<p>Regarding financial aid.... I will only speak from what I know personally... Exeter gives out a lot of financial aid; my niece who is neither an athlete nor a URM, received a 90% financial aid package. Other people from my town, (who are uncomfortably open with their personal financial info at times), have received generous packages from Exeter. I think we may have been the only ones in our town paying full tuition for our first son to attend!! However, with our first son starting college in the fall, and our second son going to Exeter, they have given us a nice financial aid package- not a full ride, but a well appreciated package nevertheless.
The moral of the story is don't let "sticker shock" stop you from applying, and don't just "assume" you will not get aid if your child is not a super-jock or a URM.</p>
<p>Finaid is certainly available, but not equally so at every institution. A sch w/ a larger endow will usually give more $ than a sch w/ a smaller endow. Also, if the applicant is less affluent than most families attending the sch s/he is likely to get a finaid award. The "problem" is that the larger endow and more affluent parent bodies are at the top BSs.</p>
<p>Another prolem: if S or D falls in love w/ shc where s/he was less likely or unlikely to get any finaid. This happened to D3 w/ day schools and for us, the sticker price turned out to be the actual price (ouch!).</p>
<p>So did you pay the sticker price? This goes to my point about the schools getting you very interested, not coming through with the money they imply you'll get and parents not wanting to dissapoint you after you worked so hard on apps and interviews, going deep into debt to pay.</p>
<p>It's a game. They slowly rope you in. Look at the kids just on this site who withdrew their aid applications when they got waitlisted. Schools are under the correct impression that families can find the money.</p>
<p>Steph, what happened when your first son got into Andover and Exeter? Was aid all you needed? Those schools may be the exception along with a few others.</p>
<p>I have always been pleased the FA offered -- it has always been what we needed to send either kid to whatever program they had applied for. That isn't to say that our share was easily paid -- but it was doable. I have talked with numerous people whose sons or daughters got the FA they needed to attend -- including full rides -- so I know that the aid is definitely given out and not just to URM, athletes or those who cured cancer. The right student applying to the right school has a decent shot. Now it is just trying to figure out what schools are "right" schools.</p>
<p>It looks like we will be looking to tour St. Pauls, Andover and Exeter in addition to the other schools on my son's list -- those schools ability to provide excellent FA is too well known to totally disregard those schools.</p>
<p>collegekid - </p>
<p>I'm not saying this is true for nyc but I am sure in some cases people apply for FA when they can afford to send their child w/o receiving FA -hence, the ability to pay when no FA is given. </p>
<p>I would expect a family to cut back on meals out, vacations, etc. before applying for financial aid. It's funny how some folks consider those needs instead of wants and how many folks simply live beyond their means. Don't assume all FA applicants are truly FA needy.</p>
<p>Were Exeter and Andover's offers pretty much the same? Exeter talked about loans when my cousin visited but Andover did not mention them.</p>
<p>I'm not looking for personal info, but would love to know if most candidates got similar packages from both. Anyone? What year did your son get in Steph, was it before Exeter was need blind? Anyone know if things have changed in how Exeter approaches aid now?</p>
<p>exeter no longer has loans in its FA packages -- just read their website: <a href="http://www.exeter.edu/admissions/147_351.aspx%5B/url%5D">http://www.exeter.edu/admissions/147_351.aspx</a></p>
<p>their website also states that applying for FA puts the student in a more competitive pool.</p>
<p>Andover's website clearly states that low-income families have packages with grants only and those who are not low-income may have low-interest loans in the package. <a href="http://www.andover.edu/admission/financial_aid.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.andover.edu/admission/financial_aid.asp</a></p>
<p>The problem with FA packages is that you can't compare what one student got with another student. The FA package (and admissions) will change depending on the year and how many applicants apply and need FA, what the school needs that year and how much they are planning on giving and the specifics of the individual applying and their individual FA info.</p>
