<p>Do you guys have any stories about how they act are they snobby and rude like people say?</p>
<p>Considering tuition is 50K+, and only about a third of kids recieve any FA, most boarding school kids are “rich.” Maybe they don’t have private jets and houses in the Bahamas, but a family making 120K is above the 80th percentile of earners in the country. </p>
<p>Being snobby is another thing. There are stereotypes about snobby prep school kids, and there will be a group of them everywhere. There will most likely be a group where you’ll fit in. Good luck!</p>
<p>Maybe I’m naive, but I really hope that rich kids" and less rich kids and poorer kids are all on the same plane at boarding school once they arrive. I do realize there are some subtle things that will distinguish students socio economically and hope the school fosters an environment to thwart that becoming a proxy for popularity. At my current DD’s school $200+ “Uggs” are practically part of the uniform. I was very happy to see not a pair on our tour or revisit to any of the boarding schools.</p>
<p>We are neither poor nor rich and will be FP but not easily. We will be making an emotional and economic sacrifice for DD to attend, and we think it is worth it for a broader world view. </p>
<p>More equal, but I don’t think it’ll ever be truly the same. I mean, it’s hard when someone is living on the bare minimum afforded to them, while others are flying to Paris and back with his girlfriend for dinner on a school night (true story).</p>
<p>We’re in the same boat as gratefulmom, as far as our own situation is concerned. At my DS’s school, he finds everyone quite friendly. In his particular group of close friends, there’s a true range from very wealthy to full ride FA. He does say there’s a group of very wealthy Greenwich/ NY kids who hang out together, have parties together on vacations, and clearly have tons of money. He’s not part of that set, but he doesn’t find them awful-- he’s just not part of that set. We do know of one boy who is not at all wealthy (on a lot of FA) who keeps WANTING to be part of that set. They’re not unfriendly to him, but he clearly is unhappy because he can’t really fit in, do what they do–but this stands out as fairly unusual. Most people seem quite nice, and it seems to him that most people are friends with people of varying backgrounds. End of freshman year and he had a VERY good year all around-- lots of luck to all of you starting out in the fall!</p>
<p>Are full FA kids considered poor? With the common cutoff of 75K, my guess is that many of them are middle-class. </p>
<p>No kid is “rich”. Their parents might be but they aren’t. </p>
<p>My kids went to such a school. Yes, there are some kids from some truly wealthy families. Most all kids have parents who are very committed to getting a great education and putting a priority to it. Most are not super rich, but have put the onus on money going there. Many live in modest homes or apts to do so. But yes, there is a bit of the snobby stereotypical air there, but it is not so pervasive that it can’t be ignored. Frankly, my upscale public school flaunts it more as many of those kids have expensive cars and charge cards and money to blow. At BS, no cars were allowed, and you couldn’t really spend much there Also there was an “keep it down” tone in terms of being so well to do. You could not pick out who was rich and who was on full scholarship poor at that school, for the most part.</p>
<p>@TCC2014: You can find snobby and rude people anywhere. Such behavior is not defined by money. As others have posted, there are rich kids at BS, but you may not be able to pick some of them out. This is not an issue for concern.</p>
<p>What constitutes as rich and what constitutes as poor?</p>
<p>I don’t think fellow students really think of the label either way or are aware of how much money the family has. They often don’t really even know who’s on FA and who is not. I think there is some awareness of who can afford to, say, go out to dinner on a weekend or who cannot (and I think people try to be pretty sensitive to that), but I don’t think much labeling goes on (at least that I’ve heard about.</p>
<p>@ahsmuoh " No kid is “rich”. Their parents might be but they aren’t."</p>
<p>Yes, a kid can be rich…Trust Funds.</p>
<p>My close friend had her daughter at one of the top boarding schools in the country. She was initially waitlisted for financial aid, but my friend’s aunt came up with the funds that had her clear the waitilist. It was still a huge sacrifice on my friend’s part to send her daughter there, and though there were kids from families with greater financial need there,money was very tight. She probably should not have had her daughter at that school, but that was the choice she made.</p>
<p>Those were the best years of her life, the DD now says with no issues at all. She made wonderful friends from all walks of life. She shared a suite with kids whose parents are some of the wealthiest, and some who were homeless and who had parents in jail, in halfway houses, on the streets. Most of the students were like those from her own school district, however, just more diversity.Her home district was very much upper middle class and nearly all the kids went to college, Many of the students came from such backgrounds, but there were simply more at other ends of the economic scale as well.</p>
<p>She is determined to send her son to such a school, as she enjoyed her experience there so much. Her years in public school, and a local private school were not ones she enjoyed at all. No horror story, but just not as impressing and impressive to her. THe opportunities, the quality of everything, she felt was so much better.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Some kids are rich and famous in their own right, for example, child actors. You will see it all at BS. Enjoy it.</p>
<p>@cptofthehouse What a wonderful story. That is why anyone (rich/poor/in-between) wants to send their child I think. Everyone benefits.</p>
<p>We are full pay, but when researching schools to consider, we nixed the ones w a low proportion of kids on FA. We wanted a “rich” environment w socioeconomic diversity.</p>
<p>I was a dorm parent at a coed boarding school and my daughter boards at an all girls school. In my observation there is much less of a noticeable difference between the haves and the have nots at the girls school. I think it’s because the girls are not in competition to dress for and impress boys. </p>
<p>Most boarders are definitley rich… But they don’t act snobby about it!</p>
<p>A lot of people on FA though. </p>
<p>I honestly think it has everything to do with the kid’s personality. There is this widely held stereotype that all well-off kids are snobs. I currently go to an all girls private school in a good neighborhood, and you don’t know rich until you walk through there. I remember one time in 4th grade getting a fight with a girl about flying business class (which I’ve NEVER understood- it’s literally a few hours of your life. Suck it up and sit in a normal seat and stop wasting money… in my opinion). That was actually one of the main reasons for leaving my school, I really don’t like the people it attracts (the ‘my poop doesn’t stink’ type of people). </p>
<p>But you can have kids who are on full FA and be snobby and have the super loaded kid be the most humble. You never know. </p>