The class gap and education: Your Take

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Hey guys. I've won a contest with one of my local daily's and as reward I get to write an article about anything I would like.</p>

<p>And the title of this post is self-explanitory as to what I'm going to write it on.</p>

<p>Does anyone have anything to add?</p>

<p>By the way, I am a 15 year old Canadian girl from a very low income family who was accepted into Interlochen arts academy (notorious for its FA that stretches to every student but always not far enough) and the hotchkiss school but unfortunately cannot attend both because I can't shell out the 10 000 I need for IAA and the 6000 for Hotchkiss.</p>

2

<p>Wonderful topic very near and dear to my heart.</p>

<p>Personally, I went to an inner-city low-income public high school in the country's (US) 2nd largest school district and now have a daughter who will be attending a prep school next year, with significant FA.</p>

<p>From what you have written, it sounds like you fall into the trap that many US prep school applicants of modest means fall into -- fall in love with the prep school and after acceptance find out that need blind admission doesn't necessarily mean 100% funding to SSS expected family contribution.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, it is an all-too-common experience. </p>

<p>However, amazingly, these schools get enough people of modest means to accept the limited FA they offer (and go into hock up to their necks) to get the amount of socio-economic diversity they desire in their student population. In all likelyhood, we will be joining the "borrow to finance a HS education" before it is all over and trust me, it doesn't help me sleep at night.</p>

<p>To give yourself something to think about for your essay, think about the many recruiting objectives a school has (not in any particular order) -
1) attracting students who pay full fare balancing their books for the current year. - gotta stay in business today
2) attracting students who will complete their studies at their school -recruitment of replacements costs money
3) attracting students who will be successful (financially) in life and be generous donors later on - gotta have a job in 10 years
4) attracting students who bring distinction (win competitions, gain notariety)to their programs - keeps attracting the best and brightest and those who think they are and have money.
5) Attracting students who are likely to have parents/relatives who will donate money or other valuable resources (notariety to fundraise) to the school immediately.</p>

<p>And now think about how you fit into the picture.</p>

<p>To the extent that you fufill any of these categories (or measure off the charts), you gain value to a school and will more likely get a more generous FA offer. (99th percentile test scores / nationally competitive athelete / published author / favorably-critiqued artist / etc.)</p>

<p>To the extent that they cannot recruit a better fit in these categories and you help to meet their socio-economic/geographic/ethnic diversity goals, you are more likely to get a better FA offer. </p>

<p>A top sports program that already attracts top full-pay artists and gets plenty of accolades is not as likely to offer generous FA as a school that struggles to attract a few full-pay top talent artists and has to use FA to fill their programs. That may to some extent explain the differences in your FA offers between the 2 schools.</p>

<p>I'm sorry if I come off sounding cynical. While much of this board's purpose is to give positive help to prospective students, attention still needs to be paid to the fact that everyone doesn't get what they want out of the process. Understanding it, will lead to greater satisfaction.</p>

<p>I hope I have been helpful.</p>

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<p>Add? What are you planning to write? Frankly, you sound bitter. There's no entitlement to go to a prep school any more than there is one to drive a Mercedes. Some people can easily afford both, others sacrifice greatly to get what's important to them. It's unfortunate that everyone can't get the education they want, the house they want, the clothes they want.....but that's life.</p>

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<p>I have to agree with Suze's post.</p>

<p>Since you are obviously still a high school student, your comment, "I can't shell out the 10 000 I need for IAA and the 6000 for Hotchkiss," must indicate that your parents or guardians have made that decision.</p>

<p>In writing your article, you might consider whether the verb should be "can't" or "won't". Every family has to make the best financial decisions for its members, but is the inablitity to save or borrow the funds a question of "can't" or "won't"? Sometimes a family may feel that gap between the cost the educational benefit of a private boarding school education and the amount of sacrifice they would have to make is not worth it in the grand scheme of things, but instead of answering that they "won't do it," their response is that they "can't do it."</p>

<p>We are a family of modest means (well below the median family income for our town), but SSS said we did not qualify for any financial aid due to the equity in our home. We made the choices necessary so that our son could attend boarding school last year because we felt that the experience would provide excellent preparation for him in university and later in life. What he gained was far more important than updating our 6 and 12 year old vehicles, going on costly vacations, or eating out several times a week. I work in public education took on a second part time job this year to manage to send him. We can see a tremendous difference in him after just that one year. We would make the same choice over again if given another chance.</p>

