My daughter applied to 8 boarding schools and was accepted to 4. We applied as full pay, however she received a merit scholarship to one school worth 25k. I was ready to pay full tuition, however it’s so tempting to just enroll at the school that is essentially handing you money! I want her to make the decision and be happy. This school was closer to the top of her list…but all this could change after revisit day. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Hard to say no to money, and of course this depends on every family’s situation. If money were not a factor, try to determine where your family would go.
Then determine where this merit school fits in. Is it tied for first, or a close second, or did it come in a distant 4th, and if so why?
Re- visit days have helped many solidify their choice.
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We had a similar situation, albeit for a lesser amount, when we were going through this years ago. For context, we were FP, but also very aware of and affected by the expenditure, and BS costs had been a pretty regular, and at times emotionally charged, topic in our house.
DS was liking 2 schools – perhaps the one without the $ a wee bit more. I think though, in the end, he saw/felt the pull of being wanted. The one that that offered the merit scholarship was the parents first choice, and ultimately his. And yes, as parents, we did say “Wow! They must have seen something pretty special about you to be offering you $x,000 to go there.” It IS flattering and most schools limit merit to ensure it remains so. In our case, it worked!
We wouldn’t have pushed it had he not liked the school that offered merit or if we felt in any way that it was inferior.
I am sympathetic to your situation. GL!
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Looking at decisions thread I’d say…
Suffield is losing their headmaster next year which I’m not sure what the effects will be but it will be hard to replace him.
Suffield is a sports focused school. If that’s what you are looking for you got it.
We will be at Mercersburg revisit 3/31 maybe we will see you there!
Thanks for advice! I’ll just let it play out after revisit day and tell her to go with gut!
It is totally flattering! I can only imagine how she feels. I feel like they will roll out the red carpet on revisit….and she loves the school already! When my son revisited Peddie, the feeling of being “wanted” was what made him commit. I think when you revisit, and they don’t even really acknowledge you, it’s disappointing. Especially at smaller schools.
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100% this. My daughter was disappointed at first with 4 waitlists, but the two schools she was accepted at have done a great job already at making her feel seen and wanted, with personalized videos, emails from multiple people, and also a merit scholarship at one of them. Love the schools that love you back!
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This is called discounting. Also used a lot during college admissions. Its done to steer a lot of full pay students towards the school that otherwise wouldn’t have matriculated. Its obviously a sign that the school wants your child.
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