<p>I know Andover, Exeter, and St. Andrews (DE) does.</p>
<p>Any others?</p>
<p>Keep in mind that the schools with the most generous financial aid are typically the most competitive to get into.</p>
<p>Note during Xmas shopping season, how incredibly long the lines of customers are when stores are giving away big screen TVs at a big discount…</p>
<p>Yes, I will definitely keep that in mind.</p>
<p>Deerfield and Groton, I believe.</p>
<p>Note that while St. Andrew’s is one of the only schools that has an explicitly “need blind” admissions policy, I don’t think it has a policy similar to that of Groton (under $75k HHI qualifies for full tuition FA). At least not anywhere I can find in their materials/website.</p>
<p>That said, the school’s site states that “St. Andrew’s is committed to meeting 100% of demonstrated financial need of all families whose children are offered admission.” I’ve always taken this to mean…if you can get in, you will be able to attend.</p>
<p>FYI, I’m pretty sure Andover’s policy is similar to St. Andrew’s (meet demonstrated need vs. HHI threshold)…St. Paul’s has a “$80k and under qualify for full tuition” policy, as does Deerfield. Exeter’s threshold is $75k.</p>
<p>Acceptance Rates for schools w generous FA</p>
<p>19% Groton
16% St.Pauls
13% Deerfield
19% Exeter
14% Andover
St. Andrews doesn’t report their stats, but no doubt it’s also very low%</p>
<p>As noted: expect long lines of customers for heavily discounted big screen TVs…</p>
<p>I know Andover is entirely need-blind. Nobody gets denied admission because of money. They also meet parents full financial aid need</p>
<p>Here is St. Andrew’s published admit rate, from the “Facts and Figures” page of their website (in About Us section, not Admission section):</p>
<p>Accept Rate: 28%</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t know why more kids don’t have it on their “consider” and “apply to” lists. It might not be as old or as “famous” as some of the schools mentioned frequently here, but it certainly has a lot to offer. (Of course, I am slightly biased. ;-P)</p>
<p>I think it has to do with SAS’ location and its relatively unknown status outside NE and internationally. In general, domestically boarding school is more of a tradition in NE than anywhere else in the country. Based on the “2 and half hour (?) driving distance” rule, SAS is losing the NE crowd. And the NY and NJ crowd, which is often more prestige oriented, have L’ville right next door. Also, in recent years, the surge of international applicants is a driving force of increasingly low admit rates in top BS. Schools like HADES are a lot better known outside the US than other schools.</p>
<p>The admit rate of schools like SAS is not an indication of its unpopularity, IMO. They attract a certain segment of families. If you like “mainstream” small schools with strong academics, there are not many of them you can look for really other than Groton, Thacher and SAS etc.</p>
<p>@DA: At last year’s SPS revisit, we chatted with a couple of prospective parents who had been initially interested SAS, but whose child nixed the idea due to location. What I don’t understand is how a school like SPS seems any less isolated, especially to a kid. It’s much less challenging to ride a bike to a shopping area in Middletown than Concord.</p>
<p>I wonder if those parents have told you the whole story. Isolation of the location can’t be the only reason one applies or does not apply to a certain school (it could be the reason what school one chooses to go when having comparable options). Small schools have fewer current students and parents. They have fewer alumni too. It’s more challenging for them to become well known or appealing to a wider audience. “Strategy” wise sometimes I feel that not all schools are trying to attract as many people as possible to apply. They are comfortable with the size of their applicant pool and run their business without investing in reaching out to “all quarters”, which is legimate. Eg. L’ville gives that impression.</p>
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<p>I know that this is what Andover says…yet Exeter admits as many (or slightly more) FA applicants (I’m not going to dig right now, but I have the stats in a post from last spring) and has about the same number of FA students enrolled. While Andover may well have need blind admission, I can only conclude that they have other factors in their admissions process that ensure that that final pool includes the right ratio of FP/FA students. This is NOT to say that Andover isn’t a great place for a kid in need of FA to apply; I just think we should all be a bit skeptical of terms like “need blind admissions.” (SevenDad, I think that statement allows SAS leeway to consider FA needs before admitting if they need to)</p>
<p>Our family assesses schools’ commitment to FA students by the average amount and the highest amount of grant-based FA awarded to students in our income level–all stats that are generally easy to find if you do a little digging. So to the OP–just because a school doesn’t guarantee full FA to all admits, doesn’t mean you won’t get it at another school–particularly if that school is less selective and your stats. place you above their usual applicant pool. Just check to see the average aid granted to students at your family’s income level.</p>
<p>+1 on classical mama’s last paragraph.</p>
<p>
Is this a fancy way to say “they say they are need blind but they are actually not”? Would the fact that 60% students in Harvard (and many top colleges) receive need-based aid for the annual cost at least >10K more than that of Andover make Harvard true need-blind or no? Is the percentage of students on FA a more reliable measure of “need blind”? Note that Exeter was “effectively need blind” for an unknown number of years before 2009, and I believe in the recent couple of years (when the return of their endowment is bouncing back) they are still trying to keep financial need out of the admissions decision although they are not officially “need blind”. I think it’s more fair to say Exeter may be as close as possible to “need blind” than to say Andover is not need blind.</p>
<p>“Exeter reserves the right to “impute” an income for a non-working parent in determining a family’s financial need.” - from Exeter’s website</p>