<p>Another student we know worked two jobs (restaurant and landscaping) to scrape together $3000 because his family felt they could only pay $3000 of the $6000 expected family contribution. He did it again this summer because he wants to go back to the school in September.</p>

<p>I could go on and on about other families whose parents took on extra jobs or borrowed from relatives or against their homes to fund their children's education. I used to work for a man who grew up in the NY projects yet put himself through Cornell University on his own to become an amazing leader in his field.</p>

<p>One question you might want to address in your article is how important is it in each individual case to make any sacrifice at all to fund a private education. Like Goaliedad, I went to a low income area public school that was and is in the bottom 25% of the schools in our state, but when the opportunity to have our son attend a private school that would bring some of his previously untapped talent to the surface, we decided that "great sacrifices" were merely "moderate inconveniences" in the grand scheme of things. In hindsight, it was the definitely right choice for our son.</p>

<p>Good luck with your article. I hope you will present both sides of the coin fairly.</p>

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<p>Some things worth mentioning:</p>

<p>1). Programs/scholarships designed to help underprivilaged but talented youth get a top-notch education (Prep for Prep, Questbridge, Jack Kent Cooke Scholars, etc etc.)</p>

<p>2). Certain prestigious universities eliminating tuition for lower-income families (Harvard, Stanford...)</p>

<p>3). High schools with with relatively low tuition (or none at all) that still do very well in college admissions and in providing a stellar education (Roxbury Latin, Hunter College High School...)</p>

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<p>There is also a program in the U.S. called "A Better Chance" (ABC) that works with prep schools to help enroll students of limited finances and opportunity who show a great deal of promise.</p>

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<p>I am bitter. Thats why I am teaming up with several writer's to find an understanding to a very serious question that many people have. It is also why I am asking the opinion of all the CCers who wish to address it. I should have explained that in my post.</p>

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<p>Yes I've got both sides represented fairly so far in the article. Thanks for the input!</p>

<p>But, As I am talking about class distinction as well as education, you must understand that as I am dealing with 'lower class' families also and not only the 'middle-lower class' or the 'middle-class' (I still have to meet with my friends to discuss our research findings and opinions on these issues for these level), so the 'can't' and the 'won't' blur completly. </p>

<p>You see, I live in a small town wracked with poverty (4 child families on 5000 a year) but also surrounded with 2 newly built suburbs with houses ranging for 300 000 to 800 000 dollars. But strangely enough the 3 public schools in the 60 mile radius of our town have seen a steady drop in the students whose parents chose their attendence and in an area where the average income is steadily rising each year, the average income of the students who do attend these schools is dropping significantly.</p>

<p>In accordence to this drop the 2 private schools/borading schools in the area (area includes 200 miles) have seen a dramatic increase in it's student population (and its rejection rate) and in the popularity of private education in general.</p>

<p>Because of this statistic the goverment is refusing to build a better quality public school and the poor cannot just leave their lives in limited public housing for better schools unless they wish to sacrifice more than just eating out, and vacations. They would have to sacrifice their shelter and food.</p>

<p>And in a land where education (at least from k to 12) is a right, is the sink or float "not everyone can have the 'mercedes' of education" mentality really helping anyone?</p>

<p>Think the abysmal "No child left behind". </p>

<p>One of the possiblities I am looking into is the voucher systems some states are currently debating and the system of which several countries have adapted successfully.</p>

<p>Anyone have any view on that?</p>

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<p>And I'm glad to see that you are honest as well EgonandAway.</p>

<p>You seem to be trying to take your lemons and squeeze them for some lemonade, which is terriffic.</p>

<p>Another suggestion to look at relating to FA would be to compare how schools award FA in comparison to students' SSS expected family contribution.</p>

<p>I'll tell you that there is a lot of wiggle room here, especially where schools' policies can be interpreted different ways.</p>

<p>For those of you (students) not familiar with the process, SSS takes a reading of your family's financial situation (income, debt, assets, etc.) along with family supplied statements regarding special situations that they are in.</p>

<p>From this, they calculate an "Expected Family Contribution" EFC for short. This is supposed to be the amount that a school should "reasonably" expect a family to contribute towards the cost of a prep school education. Figures are calculated for both boarding and day students.</p>

<p>If you go really digging through SSS's site (an exhaustive search will be necessary), they show some sample families situations and what their EFCs are. </p>

