Attending a prep school is important to me because I want to be surrounded by kids who yearn for a great education, like I do. I am in seventh grade and currently studying for the SSAT in August. I do believe that I have the chops to be accepted into an elite boarding school.
Unfortunately, my parents cannot afford to send me without jeopardizing their retirement, but their income is more then the financial aid cutoff.
I don't want to give up on this possibility. I just don't how to solve this major dilemma. My parents want the best for me. They would send me in an instant if they could. I think every problem has a solution. So, if there is any advice someone can give me to make this dream possible, please share. It's so important to me that I get the best education possible.
You can’t be sure what aid you will qualify for until you apply. To my knowledge, there isn’t one “financial aid cutoff” that applies to all schools.
You can call the aid offices and ask them directly. They will advise you. I would say that you should not give up because of finances. They look at all of your expenses, even how much you pay in co-pays each year etc.
@HMom16 is correct that there is no single financial aid cut off. The aid you receive will depend on school and has more to do with just family income. I would never let the worry about affordability stop you from applying. Are your parents OK with you applying?
@BigBlueSwim Parents are ok with it( in theory)but they don’t want to aculmuate any debt over it in the process. They are totally debt free which has been a great goal for them and I respect that. They have been saving to be able to put us three kids through college without having to pay loans so we can live debt free as well instead of graduating college and starting off our adult life in debt. This will be a huge gift in itself if they can make it happen. So those are their goals. They believe in teaching us the value of money and hard work. Plus, they know that I will most likely graduate from public high school in the top % of the class and get into a great college anyway. So it’s hard for them to justify going into debt for my goal of boarding school. But it’s still my goal so I’m just trying to figure out how I can make it happen.
I don’t know of a specific financial aid cut off either. It is a combination of income, assets, # kids in tuition charging schools, etc. Below are a few tables or general calculators that show a range of families income and aid received from a few random schools that were easy to find. As they all say - this is not a guarantee of what you might receive (except SPS that says household income of $125k or less=full FA, and $250k or less= max 10% of income towards tuition).
http://www.exeter.edu/admissions-and-financial-aid/tuition-financial-aid/am-i-eligible-financial-aid
https://www.mxschool.edu/affording-middlesex
https://www.loomischaffee.org/admission/financial-aid/financial-aid-distribution-chart
https://www.sps.edu/page/admission/affording
It totally depends on the school. Most of the schools DD applied to would have ended up tuition free for us, our income - once converted to USD was under 60K. We are still paying partial tuition at the school she has been enrolled in - triple what we said we could afford. I was hoping to quit my second job, now I can’t and DH is looking for second one. Parents often are willing to do more than you think for a better chance at something for their children.
I would definitely go for it but make sure you cast a wide net by applying to a variety of schools. We received more FA than we expected but got accepted to less schools than we expected…so I think that’s a trade-off. Your passion to do this knowing the limitations is to be admired and definitely is a point in your corner, if you ask me.