Top 3 financial aid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anybody posting that you are wealthy on this boards is obviously not a true DC person! They live outside the DC area.

If only there was a free, high quality option for k-12 in the DC metro area.....
Some of the best public school options in the country are here. There are tons of great options (probably even better options) if you can't afford private school.

[Anonymous]

So much misinformation. OP, we make right around $300k and get significant aid. The truth of the matter is schools give aid for higher incomes all the time. Due to high expenses by the family or if they really want your kid. Less likely for lower grades. People reducing their donations to FA fund doesn't really do much. Schools can fund aid by full pay students. It really is just an accounting line. Less FA donations would just mean higher tuition for full pay for schools that like to say that 25-30% of their students receive aid (which all the top schools say).

[Anonymous]

There’s so much misunderstanding and bad information on here about Financial Aid, it’s amazing.

Their websites frequently outline their Financial Aid programs. They will show the total amount of FA given, how many students receive FA and what the average FA grant is.

The average amount of FA is important since half of all recipients get less than the average amount. That’s just how statistics work.

Very large FA packages that would enable “poor” people to attend do happen, but they are rarer than hen’s teeth.

A typical FA statement might be, “25% of students receive FA packages that average half of tuition”.

That means at least half or more of FA recipients, still have to pay 50% or more of the tuition.

Most FA isn’t for poor people. It’s for those that have a hard time affording full tuition and need a discount to make it work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s so much misunderstanding and bad information on here about Financial Aid, it’s amazing.

Their websites frequently outline their Financial Aid programs. They will show the total amount of FA given, how many students receive FA and what the average FA grant is.

The average amount of FA is important since half of all recipients get less than the average amount. That’s just how statistics work.

Very large FA packages that would enable “poor” people to attend do happen, but they are rarer than hen’s teeth.

A typical FA statement might be, “25% of students receive FA packages that average half of tuition”.

That means at least half or more of FA recipients, still have to pay 50% or more of the tuition.

Most FA isn’t for poor people. It’s for those that have a hard time affording full tuition and need a discount to make it work.

Agree with this 100%. I know we all like to think that our AF dollars are going to some poor but brilliant kid from SE. I work with the poor on a daily basis as a youth case manager. 99.9% of these families have no interest in having their kid attend Sidwell with a cohort of mainly high achieving (and almost uniformly wealthy including some staggeringly so) white and Asian kids. As in, that a worst nightmare scenario in their minds. Also, how do they get their kid to school on a daily basis? how do they support their kid in this type of environment when they themselves have a 9th grade education (which an incredibly large percentage of the poor in DC do)? Is is so much more complex than tossing a 95% aid package their way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So much misinformation. OP, we make right around $300k and get significant aid. The truth of the matter is schools give aid for higher incomes all the time. Due to high expenses by the family or if they really want your kid. Less likely for lower grades. People reducing their donations to FA fund doesn't really do much. Schools can fund aid by full pay students. It really is just an accounting line. Less FA donations would just mean higher tuition for full pay for schools that like to say that 25-30% of their students receive aid (which all the top schools say).

Generally speaking, people that make $300k and get aid are very much the exception and not the rule.

Multiple factors come into play, like do you have multiple kids in private school, do you own or rent, etc.

The home ownership one in particular seems pretty pivotal in aid calculations.

Another factor is that schools may reduce but are generally reluctant to remove aid altogether once it is awarded. So if you start in K and your salary increases over time, folks will generally keep some aid even though it may go down to a nominal amount.

[Anonymous]

Think of Tuition Aid as an enrollment management tool for the school.

It allows them to fill the class up to its limit. Just like the airlines, they don’t want any empty seats. And offering a 25% discount to some allows them to fill a seat with a candidate they like.

It also helps them to get outstanding students or athletes that they are competing with other schools for by somewhat sweetening the deal for them

And they can bring in a couple of other kids from low income backgrounds. But not too many because that would quickly deplete the whole Financial Aid budget.

Schools have multiple goals that their Financial Aid budget helps them achieve. And how they distribute the money is completely up to them. There are no rules or guidelines or anything really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you fill out FA information be honest about what you can afford to pay and the school will determine if it's appropriate. I would not go any lower than 35k for Sidwell.

Say more?

What if you can't afford 35k, and its closer to 15k. Can a Big 3 financial aid pacakge meet the difference with an annual income of less than 200k a year? Is the big 3 a pipedream if you can only swing 15k? What if you're URM and a recruited athlete, this has to help...no?

