Is this a new trend?

ExieMITAlum
Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:40:10 +0000

I think the budget busters are also this year’s crop of existing parents who didn’t need FA in the past. Schools always anticipate a certain percentage of their population needing FA. Even with the forward averaging of endowment funds (that perhaps didn’t anticipate Mr. Toad’s wild ride in the stock market) it doesn’t anticipate that a parent who once was a Full Pay and donated substantial amounts to the annual fund might now need assistance. Even so - the schools are still reporting upwards of 50-70% full pay constituents so I think this year FP has an edge in an otherwise level playing field.

I think the trend will turn back around in 2-3 years when the current crop of students matriculates.

But I also think that until April 10th, it’s too early to tell. What appears to be happening is that boarding schools - some of whom filled to capacity - are being more conservative with yield and placing students who would have - last year - been accepted - on the waiting list. That just stretches out the agony. But I suspect we’ll see students stuck in limbo getting offers in a few weeks.

I also think - given previous year’s waitlist - more students are applying to a broader category of schools. It can not be discounted that the “human” response to having a applicant apply whose sibling is another school is to assume the sibling will enroll at said school. (Adcoms don’t share notes about who they are taking). Or – if FA is involved – to show preference for first-time families in order to spread the wealth.

One note - it’s not entirely fair to say students of means have more options at home or more choices. Here, the economy has decimated budgets of private schools and also public schools in well heeled neighborhoods. Parents are up in arms - can’t afford Private school tuition anymore, move students back to their home districts only to find those are being hit even harder. Budget cuts in the hundreds of millions of dollars to schools means teacher layoffs, etc. I have friends who are teacher who are in their third districts in five years facing layoffs for the third time because of budget cuts.

Where limited resources used to be a euphemism for “urban” it’s now spreading across the country in huge waves. So I think parents who would not have normally considered BS to be an option, are now flooding the applicant pool. To be honest - the elite options nearby aren’t viable options so one could say we were part of that mass exodus last year.

This has been a rough year compared to last year so I think 3 years max, we’ll see things level out.