<p>C-H-U-R-C-H</p>
<p>25 seconds.
15 seconds.
4 seconds.</p>
<p>I did tell my mom I was grateful for everything you guys said "health, home, dad having a job, etc.." She wants to sell her jewelry (wedding ring) on ebay to raise some quick money. $15000 is nothing for some people, but for me, it could be life changing.</p>
<p>Dazzle, thanks for the advice. We're Catholic and unfortunately, I don't think our church is used to giving out money to parishioners. They just are always asking for some :)</p>
<p>Boarding school is not the end of story, you still have long way to run. College, job, family .........<br>
After your parent call the school tomorrow, see what they say. If nothing they can do, then try other helps. Even end up at stay public school, you still have chance to get in good college. Many of my friends graduated from our state university with honor went to ivy graduate school. In-state students pay less but still have the best education.<br>
Don't give up, do your best !</p>
<p>Dazzlezz, she might not be from an area where a church is that wealthy, either. Our church has maybe 70 active members in the congregation, and their idea of a scholarship is a few hundred dollars.
15K a year is a lot to borrow, but I know the requirements for borrowing a Parent Plus loan a very, very lenient. Tell your parents to go to the American Education Services website and look into a Parent Plus loan (they are not just for college). You do need to start repaying it right away, though.</p>
<p>And, if you can't work it out for this year, apply as a repeat 10th grader for next year. Expand your list to schools with bigger endowments. You probably know from reading here that Exeter, Andover, St. Pauls, Deerfield, and Groton all waive the tuition if your family earns less than 75/80K a year. NMH does not yet have that policy, but they are also very generous in the fa dept and do give full fa packages as well (and it is easier to get in). Repeating is common, lots of kids do it. It is not based on poor grades or anything like that.</p>
<p>My son received 0 FA his first time applying. Not quite sure what happened....because we certainly qualified for some big-time $$$. I think part might have been due athletics and the coaches maybe wanting him to wait a year, but we reapplied the following year, for the same grade and did get all of our necessary FA. Repeating is great; my son loves it. Age is absolutely nothing in bs....there is a range of ages in all of the classes and you would be placed in appropriate classes, so repeating the grade does not mean repeating all of the courses.</p>
<p>And may I add to Keylyme's list that St Andrew's (Delaware) pledges to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need. They don't "gap" people. That was a key part of our decision to apply there and to attend!</p>
<p>I wouldn't sell the wedding ring for boarding school tuition. That type of thing is only for an extreme crisis (no food, losing the house, etc.). What would she sell next year if they did not up the FA? I agree with suggestions as to approaching schools for more money, but don't get your hopes up. The pool of need blind schools suggested is a possibility for next year. In the meantime, as so many have said on this forum, make the best of what you have to work with. Even students from mediocre public schools have a chance to go to "top" colleges. Also, remember that going to a "top" college is not a prerequisite to success. Many years ago the valedictorian of my high school, who was a couple of years older than me, and the older brother of a classmate of mine, chose a local college which offered him a full tuition scholaraship (as a commuter) over Harvard. NO kidding. He did not want to go into hock for Harvard.</p>
<p>If you read some of the threads on this whole vast site, you can get the idea that you should
get into a feeder school to get into the best prep school
go to the best name prep school to get into the best college
go to the best name college to get into the best grad/professional school
go to the best name grad/professional school to get the best job</p>
<p>maybe get the best job to get the best retirement community?
Does best retirement community add up to the best name cemetery?</p>
<p>There are many things the OP can do besides BS this year. I really like the Michele Hernandez books, "The Middle School Years", "A is for Admission"
Amazon.com:</a> Michele A. Hernandez: Books
Even though she does stress a lot of this name brand stuff, she more is less says that kids from lousy highschools have very good shots at getting into the college of their dreams with some planning. She has lots of ideas of how to supplement a lousy curriculum with online courses, summer courses, community college classes, etc. Worth a look. I was able to read them at our local library.</p>
<p>My friend's D was waitlisted at 2 schools and the third one that accepted her gave him a low FA offer.</p>
<p>His father can't afford to pay the $13,000 and they are very depressed. I am sending him this link, maybe they can get some good ideas from here.</p>
<p>Keep posting ....</p>
<p>Please don't forget that there is always next year. You can go in as a repeat sophomore and will be ahead in classes by the time you graduate. I do not know how it with the schools you applied to, but generally when a school awards fa, they do not increase it the following year, so your parents would be stuck taking out the big loan every year.</p>
<p>Well it looks as if there is no way I can go to school. My parents took stock of their financial situation and it is pretty grim. They incurred a lot of credit card debt when my dad was off work and tho they're trying to pay it off, it still is thousands of dollars. It just doesn't make sense to add another $15000 to that. Especially when it isn't just $15K this year, but at least that same amount every year, for 3 years. I'm so sad and I feel really badly for my mom and dad. They feel as if they let me down. If I had known all this beforehand, I don't think I would have gone thru this whole process.</p>
<p>Condolences to you and your family. Try to use this as a learning experience. Plan well ahead for college. Look for schools with merit awards that you could try for then. Do well now so that you can prepare. College is much more important anyway.</p>
<p>BostonBorn,
I hope you will take my suggestion into consideration (i.e. appying next year for a repeat year at 10th). It is always an option.
Should you decide not to do this, however, it sounds like you are bright and motivated enough to make yourself stand out at your public school. Maybe you could do a summer session at one of the schools? There are also excellent online courses available.</p>
<p>Sorry things didn't work out the way you wanted. I wish money wasn't the issue holding you back.</p>
<p>You sound like you have a sweet family and you all look out for each other.</p>
<p>BostonBorn,
Have you or one of your parents called the school? I hope you try to increase the FA offer. They might be able to "find" the FA for you. It can't hurt to try. Go for it! I'm pretty sure I've seen other posts on here about accepted students getting more FA for their students. Good luck!</p>