Financial aid "dried up"

[Anonymous]

So I was told by a teacher friend at a frequently discussed on this forum school that due to the economy, financial aid has "dried up" in the DC/VA/MD private schools. She said they have a perfect storm of established full tuition families now seeking financial aid due to the economy, previous financial aid families needing more financial aid, and less giving to the school by donors. My daughter has been asking us to explore different schools for her for 3rd grade (she's at a parochial school now that is fine but she feels unchallenged and somewhat lost in the shuffle as a "good kid" in a class with a couple of high-need kids). We make well under 100K a year combined and have 2 younger children (3 yrs old and infant), so while we can swing parish school tuition, there's no way we can do a 30K a year tuition. I think our daughter should be a good candidate at the schools we're looking at. She's tested 99th percentile on standardized tests for school and for CTY, and she's a really kind and easy to get along with child. We don't have any connections or anything, but we're not applying at Big 3 schools either so hopefully that won't matter so much. So we're applying for a few schools that seem like good fits for her, but the info about lack of financial aid is making me wonder if we'd just be getting her hopes up for something impossible. Obviously, we don't know where/if she'll get admitted, but I worry about her falling in love with schools on visit day and getting in only to be told there is no financial aid for new families. Has anyone heard this is likely? Anyone with info about the financial aid situation this year? Or in any year really? Are we setting her up for heartbreak by applying at all?

[Anonymous]

None of the schools I applied to 2 years ago had any money for new families. If you go into the process with a Plan B, that is the best option. Be honest with your DD. Say you are looking into other schools but they are not a definite.

[Anonymous]

Thanks PP. That's great info. I think our Plan B may be a switch to Montessori where she will have more freedom in pacing herself instead of just getting reams of extra busy work worksheets to do when she asks for more to do. She has such a joy for learning (and prior to this year for school in general) and I don't want that to get squelched by her current school. Hopefully just knowing that we're working on other options will be enough to keep her going this year and we can figure out something for next year.

Also, if this isn't too nosy, what was your plan B? How did it work out for you? Will you ever do the expensive private school apps again?

[Anonymous]

We received financial aid as a new family for the 2011-2012 school year, at a school that seems to be a great fit for DD, but not one of the more well-heeled, frequently-mentioned schools on this board. HHI approximately $110K. For whatever that's worth. Based on our experience, I wouldn't assume that FA has "dried up" and would forge ahead with your Plan A. Of course, it's always good to have a Plan B should it be needed ....

[Anonymous]

good advice

[Anonymous]

I would apply to a bunch of places to get your odds up. Also be the unique candidate--if you live in MD..apply to a VA school or vice versa so your child will be the candidate that they want to cultivate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks PP. That's great info. I think our Plan B may be a switch to Montessori where she will have more freedom in pacing herself instead of just getting reams of extra busy work worksheets to do when she asks for more to do. She has such a joy for learning (and prior to this year for school in general) and I don't want that to get squelched by her current school. Hopefully just knowing that we're working on other options will be enough to keep her going this year and we can figure out something for next year.

Also, if this isn't too nosy, what was your plan B? How did it work out for you? Will you ever do the expensive private school apps again?

My Plan B was a public magnet school although our home school was a very good choice too. I won't do public middle school however. It is a recipe for disaster for many children.

[Anonymous]

PP - other than location what would make a candidate unique?

We're in PG County (husband and I both are UMD affiliates) which seems to be very surprising to all the admissions people we've talked to so far. I figured that might be hurting us, not helping us - like "why would anyone live in PG County?" (answer - my husband walks/bikes to work. We can walk/bike to DD's school. It lets us stay a 1 car family and we love our little neighborhood)

My husband and I are both in kind of odd little fields in academia. We're not doctors or lawyers or business people. It means we don't have a lot of money, but maybe it makes our jobs a bit unique?

I don't know if this makes our daughter unique, but she's been the instigator on the school hunt. She started all this by making a wish list for a perfect school. Much of her desire to change stems from her love of her all girls Odyssey of the Mind team (which I coach). She's found a real passion for hands on engineering and science and design and she realized there's no place for that sort of learning at her current school. She's kind of an old soul and she's pretty articulate about the whole thing, so I wonder if that is a little unusual? I would have thought many of the 3rd grade admissions are driven by parent desires more than the child?

[Anonymous]

PP, our family story sounds a lot like yours, except for the PG part (FWIW, I don't think geographical diversity is a huge admissions driver at independent schools here). Given your DD's enthusiasm for a single-sex learning environment and the sciences, I would encourage you to apply to the single sex schools you find you like most. Holton probably has the best known engineering program, but NCS also teaches it and you may find others. Don't let rumors about FA cloud your application process.

[Anonymous]

Holton is (not surprisingly) the school she is dreaming of. I wish we had the resources to make it a sure thing if she is accepted, but we're going to have to really cross our fingers that the financial aid situation at schools isn't as dire as our friend thinks. I worry though as she's at a Big 3 school and if it is that bad there it seems like it would be that bad everywhere We'll go ahead with apps and just work on tempering her expectations with a heavy dose of "we need a lot of things to fall into place for this to work out."

[Anonymous]

I have heard from a friend on the board of a big-name DC private school that the financial aid situation is dire. Apparently, quite a few families that could be counted on for large donations are just not able to do that anymore. Like the OP said, there are also many established "full freight" families that are now looking for aid.

One theory seems to be that grandparents who have previously paid tuition have seen their portfolios diminish significantly (who hasn't?) and families can't pull equity from their homes they way they were able to b/f the housing market slumped.

I wonder if the private school market is the next bubble to burst? I mean maybe finding it easy to pay $30k tuition was always an illusion for all but the most financially secure. I think there were plenty of families who tried to make these steep tuitions look easy to swing, but the reality is beginning to reveal itself.

[Anonymous]

PP - I think you may be on to something. We're certainly seeing it on a smaller scale at our little parish school. The archdiocese did away with the sibling discount (though many of the schools are trying to keep it in place to some degree this year) and it really made a huge difference for a lot of families even though it only amounted to maybe 1-2K difference. Our PreK was full until that change came down the turnpike and now it is several children under capacity because so many long time families decided they couldn't afford the jump in cost for something that wasn't a mandatory year of school. It illustrated how many people were living right up to the edge of their paychecks to finance private school for their kids. Lots of non-FA families at our school are now receiving at least a small bit of FA to bridge the gap. We also seemed to have an influx of full pay families coming from higher dollar schools this year.

The grandparent theory also seems very reasonable to me as grandparents are helping out with pretty much all the kids we know at the higher dollar private schools.

[Anonymous]

bingo

[Anonymous]

Stone Ridge has plenty of FA money available. It might be worth a look.

[Anonymous]

We are scheduled to visit Stone Ridge. Thanks for that info- that is encouraging!