<p>NYC*--"The "problem" is that the larger endow and more affluent parent bodies are at the top BSs." * What a ridiculous statement to make. How in the world do you know where affluent parents send their kids? You think that because a family has money, they will only consider the "top 10" schools--no matter what type of child they have. There are many, many boarding schools that are not the "top 10" that are the perfect schools for kids--whether their parents are millionaires or barely scraping by. </p>
<p>Why do people have such an elitist attitude about these schools--to the degree that if the child were not attending one of these schools, the child would be better off going to the local public high school? One would never apply these same standards to college---no one says if you can't get into Yale, Harvard, Columbia, etc.., you would be better off saving your money and going to the local community college. Yet, on this board, this is the attitude about boarding schools. There are the prestigious schools, then a handful of schools that are safeties, then all the rest are the dreaded "lower tier" not worth attending unless you have a problem child that needs therapy (according to collegekid). </p>
<p>In addition, schools with small endowments may still offer very large financial aid packages. The school that my daughter attends gave us a very generous package and their endowment is quite small.</p>
<p>Jenny, you can't compare the BS chase to the college chase. All applicants do not need to end up at A BS and many don't. The woman who mentored me through the process told me to make certain to tells schools during my interview that I would deffinitely be going to A BS, several kids she worked with chickened out and didn't go after being accepted. Kids with no BS history in their family and from less sophisticated environments are suspect to them.</p>
<p>But I'll take on your other question about where the affluent want their kids to go. There have been books on this (Prepping for Power anyone?) and Vanity Fair did an article in the last 2 years. </p>
<p>Having a kid at a top prep school is major status among the wealthy set. It's harder to buy then most things. Even a million bucks won't do it at a top school if your kid isn't qualified. There are lots of big hitters with multiple homes who just can't afford the million too. </p>
<p>That top school admit in those circles is bragging rights most couldn't imagine according to VF. </p>
<p>Many of those same parents would keep their kid at their local private or great suburban public before sending them to a school that won't get them notch up on the social ladder. </p>
<p>My college roomate, who went to SPS, is from one of those families. These parents, 2 years later, host catered reunions a few times a year for the kids AND their parents! These are his mother's favorite events because they include some really big names she rubs shoulders with. </p>
<p>Trust me, his plans were to stay at his solid NYC day school if he didn't get into one of the 5 BSs he applied to.</p>
<p>collegekid, can you tell us a little about your roomates experience at SPS compared to your own? Thanks for your imput.</p>
<p>My roomate raves about SPS. He's in constant touch with teachers there 2 years later. The classes he took were not available at my school. Where to even start, he had better facilities, amazing peers (you should here what they guys are doing) fewer disturbances. I put it this way, his kids will go to SPS and I hope mine will too!</p>
<p>Collegekid, correct me if I am wrong, but the Vanity Fair article was on the St. Paul's scandal, not boarding schools in general.</p>
<p>Truthfully, I did not really understand your post. But, if I am reading your post correctly, you are saying that admission to a top boarding school is such a huge status symbol for 'the wealthy set' and is 'harder to buy than most things.' Doesn't this statement ..."harder to buy than most things. Even a million bucks won't do it at a top school if your kid isn't qualified" contradict what you have posted numerous times in the past? All of your other posts appeared to be rants against the injustice of the wealthy buying their way into a top boarding school, either through money, legacy, or family connections. Now you are saying that only qualified kids are admitted. Which is it???</p>
<p>And, I don't know why I can't compare the 'BS chase to the college chase.' My point is that there are the internationally known Ivy league schools. If you don't get into them, and go to a Duke, or a Univ. of Michigan, or Georgetown, etc... people don't say that these are safety schools, or worse--so why for boarding schools? One size doesn't fit all, and just because someone chooses a lesser known boarding school does not mean that they are:
1. Troubled kid that parents want removed from house
2. Less intelligent than kids attending AESD,etc...
3. Poor</p>
<p>I don't believe I rant, but I do believe the wealthy have a leg up at top schools--BSs and colleges.</p>
<p>The point Jenny, is why would wealthy people want to send their kid to a second tier school? Most wealthy people have access to good private day schools and good public schools. There are circumstances like moving around a lot that account for some. In my experience however, most of the kids I know who went to top BSs (I go to an ivy, I know lots) only applied to top schools. Mumsie and Daddo were not going to send Trip just anywhere! He went to a top school or stayed at Greenwich High or the private school he's gone to since birth. They can get lots of tutors and he can have a good experience with the advantage of not leaving home. The weekend house gets so quiet if the kids are away and mom and dad may have to deal with the fact that they don't like each other (oh the divorces you see at BS).</p>
<p>Are there some families who fall in love with Tabor and send less than stellar student? I'm sure there are. Especially families with legacies. But I think few of the crowd described in VF, the new money set who sees these schools as social and educational stepping stones to joining the power elite, set out to send a kid to a tier 2 school.</p>
<p>I met lots of kids at school who agreed with their parents that they should live away from home. Their parents, even though many of their kids were smart, had long given up on Thad growing into a respectful young man without a firmer hand that could be found at BS. Mumsie just didn't know what to do with that rascal anymore! Their current privates asked them to find a new school by September. </p>
<p>Note that an SPS has no enforced study hours and many more freedoms that any BS I know of. They really can't afford to take a kid who has shown an iota of irresponsibility and of course they have no need to except for the occassional quad legacy with a building named after him. No rant Jenny, the simple truth.</p>
<p>There is so much naive going on here I feel like I'm reporting that Santa doesn't exist to first graders. Google boarding school and most of the hits you get are for wilderness programs. The majority of the BSs in this Country are not great places. The harsh truthes about BSs remind me of all the threads where people believe colleges will meet their needs as they see their need.</p>
<p>So we get kids and parents trying to figure out how to get a kid in and they're using college strategys which really don't apply.</p>
<p>Anyone see the Ugly Betty where Whilimina has a secretary looking for a BS that hasn't heard about her daughter? She ends up in France.</p>
<p>My girlfriend watches a show about a girl at Yale and in one episode her boyfriend and father compare the list of BSs they were kicked out of-both being spoiled rich kids.</p>
<p>Collegekid100, my d got almost identical FA awards from A and E. They were significantly above the EFC-which is a good thing, because without that margin we would not have sent her to A where she'll matriculate in September. The financial sacrifice would just have been too hard to justify-still got college ahead for two daughters! All the other day and local BS she applied to gave her awards based almost right on the EFC (except one where she won an essay contest that gave her a fifty percent four year scholarship plus a generous aid package). D is not a hook, legacy or URM, and while her SSATs were good, they were not unusually good by AESD standards. I think they just wanted her based on her obvious independence, drive and outgoing personality-and the fact that we live in the Midwest helped too I'm sure.</p>
<p>Per post #115</p>
<p>Your sources of information speak for themselves.</p>
<p>Good point Burb Parent! </p>
<p>I need to remind myself that I am having this discussion with a child--someone who has not yet been out in the real world, trying to make a living for his family, doing everything possible to ensure that his children grow up to be happy, confident, contributing members of society. This child has such a skewed vision of the "haves" and the "have-nots" that he believes that the few wealthy people whom he has met represent the majority of all wealthy individuals in the US. Again, I say the majority of parents (fabulously wealthy or otherwise) will choose a school that best suits their child. If it happens to be an AESD, great. However, to assume that these are the only schools to choose from, and that any other school would be a waste of money, is ludicrous</p>
<p>collegekid: "**I don't believe I rant, but I do believe the wealthy have a leg up at top schools--BSs and colleges.</p>
<p>The point Jenny, is why would wealthy people want to send their kid to a second tier school?"**</p>
<p>Well collegekid, I can tell you in my own personal experience, my family obviously had enough money to send my 4 siblings to Ivy league schools, and yet I chose to go a small Jesuit school--(a school that was great for me--but certainly not with the cache of a Harvard or Brown.) And while I was there, I met many kids whose families were incredibly wealthy--vineyard owners, ranchers, stockbrokers, grocery store chain owners, etc... These same kids could have easily afforded an Ivy league education, but instead chose a smaller, liberal arts school in California. They were not looking to "join the social elite" as you said in a prior post. Not all wealthy people are as shallow as you assume.</p>
<p>I think collegekid's statements are definitely generalizations and I agree with jennycraig that there are plenty of wealthy folk that will look beyond the perceived cachet of a "top BS" or the ivy league, but I think there are enough rich folks that think the way collegekid has outlined to give some merit to his points.</p>