[Anonymous]

Agree with this 100%. I know we all like to think that our AF dollars are going to some poor but brilliant kid from SE. I work with the poor on a daily basis as a youth case manager. 99.9% of these families have no interest in having their kid attend Sidwell with a cohort of mainly high achieving (and almost uniformly wealthy including some staggeringly so) white and Asian kids. As in, that a worst nightmare scenario in their minds. Also, how do they get their kid to school on a daily basis? how do they support their kid in this type of environment when they themselves have a 9th grade education (which an incredibly large percentage of the poor in DC do)? Is is so much more complex than tossing a 95% aid package their way.

+100

I would assume URM families who are college educated but are making less than 250k a year are the families who are looking at Sidwell and are hoping for some significant help. I agree wholeheartedy that the "Blind Side" narrative is at best 1-2 kids a year at schools like Sidwell. The "poor kids" are truly middle class kids of humanity majors.

[Anonymous]

Some schools are very transparent about the numbers. For example, Maret states the average financial aid family gets 75% covered. They go further by saying 1/3 of the families that get FA make >$250k.

I imagine Sidwell numbers look the same. I think Sidwell skews heavier >$250k for athletes.

The PP that likened it to airfare is a good analogy to use. Not true donation aid but a discounted tuition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some schools are very transparent about the numbers. For example, Maret states the average financial aid family gets 75% covered. They go further by saying 1/3 of the families that get FA make >$250k.

I imagine Sidwell numbers look the same. I think Sidwell skews heavier >$250k for athletes.

The PP that likened it to airfare is a good analogy to use. Not true donation aid but a discounted tuition.

From the STA website: "In recent years, families with household incomes ranging from $25,000 to more than $350,000 have been eligible for financial aid."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You are wealthy. You should be full pay.

Sell your house and live more within a budget that will allow you to afford the education you want for your kid. If they get in, of course! That's always a crapshoot.

I was afraid this would be the answer. Selling would cost more than a year's tuition in transaction costs so would like to avoid that if possible. And we have a fairly specific layout that allows a family member to live with us that would be hard to replicate within commuting distance.

Those schools are NOT worth selling your house. There are many great schools you can afford. It is silly to rank colleges, and even more ridiculous to rank primary and secondary schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s so much misunderstanding and bad information on here about Financial Aid, it’s amazing.

Their websites frequently outline their Financial Aid programs. They will show the total amount of FA given, how many students receive FA and what the average FA grant is.

The average amount of FA is important since half of all recipients get less than the average amount. That’s just how statistics work.

Very large FA packages that would enable “poor” people to attend do happen, but they are rarer than hen’s teeth.

A typical FA statement might be, “25% of students receive FA packages that average half of tuition”.

That means at least half or more of FA recipients, still have to pay 50% or more of the tuition.

Most FA isn’t for poor people. It’s for those that have a hard time affording full tuition and need a discount to make it work.

Agree with this 100%. I know we all like to think that our AF dollars are going to some poor but brilliant kid from SE. I work with the poor on a daily basis as a youth case manager. 99.9% of these families have no interest in having their kid attend Sidwell with a cohort of mainly high achieving (and almost uniformly wealthy including some staggeringly so) white and Asian kids. As in, that a worst nightmare scenario in their minds. Also, how do they get their kid to school on a daily basis? how do they support their kid in this type of environment when they themselves have a 9th grade education (which an incredibly large percentage of the poor in DC do)? Is is so much more complex than tossing a 95% aid package their way.

Many would but they need 100% aid and that’s not going to happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There’s so much misunderstanding and bad information on here about Financial Aid, it’s amazing.

Their websites frequently outline their Financial Aid programs. They will show the total amount of FA given, how many students receive FA and what the average FA grant is.

The average amount of FA is important since half of all recipients get less than the average amount. That’s just how statistics work.

Very large FA packages that would enable “poor” people to attend do happen, but they are rarer than hen’s teeth.

A typical FA statement might be, “25% of students receive FA packages that average half of tuition”.

That means at least half or more of FA recipients, still have to pay 50% or more of the tuition.

Most FA isn’t for poor people. It’s for those that have a hard time affording full tuition and need a discount to make it work.

Agree with this 100%. I know we all like to think that our AF dollars are going to some poor but brilliant kid from SE. I work with the poor on a daily basis as a youth case manager. 99.9% of these families have no interest in having their kid attend Sidwell with a cohort of mainly high achieving (and almost uniformly wealthy including some staggeringly so) white and Asian kids. As in, that a worst nightmare scenario in their minds. Also, how do they get their kid to school on a daily basis? how do they support their kid in this type of environment when they themselves have a 9th grade education (which an incredibly large percentage of the poor in DC do)? Is is so much more complex than tossing a 95% aid package their way.

On, 95% aid most still cannot afford that.