his strategy worked well, he was accepted at 7, waitlisted at 2.</p>
<p>As far as FA -- the amount the schools offered my son varied widely (over $18,000 difference between the best and worst package) and one school offered him not FA at all. This is why your son needs to apply to numerous schools that will fit him well.</p>
<p>Finally -- have you spoken with Culver about their FA offer? Did you ask them to reconsider? I would have thought that with an offer of early admission, they would have been able to fit him in the budget early enough to offer the correct amount of aid. Schools usually use FA to bring in the type of student they are looking for -- this could be academics, athletics, special talents, etc. Was your son a strong candidate for Culver? how did his academic stats and athletics stack up to the typical student? It certainly looks like his interested were a match. I would contact Culver again, and see if they have any FA left (possibly some student pulled out at the last minute).</p>
<p>One more note -- don't think that just because Culver has a military type of format that he won't have an equal chance of acceptance at the USAF from another school. The USAF accepts kids from all kinds of schools, including homeschooled students. There is a book that gives you information on USAF acceptance -- what they are looking for, what is important, etc. Don't get stuck on a certain school because of that (although I would stay clear of off-beat, don't offer varsity sports, poor matriculation schools).</p>
<p>Air</a> Force Academy - Admissions</p>
<p>I know a little about USAF admissions -- I live in colorado springs and I am an adult volunteer with the Civil Air Patrol Squadron that meets at the Academy. We send about 8 kids a year from our Squadron to the Academy -- so we have a good track record. Those kids have been from private schools, public schools, Christian schools and quite a few homeschooled kids -- so attending one particular school is not significant for admission.</p>
<p>I am a bit surprised by the lack of a FA offer from Culver, but it goes to show that you cannot predict anything these days. </p>
<p>I would guess though if you indicated an interest in the flying program there, it may reserved for non-FA applicants only and the reason your son was turned down for FA. The program there is unique among boarding schools and even with the amount they charge for it, costs the school a bit to run. I imagine even more with the current cost of fuel.</p>
<p>A couple of suggestions although I don't know what your priorities are...</p>
<p>1) You definitely should apply to more than 1 school next year, especially if requiring FA. If a military boarding school is what he likes, there are several others that are quite reputable (I've seen a couple mentions of Western Reserve in Ohio on this forum - you might want to do a search here). </p>
<p>2) If he wants to attend USAFA, you might want to poke around and ask questions in the Service Academies area of CC. There are quite a few people who have been through the whole process and can give you more tuned advice.</p>
<p>3) I've also seen a few references to a couple of other boarding schools where PGs go to tune up their resumes for Service Academies. IIRC someone has mentioned NMH and the Naval Academy having some relationship. Don't know if there is a similar arrangement for other schools with USAFA. Worth investigating, though.</p>
<p>My sympathies on not being able to get FA for your son to attend Culver. As a parent of a recruited athlete, I can tell you that even for us, the FA offers were not all generous (or even a number > $0). We were fortunate in our situtation. You will need to work very hard to make it work for your son. </p>
<p>Hsmomstef went through the process this past cycle needing a lot of FA and I'm sure she'll tell you how much work and how many schools they went through to get what they got. She is definitely a person I would talk to about how to measure up schools as far as FA goes.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Hsmomstef has been a great resource to people on the board (and should consider going into educational consulting, ha!) My children's financial aid offers have also been ALL over the map- very, very generous offers from the more elite schools, acceptances but "financial aid waitlists" from lesser schools. They are not athletes, but excellent students and musicians with family ties to some of the schools.</p>
<p>Blair offers a year-long course in Aeronautics which I think is non-credit <a href="http://www.blair.edu/Admissions/viewbook/Course_List_0708.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://www.blair.edu/Admissions/viewbook/Course_List_0708.pdf</a>. Go to the end of the course list for more information. There is a small airport in Blairstown. </p>
<p>You should reapply to Culver next year, but also cast a wider net. You have some great suggestions above. Based on what I've read on this board, if your son is a great match for a school and offers them something that they cannot get from the full pay applicant pool, then he has good chances of getting the fa you need even if the school's endowment isn't among the largest.</p>
<p>Good luck next year!</p>
<p>Good luck.
