<p>I was wondering what the prevailing thought is regarding admissions as it relates to being a FP or FA applicant. </p>
<p>My daughter, a 9th grader, is on FA in a single-sex competitive school in Fairfield Country, CT. She is a B+ student, got wonderful recommendations from her teachers, participates in many extra-curricular activities, and interviews extremely well.</p>
<p>She was wait-listed to both her 1st choice BS and two day schools. (The BS knows, btw, that this is her 1st choice.) Meanwhile, several of her wealthy classmates got in to the same schools my D was wait-listed. These students are C students at best, with one on many meds for her ADD and other issues - among being very socially challenged. </p>
<p>It seems obvious that my D was wait-listed because she is FA. Any thought about this would be appreciated.</p>
<p>I don’t know what schools you are referring to, but it is true that applying for FA to some BS makes the appplication pool more competitive. There is one BS I know of right now that is still currently need blind, I am not sure about any others. I think the majority of BS now are not need blind.</p>
<p>There could be other factors like legacy. Kids with C’s might have other things that make them “attractive”. Perhaps sports? I wouldn’t pin in directly on FA, but FA does play a factor into it. Unfortunately schools can’t afford to be need blind so many deserving candidates do get wait listed/rejected. </p>
<p>If all variables are static, then yes. The FP applicant > FA applicant. But people aren’t static. There is so much that goes into it. For example:</p>
<p>Applicant A:
C’s
High SSAT score
Legacy
FP
Recruited athlete
No other EC’s
violinist</p>
<p>Applicant B:
A’s
High SSAT’s
FA
Varsity level, but not recruited
Student body president
Tuba player</p>
<p>It’s hard to say that the financial aid was the only reasoning applicant A was selected over applicant B. Maybe the school needed a violinist or something similar to that. The point is there are too many variables to pinpoint a cause on financial status, HOWEVER it is a fact that financial status plays a role (in non-need blind schools).</p>
<p>It’s all about risk v. reward. There is less risk to admitting a fp student. Even if grades aren’t stellar they fulfill a need. If DD is a B+ white student that isn’t a recruit then they are in a tough situation. It’s a cruel world, but the world is filled with over qualified white and Asian students. If there’s no real hook then a tough draw. I personally know a white student that got into a PA/PE school with more than one C on their transcript. They got fa, but the student is was a recruit future D1 prospect.</p>
<p>lol, Px, I thought you were moving over to the college boards this afternoon!</p>
<p>(This is one of the many things that I love about you, you’re so totally sensitive to the real deal and articulate it well. Groton recognizes this, I think.)</p>
<p>To a large extent, FP “covers” for FA; a budget is a budget and resources are finite. So, I agree with Px (naturally). And that you can never know for sure about reasons for a denial or waitlist. I wish that op’s daughter had got better news; she has achieved and done well for herself in ninth grade. The world of private education stumbles, badly sometimes, as a meritocracy, given my reading of Daniel Golden and others on college admissions. OP, you have the tough job of counseling your daughter through this with tact and grace; I wish your family all the best going forward. Some of these other threads speak to that parenting job, which is maybe more pertinent now than getting to the bottom of the FA vs. FP question.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your thoughtful responses.</p>
<p>Going back to my original post, all of the applicants are white. None are legacy - although my D’s grandfather went to one of the school in which she has been wait-listed. (The admissions director loved her, in fact.) And to add to this, none are gifted athletes (in fact the opposite) - with my daughter being the most athletic among the group - plus she is one of the recognized leaders of her grade.</p>
<p>I guess to me it seems obvious that my D was wait listed sole on the basic that I as a single mom requires financial aid. That said i recognize too that BSs are a business and need to make decisions as it relates to their financial security.</p>
<p>Thoughts? Comments?</p>
<p>How in the world did you know your daughter’s classmates GPAs?</p>
<p>My daughter attends a school where many students leave at the end of 8th grade. In her entire 9th grade class there are 20 kids. Because she is friendly with all of them, they freely share their grades among each other. The kids that got into the schools where is wait-listed are clearly not as strong as she is academically and athletically. In fact one student was at a special needs school, the other should be - not only because of her intellectual challenges, but emotional ones as well.</p>
