Would I qualify for a substantial amount of FA?

Prep School Admissions
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<p>So my parents don't make too much money but I really want to go to boarding school. The schools that I have applied to are Emma Willard, Phillips Exeter Academy and Deerfield. My mom is a pharmacy technician ( only yields about 27000 a year.) and my dad who does not support me at all owns his own business, but it doesn't make too much either. I also don't understand how to fill out PFS. I have to do it by myself since my parents can't find the time. How do we send in 2012 W2 forms by the January 31st deadline, but most employers don't even send them out until January 31. Also if my dad does not support me, do I have to still write in a SEPARATE PFS application form as well as the other one for my mom. So that would be two different PFS application. My parents are separated.</p>

<p>Moving on, I'd like to know if anyone from Deerfield, Exeter, or Emma Willard ( or any other people) can tell me if they think I have a chance of being admitted with FA to any of these schools. </p>

<p>I am currently a sophomore in the Pre IB program. (It's really hard!) Since beginning in the program my freshman year I have maintained a 4.0 GPA. (Cumulative to this point is 95.2)</p>

<p>I also am very involved at school. I'm in several clubs such as Key Club, Interact, Learn 2 Lead, and Newspaper.I have been voted in as the treasurer of Interact. I also volunteer as a peer tutor at my school. Another program outside of school is the Wyman Teen Leadership Program, a service-learning program in which I was hand picked to participate in. I have been involved in this program for about 4 years. I swim a lot! Mostly just recreational but I have swam on competitive teams also. I have been swimming for about 10 years. I also do a lot of volunteering and community service around my neighborhood, I also regularly volunteer at the Dallas Holocaust Museum.</p>

<p>Lastly my School stats:</p>

<p>1st Six week grading cycle</p>

<p>Gym: 100%
Pre IB English 2: 96%
Pre IB Algebra 2: 92%
Debate: 100%
Pre IB French 2: 98%
AP World History: 99%
Pre IB Chemistry: 94%
Pre IB Physics: 90%</p>

<p>2nd Six weeks grading cycle</p>

<p>Gym: 100%
Pre IB English 2: 98%
Pre IB Algebra 2: 99%
Debate: 95%
Pre IB French 2: 98%
AP World History: 100%
Pre IB Chemistry: 96%
Pre IB Physics: 100%</p>

<p>Also this is my last request (I Promise!) Do any of you know how to accurately fill out the PFS? I got really confused on the forms. Especially when it asked about all of the income answers and the dependant information about how much you will pay for a child to attend, and the # of children going to tuition pay ing school (I put 0 because If I dont get FA then I can't go :( ) Also any infromation on detailed or well explained instruction on how to fill out the PFS would be gratly appreciated. (I already looked at the handbook but it doesn't really help)
Sorry for the super long post. Any comments and critiques are welcome. Thanks!</p>

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<p>As an adult who has filled out the PFS for the last 9 years for my son’s school, I can not imagine him filling it out on his own. It’s a little complicated even for adults. The instruction book does help a lot - but if you’re 14 I would imagine a lot of it wouldn’t make sense. Also you probably don’t have access to all of the info it’s asking for - i.e. mortgage info, amount spent on camps and vacations, car payments, etc. Your parents will know how much tuition they can afford to pay, etc. Your parents have to fill it out, it’s not meant for kids to fill it out. And yes, every school asks both parents to complete separate PFSs in the case of separation or divorce so they would each need to do one. They will also need to get their taxes done early to meet the deadlines - you can’t really apply for FA without their help/buy in. They’re going to need to make the time if it’s important to you and them.</p>

3

<p>And if your father does not support you in any way, but is still living (as it appears from your OP he is), the school will want to know why. Divorce is not considered a valid reason for neglecting one’s financial responsibilities, but being estranged, or too poor, or what-have-you, might be. That is worth a very earnest conversation between your mother and a FA office.</p>

<p>You might want to tell your parents that, while the information requested might seem invasive, it is also kept entirely confidential. And it’s the only fair way schools can apportion their not-unlimited financial aid budgets. </p>

<p>A family with a combined income below $75K or thereabouts is eligible for considerable, and sometimes full, FA at many of the schools out there. But not all schools can give FA to all the students who request it, and may deny admissions on that basis as well. PEA and Emma are well endowed and generous with FA; from what I understand, Deerfield is as well. But it might not hurt to cast a slightly wider net, since you have, it seems, already prepared applications (and thus should have some head start on how to write essays ;-).</p>

<p>Good luck to you in your applications.</p>

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<p>I think the helpful parents above have explained your question sufficiently, but just wanted to wish you good luck as another applicant in the same boat! The PFS is extremely difficult and cumbersome to fill out even with my father and I both perspiring over it. :(</p>

5

<p>A couple of comments:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>NO ONE can tell you if you have a chance at a particular school. Contrary to popular belief, scores, stats and EC’s are just guidelines - but so many students in the pile have various amounts of them, and most have good scores and grades - it really comes down to EVERYONE has a chance - but NO ONE has a guarantee. So asking if you fit a profile is really a waste of imagination.</p></li>
<li><p>If you need FA your parents will have to fill out the PFS. It’s going to ask a lot of questions you may not have the answer to and it may ask for you to authorize access to the official IRS forms (i.e. the school wants permission to obtain them from the government to verify what you send). You have to be the parent to set up the necessary codes for that. We didn’t find the forms difficult, just time consuming. Still, we were finished in less than an hour because it didn’t ask for more much than what you’d have to report when applying for credit (income, assets, taxes paid), plus any siblings in college and some questions about vacation habits. Much less cumbersome than the boarding school application itself, IMHO.</p></li>
<li><p>If your parents aren’t on board with the process, the answer is often going to be “no” in terms of admission. Going to boarding school isn’t just about being accepted - but about parent involvement throughout the course of your education (signing forms, paying bills, etc.) Because you’re a minor, you can’t sign a contract even if it’s for yourself. They have to countersign and agree to a number of things before you can enroll.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Start by explaining to your parents why this is important to you - and really, if you have tax forms from the previous year, and end of year paystubs, filling out a PFS isn’t really that hard.</p>

<p>But they have to do it. Otherwise you risk being admitted as a full-pay, or being denied because your parents aren’t cooperating. I’ve seen the latter happen a lot of time - forms didn’t get in on time, students were waitlisted or rejected.</p>

<p>One note - on rare occasions if one parent makes a good faith effort to file their paperwork, the school “may” acknowledge lack of support and involvement on the part of the other parent. But again - this rarely happens - and only then in the case of an exceptional student. That’s because there is limited Financial Aid available to spread around and many more students in the pile than can be funded.</p>

1 Like
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<p>First you need to get your parents on board as everyone else has said. Specifically regarding tax returns, you can use your 2011 returns to start and schools then ask you to submit the current year as soon as it is available. That was our experience, YMMV.</p>