Post results if FA need >50%

<p>PA-C, did the EFC calculated by SSS put you on the borderline, or was it way above the total cost of Exeter?</p>

<p>D’s Stats
Female 13/8th grader/applied for 9th grade
SSAT: 98v, 98m, 98r (99%)
Grades: 4.0 all honors/suburban public school
Strong Athlete in 1 sport
Extremely thoughtful, humble and confident
Good ECs, Good Recs, Good Essays, Good Interviews
SSS: identified need of 60% FA to attend BS--needed more from family p-o-v
Applied: George School, Peddie and Lawrenceville
All Applications and FA Applications in before the deadlines
Accepted w/FA and scholarships to all schools with about 75-80% FA
Received the most FA from Lawrenceville School</p>

<p>What is "family p-o-v"? And, when you say "60% FA to attend BS" do you mean 60% of tuition, tuition + mandatory fees, or something else?</p>

<p>Sorry about p.o.v.
From my point-of-view, we needed more FA, but SSS determined that I could contribute about 40% of cost (using 40K tuition stat) and we would need 60% in FA. I did "add" more information to my D's FA request.</p>

<p>In the end we received about 75-80% of TOTAL COST (tuition/boarding and other fees), so I will need to pay 20-25% depending on where she goes...</p>

<p>i couldn't find the section on the SSS that determined the % that I could afford. There was a column which asked how much I could afford.</p>

<p>Are we talking about the same thing here?</p>

<p>LOL. it's EFC/40K * 100</p>

<p>Apparently a number of other parents/kids received conditional acceptances NMH, but no funds? I thought it was because I had somehow screwed up app for FA. Waitlisted Choate (oldest daughter is grad) Taft and Deerfield</p>

<p>Update on FA/waitlist/ based only on persoanl observatins/daughter above waitlisted, attends private day school K-9 where many grads go on to nearby well-known boarding school. So far, no one needing substnatial FA from D's class is accepted (all waitlisted) All applicants who do not need FA are in, including at least one acquaintance with lower SSATS and grades than my daughter. I am not school official so this is based on multiple kids info only. Many of us are not applying for 100% aid , but do need aid and most are middle-class families no special hooks as to location. ethnicity,employment at the school etc. So either all rich people are smarter than everyone else, or FA has large impact at least this year at CT boarding schools</p>

<p>Financial Aid need somewhere around >80%</p>

<p>I was accepted at Berkshire... But waitlisted for my FA.</p>

<p>(I know this is in Parents, but my mother wanted me to reply in)</p>

<p>It sounds to me that most of you FA feel you are entitled to money for bs because you are smart. Guess what? Your child may be smart, but for each one of your smart children there are at least 1000s more just like him/her. They aren't so special. I don't believe BS's are meant to be non-profit charity/ We could have used FA as well, but if I couldn't afford it, he wouldn't go! Hence private! I don't understand this sense of entitlement. Of course those who can pay should be chosen over FA applicants. Money keeps these schools going. If you compare it to eating a meal, yes, I am entitled to eat every day in America. Does that mean I can walk into Ruth Chris and not pay? Absolutely not, but I can go to the food bank, soup kitchen, church, etc for free. What gives?</p>

<p>Wow, bs4me. I don't think a lot of these folks necessarily feel "entitled" to FA money per se. I think they are just understandably bothered by the claim of need "blindness" on the part of some of the schools. It set expectations that could not be met.</p>

<p>To truly be "need-blind", a school would need to admit/waitlist/deny the applicant without any regard to his/her ability to pay. Any sort of second round (as described in the "At the end of all the reading" part in the middle of [post=1062056615]this post[/post] by GemmaV), where the schools go back and decide to not admit some FA applicants that they would have admitted otherwise simply because they cannot pay, negates any claim of need-blindness. A school simply cannot be truly need-"blind" and also use FA status to determine admission. To claim "blindness" in such matters and then behave in such a way is positively Orwellian.</p>

<p>Of course, achieving true need-blindness is probably unrealistic, especially given the current state of our economy. After all, schools only have so much money and most could not operate if none of the students could pay the full amount. And that's fine. They're very generous to provide the FA that they do. But it would be best, then, if such things were not claimed. </p>