Some schools take maybe 30% of the class as 2nd year, so they should have $$ for them. Of course there are a few (?Exeter) that will guarantee you the $ if they accept and you meet their formula (being a pilot for United may not).</p>
<p>My D is going to Mercersburg. She loved what the school had to offer and did not look at lot of other places. Note, Annapolis and I believe West Point (as well as several Ivy leagues) use it as a post graduate school to get some of the candidates up to snuff for the academy - that is not to say that it is a feeder, but the academies know them. I would think the AF uses a school out West.</p>
<p>There is a link here somewhere to the formula that schools use to calculate your aid. It is my understanding that they are very strict about its usage now - even if you are an all-star quarterback. A couple of other schools have special scholorships for "top academic" applicant or top sport, etc - which were set up by alums. I think what burb parent is suggesting is rare - at least it was to the schools my D applied to. They all went strictly by the forumula -- as goaliedad. Some of the elites as I noted do "guarantee" admission, most don't.</p>
<p>As an aside, look at a home equity loan as the best and easiest way to pay. In fact, you may come out ahead, esp if Obama wins and changes the tax code back to the way it used to be.</p>
<p>Have you looked into Randolph Macon Academy? It is in Front Royal, Va. and has an Air Force JR ROTC program.</p>
<p>Princess'Dad __ How is this rare?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Based on what I've read on this board, if your son is a great match for a school and offers them something that they cannot get from the full pay applicant pool, then he has good chances of getting the fa you need even if the school's endowment isn't among the largest.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>
[quote]
We applied for financial aid and the SS group said we should receive around $16,000. We got nothing and were shocked.
[/quote]
One thing to note: The SSS only shows the parents expected level of contribution (based on the financial information provided.) Each school decides how much financial assistance (if any) they will provide. </p>
<p>Did you ask Culver to reconsider? I agree with what Burbparent says, as it happened in our case. My daughter had her heart set on a particular school--the FA offer wasn't enough for me to send her. I called the school and ended up getting a satisfactory increase--so she will be heading to prep school in the fall. My daughter's school only has a $25 Million endowment (compared to Culver's $181 Million). If the school wants you, they usually find a way to come up with the $$.</p>
<p>Burbparent.</p>
<p>I will start with I have only looked at several dozen schools in depth so I might have missed some. But every school that I talked to did not look at any other factor other than the FA formula for giving FA with the sole exception if they had specific scholorships for certain areas. I asked one admission dean about that and got the reply that they have gone completely objective to protect themselves. (from law suits). Once you "got aid", he said the amount could be 'fine tuned' somewhat.</p>
<p>There was someone who posted that they got FA aid everywhere because of their racial background - but I would bet from where they said they were from, that they passed the formula too. </p>
<p>The "something extra" may get you admitted, but I don't think it gets you aid. As Jenny Craig stated, you can always have them reconsider their formula (maybe they did not understand that you are expecting huge medical bills for the next several years, etc)</p>
<p>hsmomstef above notes that fa offers vary:</p>
<p>
[quote]
As far as FA -- the amount the schools offered my son varied widely (over $18,000 difference between the best and worst package) and one school offered him not FA at all. This is why your son needs to apply to numerous schools that will fit him well.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Also, goaliedad notes that offers varied:</p>
<p>
[quote]
As a parent of a recruited athlete, I can tell you that even for us, the FA offers were not all generous (or even a number > $0).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Do you think that fa offers are consistent given the SSS contribution? Based on what I have read on this forum, they vary by school, often significantly. All things being equal, I think the variations can be largely attributed to how much they want an applicant taking their budget constraints into account. If I have come to the wrong conclusion, then I welcome feedback.</p>
<p>Burb.