<p>@OP…special needs, ADD doesn’t mean they are any less than your DD. be less judgmental about those things. I can say from experience that applying for FA lessens the chance of admission. It did for my child. Good luck.</p>
<p>First - yes, ADD doesn’t mean the student isn’t capable of doing the work. So that’s a cheap shot. I know students with that diagnosis who are equal to, or out performing their peers at BS.</p>
<p>Second - yes, there is limited money for students needing financial aid and those students are in a more competitive pool regardless of race or gender. It is what it is. We advocate on the CC boards that students needing financial aid apply broadly to number of schools to increase their odds of having a choice - and yet even that is not a guarantee of placement.</p>
<p>But can I tell you honestly - as an interviewer - I know you’re trying to get some perspective on why your student may have been waitlisted compared to classmates. I simply means the school found her a great candidate but doesn’t have funding for her. But I really find threads distasteful when parents cite negative statistics or personal information about successful candidates in an attempt to build up their own child’s stature. The bottom line is that the schools are private, even full tuition doesn’t pay the entire bill (alumni donations fill that gap) and students who need financial aid often need to demonstrate something compelling to be in the limited pool.</p>
<p>For example - my daughter’s school cites that it gives financial aid to approx 38% of the families. Of those, many are “partial” pay (middle class families who still pay a portion of tuition after the scholarship). They get 2,000 applications for 100 Freshman spots. If we assume they admit genders in equal numbers, they’ll admit 50 girls and of that only 17 will get financial aid. If your daughter applied as a sophomore they admit 50 students of which 25 are girls and only 8 will get financial aid.</p>
<p>Full FA means the dollars go less far. So the student has to be stunning in some aspect. Otherwise the same dollars can be spread to two or three families making it go farther. </p>
<p>I will also say, having gone through this for a few decades, that those two children you cited had some aspect that was attractive to the school that your daughter didn’t have. It’s not all about grades and sports stats. And there are SOOO many FP applicants in any given year that schools don’t have to take in students that they deem can’t do the work simply to have a revenue flow.</p>
<p>Hope that helps. Just stay on the waitlist. In the event enough F.A. families turn down their offers to free up dollars, your daughter may still have a chance.</p>
<p>I have read all the posts and am a married parent of two sons: one who got into a top notch BS and one who had to try two years to get into BS. I agree with Px and acenthehole about the fact that there are other variables besides just Financial need. One son received 90% FA and the other received 50% FA because they each had different hooks and each school had different financial resources to assist students.</p>
<p>Well, yes, the schools may be more selective in accepting FA students. There are plenty of threads here on cc discussing that very fact. Try not to take it personally and I don’t think it’s out of line to explain to your D, tactfully, that schools are limited in how many FA students they accept and the standards may be higher for FA applicants (I’m keeping my wording conditional because a sample of 3 from one feeder school is not exactly random).</p>
<p>However, I agree with many other responders that there are many factors that go into admission decisions and I’m not one to try to second-guess them based on what can be told on cc. References and essays come to mind. </p>
<p>FWIW, I am a single mom who has sent two children to BS with FA awards around 85%. I look at it as a wonderful gift given at the discretion of the school. During the application process we tried to keep in mind that we were asking the schools to give my D $40,000 a year. Only one school came through for each child (offering both admission and FA), but that’s all we needed. My kids each got some acceptances without FA but many schools don’t do that, they just don’t accept the applicant, and that may well be the case with your D.</p>
<p>Simply said, your D has to first compete to be admissible, and next compete to win the limited financial aid funds.
So naturally she would need to shine brighter, compelling the school to want her as a member of their community over many other FA candidates. </p>
<p>The only thing you could say is that if you had been able to afford FP, she would probably have been admitted.
But what does that change?
We all deal with the cards we are dealt with.</p>
<p>I do hope she gets off one of the Wait Lists.
Wishing your D very best,</p>