I’m considering applying to Choate again next year along with a list of other boarding schools. However for any school I apply to I will need full financial aid. What’s your thoughts on how much financial aid really impacts applications? From the Choate admissions this year, i’ve seen only one student get full FA and the other students simply aren’t of need. (That’s of the students listing their stats here on College Confidential)
I don’t know what the financial aid percentages are for Choate, but you should be able to find them. All these top schools have children on financial aid - as to what degree the package is varies based on what they deem as your families’ need.
Remember this site is a very small universe of the students that applied to boarding schools so do not make your assumptions Based on this forum.
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This year’s boarding school admissions cycle revealed some interesting trends, particularly regarding financial aid. These are my personal observations, and may not reflect every applicant’s experience.
I noticed what seemed to be a distinct pattern in how schools approached financial aid:
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Top-Tier, Well-Endowed Schools:
- These institutions demonstrated a strong commitment to providing substantial or full financial aid packages to exceptionally qualified candidates, especially those with unique backgrounds.
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Prestigious “Hidden Gem” Boarding Schools:
- These schools appeared to prioritize the recruitment of multi-sport athletes. They often offered merit-based scholarships, even to full-paying families, as a means of securing commitments.
- Conversely, they tended to waitlist applicants with high financial need, citing limited resources and a surplus of full-paying candidates with comparable profiles.
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Lower-Ranked or Emerging Boarding Schools:
- These schools strategically utilized financial aid to attract highly desirable candidates who might not have initially considered them.
- However, the consistency of financial aid packages varied significantly. Some schools met or exceeded applicant needs, while others offered less substantial support, requiring families to bridge the gap.
Key Takeaways:
- Financial aid decisions in boarding school admissions are influenced by factors beyond demonstrated need, including strategic enrollment goals.
- “Hidden gem” schools often employ targeted recruitment strategies, with a focus on specific student profiles.
- While lower-ranked schools may offer competitive financial aid, the availability and extent of assistance can be unpredictable.
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College Confidential isn’t a statistically representative subset of boarding school applicants.
Nor is n=8 statistically significant
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Also includes students who I went through the admissions process with. We had a groupchat and 3/5 of us needed financial aid and 2/5-the ones who don’t need financial aid-were granted admission while us who needed financial aid were rejected.
Pls do not use this math or draw these conclusions from these small universes as you proceed in your academic and professional lives
XO
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This is what is called “anecdotal”, due to the small sample size.
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Or as I like to say, the plural of anecdote is not data.
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It really depends on the school and what you are bringing to the table. There was a poster here a few years ago who needed 100% FA and who was admitted pretty much everywhere they applied (including CRH.) This individual clearly was one that schools were excited to have in their community, and they were fine with allocating the funds for that. FA, after all, is in every school’s budget and plan. What he offered, in terms of life experience and perspective, no FP kid could. Put differently, schools EXPECT to have students who need FA.
Overall though, and for most, needing FA will reduce choice. You may be admitted everywhere you apply, but only one or two schools may offer enough FA. Every school has a certain numbers of beds and that’s the first hurdle. Then they have a certain pool of money for FA. So if the preferred class requires more $ than they have for FA, they will have to make adjustments.
If you plan to do this again, you need to cast a wider net and be clear about what you bring to a community. If you need 100% FA, your demographics are probably such that you are not competing against FP kids for a seat but against the pool of other high-need applicants. There are programs (A Better Chance, for example) that support and promote kids who need FA to attend BS. (Much like Questbridge for college.) They often help kids find the schools that will want what they offer.
There are FP kids who don’t get in everywhere, even with high stats, especially at super-selective schools like CRH. Needing FA probably won’t keep you from attending BS, but you will likely be more at the mercy of which school is most excited about you.
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What is your source for these sweeping conclusions? I have not observed a clear correlation between endowment size and FA policies. I think it’s best not to discourage future applicants and families needing FA from looking at a wide berth of schools, because many schools are quite generous regardless of endowment. A smaller endowment may have other consequences (capital plant spending, mix of domestic vs. international students, faculty support and training, athletic facilities and budget).
My source is my own experience of applying to 22 schools and the results. Please check the 2025 decisions thread. I didn’t encourage anyone to do anything just shared my experience and perspective. Take it for what it is.
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To answer @boardingquestion 's baseline question: most boarding schools consider financial need when making admission decisions.
If you need X amount of financial aid (and the school agrees with your calculations) and the school is only willing to provide you something less than X, then the school will not admit you.
They may waitlist you and hope that you magically come up with the full tuition amount (because there will be virtually no financial aid left for waitlist admits), but they will not admit you and offer you less aid than they believe you need to attend. There’s no point in doing that from the school’s perspective; they’d be raising their admission rate without improving the quality of enrollments.
The only exceptions to that are the “need blind” schools, which are Andover, Deerfield (as of this year, I believe), Exeter and Groton.
Does this mean that you should give up hope? Absolutely not. But it does mean that it’s a bad strategy to apply only to “need aware” schools that are on most applicants’ target or reach lists.
A better strategy is to reflect deeply on what you offer as a student and then reflect twice as deeply again on which schools will benefit most from your presence in their community. Look broadly and deeply enough and you will find a school that wants to spend their financial aid on you. And then apply to two or three need-blind schools in addition just because you never know.
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I’m glad to see you had great results and several to choose from.
Congratulations on a very successful application cycle, and all the best to you at MB.
Adding that we did not participate in an access program and did not use a consultant.