We’re an American family living abroad and our daughter has applied to 5 BS in the US and 1x BS in Switzerland. She’s been accepted to the BS in Switzerland with 50% FA and my employer pays the remaining ~60k plus travel.
However, our daughter attended Exeter summer and visited Andover for a campus tour and interview. I think her heart is set on attending BS in the US but the boarding school in Switzerland will require a deposit to hold her slot before decisions are released on M10.
Should we pay the deposit to hold the slot or roll the dice and hope she gets admitted to one of her “dream schools”? My wife really wants her to go to Switzerland since it’s much closer to our home.
FYI she has applied to Exeter, Andover. Choate, Deerfield, and Loomis. She’s attended an international American school since pre-K, straight A’s since 6th grade, attended Exeter summer with wonderful teacher comments, and assuming great recs. Her interviews seemed to go quite well but it’s always hard to tell. Weak point is her SSAT which was 82% but is only offered at her school once per year and the nearest Prometric testing center is 4 hours away. No FA required but doubt that seems to matter much.
Andover and Exeter are reaches for pretty much any applicant. The safe bet is to deposit at the Swiss school – but you must be willing to lose the deposit should she get into and choose to attend either Andover or Exeter
I would want to be sure that she had a spot next year so would be inclined to pay the deposit, but I realize it is also likely to be s substantial sum, so you’d have to be willing to think of that as a surcharge on a US BS if that’s what you choose.
It also sounds like there may be some question about Switzerland or US in your family. If you aren’t the one pulling for the Switzerland option, it would be wrong for you to put it out of play without everyone else’s agreement.
So the company is paying everything above the FA award, but not the deposit?
This. If the BS is Le Rosey, the current tuition is CHF 154,200, and the deposit is definitely not chump change:
I/ For candidates applying to Le Rosey for the 2025-2026 school year:
A non-refundable one-time registration fee of CHF 3,000 (student
file, entrance examinations, visits, etc.) is payable.
If the child is admitted, a deposit of CHF 66,400 is required within
10 days of the decision for the place to be confirmed; without this
deposit, the place is cancelled.
I’m assuming if the company is not paying the deposit, the BS is not Le Rosey.
No, not Le Rosey… she was accepted to TASIS. The deposit is 3,000 CHF so not the end of the world. So, we’ll pay the deposit just to the hold the spot in case she is not accepted or waitlisted at one of the US BS.
Absolutely the right course of action. Don’t gamble with your child’s education. Current exchange rate places the deposit amount at $3,270 US dollars. This is very reasonable for a school which charges–if I understand correctly–over $114,000 US per year.