<p>No formulas are given, but I believe some generalities can be drawn up.</p>

<p>1) Liquid assets (cash in bank, securities not in protected retirement accounts) are "taxed" (expected to be contributed towards the EFC) at a very high rate. So prudently keeping a few months of income liquid (up to 6 months is recommended by many financial planners) in case of emergency (layoff/illness/etc) is punished. Conversely, people without liquid assets (spenders and risk takers) are rewarded.</p>

<p>2) Families who have acquired home equity and are not in debt up to their necks (with a high percentage of their income going to cover monthly interest charges) are also taxed heavily. Yes, they look at both how much of your income is available below the normal 25 - 40% typically spent on mortgage payments. If you have a relative low house payment (compared to your income) and you have home equity to tap, you are expected to tap into that.</p>

<p>3) Divorced families get special scrutiny and I know several who can't believe how much they are expected to contribute even though they support 2 households.</p>

<p>Now, once you have the EFC calculated, it is the schools' turn to use that information to award FA. Some things I've learned about this.</p>

<p>1) Some schools will admit students and not award any financial aid. They may like what you have to offer, but they may have enough of your child's special talent for their program. We experienced this ourselves with an admission an $0 FA offer from one reasonably well endowed school. This is, in effect, putting you on the waiting list.</p>

<p>2) Every school looks at their "cost of attendance" differently. Some look at it as purely tuition and books. Some calculate in miscellaneous incidental costs(pocket money/laundry/sports and activity fees/etc). Some calculate in travel for students who are from a long distance away. But many do not. So 3 schools wit a $36,000 (US) tuition + books; $2000 in miscellaneous costs; and $2000 in travel (for a total of $40,000) may grant anywhere from $26,000 to $30,000 to a family with an EFC of $10,000.</p>

<p>3) Now #2 is assuming that a school funds its FA to 100% of EFC. Most of the best endowed schools (Andover/Exeter/etc) that are frequently brought up here generally award to 100% of EFC (the full $30,000 in the example above). But many schools do not have that much FA money available and may only grant to 80% of EFC as a policy (trying to spread their money as evenly as possible among FA applicants). So an 80% school may only give FA grants amounting to $20,800 (.80 * ($36,000 - $10,000) ). They expect the families to take out extra loans above and beyond what SSS would expect a family to take out. So a family going to a school that (in effect) costs $40,000, could end up shelling out $19,200 of that amount, almost doubling their EFC.</p>

<p>What you have here is a very, very complicated situation where many families (like yours) find themselves looking at a price tag that they were never expecting.</p>

<p>I hope this is useful for your thinking. And I hope you do get past the bitterness and come to accept that not everything in life works out to our ideas of what "fair" is. I think this essay may be good therapy in getting there.</p>

<p>Good Luck.</p>

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<p>I've only studied Canada briefly. As opposed to the US, you guys are entitled to health care, but my understanding is you don't get the best health care. Like you, we in the US are entitled to an education, but let me assure you that generally income highly impacts the quality you get. There are exceptions.</p>

<p>Education, unfortunately is a commodity. It is bought by tax payers in towns and by individuals at private schools. My family is like the one above who gave up a lot of daily comforts (not to mention a bigger house) to send us to prep schools. They will conntinue to eat tuna most days for several more years as we make our way through our colleges of choice (read expensive). My sister and I were talking about expecting to sacrifice later to take care of them...and to put out own kids through great schools.</p>

<p>Life just isn't equitable. Never was, never will be. All you can do is try to get the best you can. There are many (but not too many) need blind schools for the best students. Clearly you were strong enough to get into Hotchkiss so you will be a contender at those. Work hard and apply widely!</p>

<p>Education is an eqalizer. You may in your article want to talk about that. Talk about the importance of working hard and sacrificing everything you can to gain access to the finest schools possible at the college level. This sounds perhaps more straight forward in Canada than in the US because colleges are more quantative in their approach to admissions. Then you breaak the cycle. Save from the time your kids are young knowing the local public may not be enough.</p>

<p>Being bitter is really unproductive and will only hurt you in the end.</p>

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<p>i'm not sure if this will help you, but in a philosophy class i took, i understood that the rich want to stay rich, the middle-class want to become rich, and the poor want everyone to be equal.</p>

<p>clearly, if you are against bridging the class gap, you are against equality.</p>

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<p>that would mean that middle- and upper-class people are against equality which is not true at all.
In fact, pretty much everybody wants to be rich.</p>