I noted that the office can fine tune the offer.</p>
<p>But, before that can be done, FA has to be offered. Every school I talked to stated that the yes or no for non-directed FA was based SOLELY on formula. You either received FA or not. The amount of FA could be played with. </p>
<p>Whether you are a star quarterback or olympic swimmer does not enter the initial equation of whether or not you receive FA, it does as to whether you are admitted.</p>
<p>Note - I believe Harvard - is stating total FA if you have < x dollars. I believe that a couple of the BS are doing the same.</p>
<p>ps this was a highly personnal fact as my d was sought after by some of the Coaches - but they and the Dean all said they could not affect FA as we fit outside the magic numbers. (some did pay airfare and hotel and some meals)</p>
<p>I was referring to the OP, who states that they qualify for fa. I did not mean to imply that people can get fa without first meeting the fa qualifications. However, once the qualification is met, the amount varies from 0 to beyond SSS defined need. At least, that is what I have concluded from reading this board for more than 2 years.</p>
<p>Just to clarify in my daughter's situation--she did not receive more than the SSS defined need. The first offer was less than the SSS estimate. After speaking with the school, they came up with an additional $9K (which brought our EFC close to the SSS amount.)</p>
<p>Burb
That is my impression too.</p>
<p>As to Scotland, I would suppose that she is worried about hubby being laid off in the continued saga of airlines. If she does not meet FA now and hubby is laid off, I believe she can meet with Dean mid year and reapply. That was the impression I got as I am planning on retiring.</p>
<p>I had many of the same thoughts regarding Scotland's DH's job security. I would imagine though with Union seniority lists, it would be more calculable as to how much potential job security there is.</p>
<p>I know there are a lot of bad business to be in right now. Just about all Wall St. financial jobs are suffering. Thinking back a bit, I believe Biffgnar (who hasn't posted in a while) was working in one of the more affected areas of finance. I wonder how they are doing...</p>
<p>To chime in here...
Someone said that they got the most generous offers from the "elites" and lesser amounts from the others. While that may be true for some, in our case we were awarded over the amount on our PFS from two schools and a big $0 from another. All 3 of these schools have endowments that range from about $25 million to $40 million (and actually the school with the largest was the one we got the $0). Without going into details, our need isn't just a couple of thousand...these are significant awards.</p>
<p>In any case, I agree that once you qualify, the school will award based on how much they want you. I think most schools do that, they just don't all SAY they do that. My son is not a recruited athlete, not a legacy of any kind. He's a smart, mature kid that has great potential and had recommendations that spoke to his leadership ability. He also interviewed extremely well. </p>
<p>To the OP - do you have any geographical "restrictions?" Also, I think we have heard of many who have been rejected for FA in the first year they apply and then they reapply and get a generous package. That might very well happen since they kind of told you that. But you should definately apply to a variety of schools.</p>
<p>Hi Everyone,
Thank you to each of you for your suggestions and thoughts. Here is a bit more info about us.<br>
First my husband is fortunately pretty senior at UAL, they would have to go out of business for him to lose his job. However he has taken significant pay cuts over the past 7 years.
The SSS form said we should be able to afford around $16000 ourselves, which would be a hardship in itself. Culver is about $34000, hence my surprise at the no FA. He was accepted in december by the way.
I have spoken to the FA officer and he also stated that athletics dosen't mean you get money. Our acceptance fee has already been refunded, would you think I should try again and should I contact the same FA officer or try somewhere, someone else?
I am intriqued by the repeating the 9th grade idea. At public schools that is a big no no. Is it really common in the prep school world?
Finally my kid is just well rounded, good grades, boy scouts, soccer, band, you get the idea.
Thanks again and we have alot of thinking to do!</p>
<p>Scotland,
According to the Air Line Pilots Association, their average major* airline member Captain is 50 years old, with 18 years seniority and makes $182,000 a year. I think that is currently too much to get FA.</p>
<p>Kids often repeat 9th grade. My d was suggested to do so by several due to her age (she would have been youngest girl at several schools),</p>
<p>Good luck</p>