<p>A lot is really going to depend on your daughter's SSAT score. That will give you more of an idea of what schools are realistic for her. That isn't the only factor, of course, but you don't want to get your heart set on the Exeter/Andover level of school (not that they sound like the ideal fit for your daughter anyway) if she has a 66% SSAT (which still leaves plenty of excellent schools). </p>
<p>Not to confuse things more, but there are several excellent schools in the middle of the country, too. Western Reserve is a beautiful school in the suburbs of Cleveland and Culver has an amazing campus in Indiana. I won't even start with the wonderful schools in the south like Webb and Asheville.</p>
<p>I, too, recommend Blair and some of the other MAPL (Mid Atlantic Prep League) schools. Peddie, Hill and Lawrenceville, in particular, are worth a good look. I like Mercersburg a lot, but it is a little more challenging transportation-wise. The "personality" of these schools is nurturing, challenging academics but strong moral code, strong athletics but wide participation and faculty who are available and really care about each student as an individual.</p>
<p>Some anecdotal comments about Financial aid:</p>
<p>I often see posts that recommend those in need of FA look to schools with large endowments. Our D attended a boarding school with a relatively small endowment of $18K and they gave her more than 55% FA or $16K of $29K cost. My son's school has a $35K endowment and they gave him 70% FA or $32K of $45K cost. In both cases they met or exceeded our need as determined by the PFS (parents financial statement).</p>
<p>It boils down to this: If your kid is a good match for the school or they really want him/her due to a particular hook, or by some other mysterious permutation of factors they deem him/her someone they want who will be likely to attend if accepted, there's a good chance they'll find the money.</p>
<p>I know one student who was accepted with full FA from Andover, was rejected from Exeter, and was accepted with no FA from another of the top ten schools. These decisions make absolutely no sense unless you are inside the board room with the admissions committee.</p>
<p>I digress, but my message FROM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE is, don't discount schools with smaller endowments! Your kid could be a big fish in their small pond.</p>
<p>Hi Baseballmom--you haven't posted in awhile! do you mean endowments of $18M and $35M? I agree with you about not discounting the schools with smaller endowments. Two of my daughters are attending boarding schools with very small endowments; one school is providing 80% FA, the other is providing 90% FA. </p>
<p>I'm making a list of schools for my youngest daughter to look at. For the first time, I am taking endowments/FA average grants/% of kids on FA into consideration before applying. (3 kids in boarding and one in college--I will need some FA help!:)) I was surprised at Choate's stats, based on BSR. They have $235 Million in endowment, yet only 27% of the kids are on FA, with the average grant of $21,070. This seems very low, when you compare it to schools such as Blair or Asheville. Blair has $66M in endowment, 32% on FA with an average grant of $22,246. Asheville only has $38M in endowment, yet provides 30% of their kids an average $21,800 grant.</p>
<p>Hi baseballmom!! I was just thinking I miss you! LOL</p>
<p>
[quote]
You make me laugh, baseballmom! I had totally forgotten Linda's list and her schedule of visits. I think I advised taking many pictures of each school because however else could you keep it all straight!
[/quote]
Yes, and we INTENDED to take pics but the first visit it was raining, so that didn't work out. Second visit we couldn't wait to get off campus (clearly not a good match) no pics. Did take some at the third before the battery died...Rain at 2 of the next 3...
What we got mixed up was who had WHAT fitness center and which library was which. </p>
<p>12 visits was crazy. But, I did help us know what was and was not a good fit. Ultimately, we are at the same school as baseballmom (can't wait to meet on 9/7!) and it just feels so right when we walk on campus. </p>
<p>We too got a great FA package there and a similar offer at a school with about a $25 million (yes Jenny, she means million - LOL). $35million endowment, average FA is around $24k I believe. About the same as Hotchkiss that has a $400+ million. </p>
<p>Also look past the averages, dig deeper. Stef can talk more about that, some schools will meet full need of less students while others will meet give lots of smaller awards. Also, our offers were both more than $10k over the average listed for the school.</p>
<p>fa is definitely a great mystery. My son was also accepted at the school that Linda and babseball mom's sons are going to. Unlike them, he was waitlisted for fa. It was suggested that they didn't think he would actually attend and therefore didn't want to tie up the $$. Now the school my son is going to attend was very generous with financial aid.</p>
<p><em>laughing</em> Jenny, yes, I meant millions! Like Linda, our awards at both D's school and now, my son's are WAY over the average. It would be a mistake to rule out schools due to their average FA award being lower than your need.</p>
<p>The reason FA comes to mind so strongly for me when discussing fit is because if your kid is not accepted, the amount of the endowment or average FA award is meaningless. If the school is a good fit for your S/D, then they have an excellent chance of acceptance. Then, and only then, does FA come into play.</p>
<p>p.s. I love hanging out with my BFF Linda and all my CC buds! :)</p>
<p>I think warriorboy648 is right about why they didn't get FA, but who knows.<br>
We were waitlisted for FA at one school with a larger endowment and a higher average award when I called knowing someone who had turned down an award there and notified them of it, they still said "chances are slim, our FA yeild is very high this year, there will likely not be any money returned." </p>
<p>In any case...there is a balance. Obviously, if a school's average is $10k and you need $35k, you might think twice about applying. But find the fit first.</p>
<p>Also, I think warriorboy648 was right when she said between the 2 of us we visited just about every school!</p>
<p>just a quick comment about FA....I agree with baseballmom completely! I applied to 2 schools- Emma Willard and Miss Hall's. Emma Willard has the bigger endowment....MUCH bigger...but funny story I ended up getting like 90% FA (like $37k) from miss hall's, and on the FA waitinglist from emma willard. so whatever you do...do NOT ignore the school with the low endowment because you think it'll be a waste of time because you won't get enough money...it wasn't the case with me!!!!! :)</p>
<p>I'm in the same boat with emmers44. I applied to Thacher and Emma Willard. Thacher has a bit bigger endownment, but it ended up that I was on the waitlist at Thacher becoz of FA while I got full ride at EW. So in the end, I think what matters is not how big the endownment is but how well you fit the school.</p>
<p>Linda, so you applied to a bunch of schools?
Welcome to the group.
We visited 10, and applied to 8. lol</p>
<p>I wanted to add that I agree with the issue of applying/consider a school even if their endowment is relatively small. If you think about this, 35 millions can not compare with 500 millions; but still 35 millions is a LOT of money, enough to get a good FA package.</p>
<p>I have also seen parents who, after receiving an offer they considered a little bit short, appealed to the school and received better/improved offers. That has been done too.</p>