<p>Again, this is not a matter of entitlement. It's a matter of setting proper expectations, and it seems that many of the schools may have failed in this regard.</p>

<p>I'm not sure where you pick up that people on this thread feel an e entitlement to financial aid. Applications are solicted from kids based on represenattions that some aid will be available. My daughters school always has a group of Navajo kids from New Mexico/Arizona who, I am sure, get a full ride. They accepted students, on scholarship, after Hurricane Katrina. And, yes, some kids may be quite "special" even if they do need FA. It has been a hook the top schools have used to broaden their student body and is prominently featured in all of their websites and promotional materials. By the way, aren't most BS legally non-profits? If it is only open to the kids who pay in full you will not have the brightest student body in every case, but you will have the richest. Which is still OK in America for now.</p>

<p>If Ruth Chris' Steakhouse advertised itself as a steak house that feeds everyone with an appetite, regardless of their ability to pay, then yes, someone without money could expect to eat there and not pay. Many boarding schools do the same thing. They encourage applications from very diverse groups, knowing that many of these applicants may not have the ability to apply as full pay. This diversity is what makes bs so special. It isn't hubris that makes FA applicants feel like they should go to bs, even if they can't afford it, it is the message the boarding schools are broadcasting, loud and clear.</p>

<p>I should correct my use of the word "Orwellian" above, as it doesn't really capture what I meant. I should have said "double talk".</p>

<p>I read bs4me's post a few times. Is she saying because "most of you FAs" (you FAs?) are not rich enough, you only deserve low quality life - her idea is "food bank, soup kitchen, church, etc for free"? (and by the way, not every FA applicant is looking for free ride. Most of them will be receiving "partial support") Well, you know what, when it comes to boarding school education, some schools do look out for smart kids with limited resources. If like she said, 1000 more kids just as smart as the one taken in on FA can be easily found, is she saying that FP students are being discrimated because they CAN pay? How ridiculous that is.</p>

<p>I would like to see where any BS states that FA would be available to all who meet requirements. Some will be chosen and some will not. All they are saying is that there is SOME aid available to SOME applicants whom they deem worthy and this is their right to do so. Like I said, there are thousands of intelligent, athletic, and artistic Mother Theresa's out there who deserve it as much as the next. Every child in the US is entitled to an education but it is not the job of the BS to educate them! If you cant pay, you dont go unless you are one of the lucky ones who fill a need for a private institution. If you have a problem with the more financially endowed students being accepted before FA's it just doesn't make sense. They are the ones that came up with the idea to pay for more than the government can give them and they created these places that you all are hungry to send your child to. If someone can show me where it says all qualified students will receive FA I will eat my words. Let me reiterate, these schools are private for a reason, because they are funded by those who can afford it! If this were not the case, no one would be going at all on FA!</p>

<p>Go to Andover website and try to understand the concept of "need blind admission". The schools are run by tuitions paid by FP students? Do you know in a sense every student is on financial aid in top boarding schools? wake up!</p>

<p>Not True!! Anywhere from 70 to 80 percent are all FP. How do you figure all students get some aid!! That is ridiculous and an ignorant(unknowledgeable) statement. Andover and Exeter(example) both may be blind-need but the way they set up their standard of admissions will pull in x amt of kids who qualify. A School must have the majority of FP in order to sustain! Like I said, none of these schools are guaranteeing if you are smart enough, etc that you will get in. All they are saying is they will help some...not all! All qualified applicants do not have an inherent right to FA!</p>

<p>Let me add that all Need blind admission means that if they really really want you to fulfill one of their needs, that is when your ability to pay becomes moot! If they don't need you, then they don't need to pay for you but if you still want to come, pay up. Reality is reality. If a school needs a caucasian 14 yr old girl who plays the flute, lacrosse and speaks 6 languages then they don't care if you can pay. Out of luck to the next 14 yr old caucasian flute playing, lacrosse playing linguist! They only needed one but because you are special if you want to pay, you are welcome to come.</p>

<p>Maybe everyone should take a chill pill. And endowments do subsidize full pays, since the true cost to put a student through is upwards of 60k yearly. So, in a sense, everyone is on aid. Chill pill.</p>