<p>Oh, and it’s already clear that the FA rates have not stayed constant. Last year, Andover’s FA population was 42%. But this year, the admitted classes are made up of 35% FA students. While it’s only a 7% decrease, proportionally it’s fairly greater.</p>
<p>Well Tom, if the parent has the time & talent they should offer some volunteer time to the school. But it wouldn’t really be volunteer time would it?
I guess I’m one of those guys who believes that if you are receiving government checks for food and such and you aren’t working but have the ability and time to, you should do some Pro Bono work for your fellow community in some capacity in order to continue to receive the checks.</p>
<p>This reminds me of the excellent Episcopalian Parish School in Los Angles, that got many families to donate time and money into it’s church, by intimating that parishioners received first choice at admissions time. Of course Tom, it was up to the family then too.</p>
<p>I fully agree with you, but you have to remember that we’re talking about boarding high schools here - to my knowledge, none of them have black suits that go walking around repossessing homes and collecting taxes…</p>
<p>And to quite a large extent already, by not receiving full scholarships, parents give of themselves to the school. While it’s my belief that there is always more one can do for the community, I just think that the idea of a school that enslaves its FA students’ parents - by impressing on them a need to do school community service that FP students’ parents probably aren’t doing - is silly, really.</p>
<p>Yes - schools DO over admit. It’s not how many acceptances are given out but the yield rate. The year before last, for example, SPS did over admit in the range of 10-15 students. Some rooms which previously had been single became doubles that year.</p>
<p>So it’s hardly like they were bursting at the seams then…</p>
<p>I have two points: I read that before the need blind policy was implemented, they would only turn down 5-10 students based on need. These applicants needed full pay and would have cost Andover several hundred thousand. Instead, they broke up the aid and distributed it to more students. </p>
<p>TomtheCat - the 35% is admitted students who were offered aid. More aid students tend to accept the offer of admission so it should be in the 40% for those that choose to attend. I’m sure that the new numbers will come out soon about who will actually matriculate.</p>
<p>Enslaving FA students’ parents?? Your words not mine.
Leet Ivys take kids who have been doing community service right? It gives the college an idea of the character of the kid they are admitting. Why wouldn’t a BS’s admins lean towards FA families that are known for doing community service in their own neighborhoods, with the presumption that they will continue to do so for the school that is giving their children a Private School education with financial aid? It could actually be a “hook” for the kid. Private school education is not a right, it is a privilege at this point in time.</p>
<p>FYI, once in the FP students’ parents didn’t do any less work than the FA parents generally.</p>
<p>Good God, are you serious? Do you actually think that my point is that community service is frowned upon by educational institutions? That’s absolutely absurd, considering a possible reason for my acceptance at Andover was my community service record…</p>
<p>My point is that schools requiring FA parents to do community service for them is ridiculous! That’s something that you said would be welcome, and what I’m saying is that that’s crazy. The fact that those parents are already contributing as much as is economically feasible is testament enough to their devotion to the school their children attend.</p>
<p>I didn’t say it was required, just encouraged. I also never said anything about requiring it would be welcomed. What text are you reading from amigo? There is no spin allowed here!
Are you a social worker or something? “Testaments and devotion” …what a lot of bunk. Everyone can do something extra to help their child’s’ school in these times of economic cutbacks. One of the three W’s… wisdom, work or wealth.</p>
<p>I think encouraging parents to contribute their time (ahead of time) would be a value added for the family and school, and should be a consideration during the application process.</p>
<p>I don’t know if Andover is unique, but I do believe they make every effort to meet 100% of their accepted students’ need and that admissions is need blind. My daughter received generous aid packages each year. While it didn’t make sending her there easy (we were still making significant payments to the monthly tuition plan), it did make it possible. We are very grateful to the school for all that they have done for our daughter and our family.</p>
<p>More than 10% of the school is on full scholarship - and when I say full I mean it. Often they come from inner city families that cannot even afford to pay for their son/daughter to get a pizza occasionally with friends. When querying one of the counselors about a reasonable budget for spending money he said, “We give our full scholarship students $350.” (Note: I don’t remember the precise figure but that was the approximate value a few years ago). That’s right, they get tuition, room, board, books, a laptop and spending money. Many of those kids end up making major academic, cultural and social contributions to the school. Of course, I’m sure PA hopes some will also end up being major financial contributors after they achieve economic success.</p>
<p>I can honestly say Andover makes it a priority to be diverse, including socio-economically. They believe, and I agree whole-heartedly, that it is one of their strengths. Even in the face of a severe economic downturn I’m sure they will make every possible effort to retain that perspective.</p>
<p>Amen (10 char).</p>
<p>In further defense of Andover (not that I can improve on Padre13’s post), I personally know one family that started as full pay last year, then their financial situation changed, and they have 50% scholarship for next year. Need-blind is a core value to PA, one that they are very proud of, and I believe that they will scrimp on anything else they can to maintain their extremely generous financial aid. “Youth from every quarter”</p>
<p>Did you know that Andover has the highest yield rate of any boarding school (75%). Much higher too! SPS and Hotchkiss are both 59%.</p>
<p>It also had the lowest acceptance rate for prospective 9th grades (14.9%)</p>
<p>Where did you get your numbers…SPS hasn’t released any info on 09 season yet.</p>
<p>benevolent - you can’t compare yields for Andover and SPS - it’s apples to oranges. Andover’s day student population probably has close to 100% yield and also a much lower acceptance rate for day students. SPS is 100% boarding.</p>
<p>Another thing about Andover:</p>
<p>What they used to do is make a pile of all the accepted people without regarding aid. Then, upon calculating how much they could spend, they would pull out a certain number of students they thought were good enough to be accepted but would drain too much money. In 2000, they had to pull out 46 applications.</p>
<p>In 2008, they pulled out zero. They made that pile of accepted students and took no one out because of financial aid. This was from a presentation they made to us. Therefore, financial aid no longer factors into their decision.</p>
<p>Even though there were less accepted FA applicants than last year, its not because they needed FA, but rather because other students were more qualified.</p>
<p>creative1: Actually, the acceptance rate for day students is higher than that of boarding applicants at Andover. It is much harder to get in as a boarder. </p>
<p>Moreover, when you take the day students out of the overall yield, Andover’s yield is still quite high (close to 70% for boarders).</p>
<p>Both you saying day students acceptance is higher or lower, where did you get your stats please?</p>
<p>It says on the Andover website that the acceptance rate for day students is about the same as for boarding students.</p>
<p>[Phillips</a> Academy - Day Students](<a href=“http://www.andover.edu/Admission/NewStudentExperience/Pages/DayStudents.aspx]Phillips”>http://www.andover.edu/Admission/NewStudentExperience/Pages/DayStudents.aspx)</p>