<p>My friend received 50% financial aid from the Fountain Valley School, stated in his acceptance email, while he did not tick the aid box when applying. Personal jealousy aside, has this occurred to anyone?</p>
<p>Are you sure it’s not a merit based scholarship?</p>
<p>I asked my friend and he says he isn’t sure himself. It isn’t stated. Also, I know this sounds pretty ■■■■■■■■ and condescending of me, but from my POV, considering his SSAT was average (in the 60s), his grades in school are not so stellar and he is not a star athlete (not in a school team etc.), I don’t see how he would ‘qualify’ for a merit based scholarship in any way.</p>
<p>According to Boarding School Review, Fountain Valley School offers merit scholarships. I would assume it’s a merit scholarship. </p>
<p>Colleges use merit aid for various purposes: [Government</a> says students don’t need $5.3B ? USATODAY.com](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-11-24/college-aid-tax-credits-students/51388212/1]Government”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/story/2011-11-24/college-aid-tax-credits-students/51388212/1).</p>
<p>Wow. My daughter who had 80’s ssat/3.9 gpa/many ec’s explicitly applied for this and didn’t get it–though she got nearly as much in need based FA. The difference is that the merit aid is automatically renewed each year. Is your friend going?</p>
<p>@EOS - it is possible you do not know the whole story. Perhaps your friend did not share accurate information about his vital statistics for a whole host of reasons. Perhaps others see something in your friend that you do not - leadership potential, character and kindness, skills and abilities that are not evident in your acquaintance with him. </p>
<p>As I often tell my kids - there will always be people in this world who have more than you, and there will always be people in this world with less. Don’t be consumed with envy for those who you perceive are more blessed in some way, and don’t become arrogant and think you are better than those who you perceive to have less. Focus instead on making yourself the best self you can be, and strive to share your gifts and talents in such a way as to make the world a better place for all.</p>
<p>@classof2012: yeah it was the only school he applied to, and he was accepted so he’s definitely going.</p>
<p>@mountainhiker: I’m not exactly envious, more like curious, since I have seen so many good candidates that have their FA denied, while someone with only decent stats gets it.</p>
<p>moutainhiker…wow, love that last paragraph…well said.</p>
<p>@EOS - I understand what you’re saying completely. It just serves to underline that there are truly no “absolutes” to the process of admission. </p>
<p>One of us on CC may look at an applicant and decide that a “good candidate” should be awarded admission (or in this case, financial aid) instead of another who has “only decent stats.” But - WE don’t have the whole picture - only the admissions office has the entire file to consider - even the applicant doesn’t have that! (Yes, the applicant knows his grades and test scores, and what he wrote on his essays. He has an idea of how the interview went, but it may not be a clear picture. And recommendations are most often confidential, and the applicant usually doesn’t know what they contain.)</p>
<p>The main thing - and what I think is the crucial thing - is that we can never know just what <em>exactly</em> the admissions committee is looking for as they build their school community. We can speculate, share information and experiences, and make predictions and pronouncements. But, unless you are sitting in that committee room, for one particular school, in that year’s admissions season, with a very unique set of applications in front of you, you just can’t <em>know</em> what makes one applicant get the go ahead, and the merit aid, and another to be turned down.</p>
<p>(Which is one reason why I absolutely abhor “chances” posts. Even an admissions officer can not predict your “chance” until all the applications are in and the process truly begins.)</p>
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<p>EnemyOfTheSun - It’s entirely possible that the many strong candidates on this forum who were not awarded financial aid might have had a better outcome if they’d applied to Fountain Valley or any of a number of other lesser known schools located outside of New England and the mid-Atlantic states. Your friend picked a small, lesser known school and brought something to the table that the school wanted. What that something was, we have no way of knowing. But Fountain Valley knew . . . and they were prepared to pay for it.</p>
<p>It’s what we’ve all said time and again: look outside the ACRONYM schools . . . especially if you need significant financial aid. That school with the teeny tiny budget that thinks you are the cat’s pajamas just may be willing to give you the grant you need, even when the big schools won’t.</p>
<p>Dodgersmom is spot on (again): </p>
<p>“It’s what we’ve all said time and again: look outside the ACRONYM schools . . . especially if you need significant financial aid. That school with the teeny tiny budget that thinks you are the cat’s pajamas just may be willing to give you the grant you need, even when the big schools won’t.”</p>
<p>And I think it’s important to add, that in most cases, the difference in quality will be negligible – at most. I think many kids feel that if it’s not acronym, they’re settling for less. Not only have we found this not to be true, but there is a lot to be said for being a rock star at a Hidden Gem rather than run-of-the-mill at an acronym school.</p>