Basically, my parents are divorced and I live with my mom, who makes significantly less (~$55,000) than my dad (~$130,000). Since I have a brother in college who didn’t get much aid, my parents are unwilling/unable to pay more than a couple thousand dollars on my end.
If I get to a school like Exeter/SPS (and that’s a big if) would I receieve a full tuition scholarship since my primary caregiver falls below their requirements or would I not, since my other parent makes far more than that?
Also, I’d be going as a junior. How tough is competiton for those slots? And is financial aid as generous for transfers as it is for freshman?
Pretty much every school will tell you that both parents are expected to contribute–and there’s no saying that the one parent who is non-custodial will not contribute anything for whatever reason. Some schools have parent contribution calculators, and you may want to run some of those to bolster your understanding of the situation.
The reality can be a bit more complicated in the case of odd/ugly custody/support situations, but if you were in one of those you would probably know because it would be awful.
Junior year is a tough get for the most competitive schools. No way around that. Most schools take most of their students before their junior year. If you stand out for some reason and any particular school wants you, you have a chance, of course.
The most famous schools generally don’t offer merit scholarships; it’s FA only. Some smaller schools offer merit awards, but then again, those are generally awarded earlier than junior year.
If you’re serious about attending school in the fall of 2017 as a junior and your parents will be willing to pay the freight which will certainly be required, you should be able to find a school. But it’s (nore of) an uphill climb unless you suddenly become full-pay. Start looking now.
If you can be full-pay and just want to go to boarding school somewhere, you’ll have no problem going somewhere.
Apply and apply to the richest schools. If they consider you an exceptional candidate, you may get a chance to explain your family/financial situation in detai. Yes, both parents are expected to contribute but two families are more costly to support than one. And considering you have a brother attending college, you MIGHT end up receiving significant FA.
Hey @triplehsteen I know this thread is a little old but I just saw it and I am in the EXACT same situation. I applied for this year as an incoming junior, and my parents are divorced, my dad makes quite a bit more than my mom and my brother is in college now with no FA (for reasons I can’t explain but pm if you want more info), it made the process a little bit more confusing but we worked it out! Definitely apply to the schools with big endowments. In fact endowment should be a huge deciding factor!!! Loomis Chaffee I know just got a huge contribution from alumni to go into their FA pool. I hope this helps!! and pm me if you would like to know exactly how we worked through the FA form!!!
As far as coming in as a junior, yes it’s harder, at least that’s what I have picked up. The thing that we did was when u visit a school you should ask the interviewer, “how many spots do you have for incoming juniors?” they will be very candid with you. I had some schools say 10-15 and others said 2-3. It all depends! Hope this helps
