<p>My daughter is interested in going to a prep school, but I have no idea on how to pay for it. How does one attempt to finance a venture like this with limited funds?</p>
<p>You should apply for financial aid – most schools have a financial aid budget and some schools provide full aid for families earning under $75,000. You can check Boarding School Review website to get an idea of the financial aid budgets for various schools and the percent of kids who get aid.</p>
<p>If you’re talking about boarding school, though, rather than day school, you should be aware that the candidates seeking financial assistance far exceed the funds available. No financial aid candidate, no matter how qualified he or she is, can be sure of being admitted. For that reason, if you go forward with this, you should make sure your daughter applies to a range of schools, including some for which she appears to be over-qualified . . . she will have a better chance of success.</p>
<p>You didn’t mention your daughter’s age, but if she hasn’t yet started 7th grade yet, she also has a chance of winning a [Caroline</a> D. Bradley Scholarship](<a href=“http://www.educationaladvancement.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=9]Caroline”>http://www.educationaladvancement.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=8&Itemid=9), which would pay the entire cost of attending a day school and a good portion of the cost of attending a boarding school. The competition is open to 7th grade students only, however, so if she’ll be in 8th grade next year, it’s too late.</p>
<p>After the financial aid award is determined, the school will send you a breakdown of the final cost along with brochures on your options: There are options to pay in full, pay in two halves, use a company that deducts the funds monthly in ten installments, or banks that make secondary school loans. Even Sallie Mae makes loans for some private schools.</p>
<p>But @dodgersmom is correct - a lot of families were left on the sidelines this year because the schools didn’t have enough funds to cover every student who needed them. </p>
<p>Your best bet is to apply to a broad range of schools - those who are known to provide a lot of aid and those who don’t have the same reputations. Why? Because the schools that are popular for their financial aid also are swamped with applicants - thousands more than they can accommodate - while lesser known schools often are more flexible and have been known to be generous to good candidates.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. My daughter is in 8th grade right now so the possibility of getting her into anypce for next yeat I believe are nil. That being the case, is it even possible for any schools to accept a student starting with the 10th grade?</p>
<p>Yes, certainly. I don’t know of any school that doesn’t accept 10th graders.</p>
<p>The other option would be for her to repeat 9th grade - which would give her a full four years at the school. Repeating is not a stigma at boarding school - lots of kids do it for a variety of reasons (including that it’s a tad easier to get accepted in 9th grade than in 10th grade). Since kids are placed in classes according to their ability level, it’s not like she’d be bored - she’d end up in whatever courses were appropriate for her.</p>
<p>Yep - depending on her educational background, repeating might be a good option and there is a bit more financial aid to go around. But yes - students do enter at 10th grade, a healthy portion. My own child matriculated as a sophomore.</p>
<p>The prep school in my town, the Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts, provides a 50% tuition discount if you live in Deerfield. Some families relocate just to take advantage of this. Need-based aid is offered in addition to the discount, with most full packages going to families earning under $80,000 per year.</p>