<p>A full scholarship to say a rarely-mentioned school like Kent, Webb, Hun; OR full-pay to Milton or Choate.</p>
<p>^ That’s my dilemma… What would you choose?</p>
<p>I would certainly choose the scholarship, but the whole scenario is pretty weird. (If you are getting a financial aid scholarship, how are you going to afford full-pay? If you can afford full-pay, how did you get a scholarship?)</p>
<p>The difference in quality in these high schools is not worth $160,000+.</p>
<p>I would choose the scholarship. </p>
<p>I would only try to stretch the family finances, and go into debt, to attend Milton or Choate, if I had no plans to attend college or graduate school. If I wanted to attend college or graduate school, that’s more than four years of tuition and living expenses to include in the family balance sheet. For medical school or law school, add even more to the final sum.</p>
<p>Remember, if you fall into the group of applicants who don’t qualify for need-based scholarships to Milton, Choate, etc., you’ll be in the same position when you apply to college. In four years, the amount of money available for college scholarships will have decreased even further.</p>
<p>If you’ve been offered merit scholarships to schools like Kent, Webb, and Hun, that means that they think you are likely to be a stellar student at their school, and a leader for your peers. That’s a good position to be in when applying to colleges.</p>
<p>Take the scholarship. Think long term.</p>
<p>I agree that in the long run, this merit scholarship may be a better choice. But my biggest concern is this: High School is supposed to be the time in which you define yourself - find out your passions and what you what to do with your life. I’m worried that if I attend a school that doesn’t offer the wide range of class/activies/peoples, I’ll miss out my calling. It’s a little illogical reasoning, but that’s what I feel.</p>
<p>IDK, I mean, people that don’t ever go to prep end up perfectly happy, so I supposed the scholarship is best.</p>
<p>A strong student at Kent (Webb, Hun, etc.), with excellent grades and a few, well-chosen activities, who is the recipient of a full scholarship, has a strong case to present to colleges. A student in the middle of the pack at Milton or Choate, who has not received a scholarship, does not stand out. A merit scholarship is an implicit endorsement on the part of your prep school. It says that you are outstanding.</p>
<p>Don’t underestimate how difficult it is to be the student who can’t afford to do anything in a prep school setting. If your family stretched to pay full tuition at Milton or Choate, you would have a bare-bones budget, while other students will be able to afford any luxury. You would also give away the ability to participate in any interesting summer activities. Attending a school on a merit scholarship would give your family the ability to send you to specialized summer camps, for example. I think that the merit scholarship would allow you to have a broader, and richer high school experience. It would also give your family the financial breathing room to better tailor your out-of-school activities to your interests and talents.</p>
<p>Also, do you live within easy driving distance of the schools? If you live far enough away that travel to and from school would be prohibitively expensive, don’t give up the chance to return home for a visit. Knowing that you can see your family can make a huge difference, even if you choose to only come home in the summer.</p>
<p>Alex, if $160,000 is really irrelevant to your family, than go ahead and choose whatever school you think will help you ‘self-actualize.’ Otherwise, I think you are wrong to think that the experience at Hun, Webb or Kent is in any way second rate. </p>
<p>There are 15 million american kids in high school. Most of them did not choose even between 2 schools. I can’t imagine thinking that these 3 fabulous schools are somehow going to keep you from developing as a person. Makes you wonder how 15 million kids even survive…</p>
<p>So, what do your parents say? They care about the money or they don’t?</p>
<p>think about things unique to these schools. i would choose the full scholarship one b/c you can do so much more. </p>
<p>we hear that boarding school can shape your future, that you can be successful if you go to a top BS. it happens alot, but that doesn’t mean it’s always true. tons of public school kids get into ivies. some boarding school kids end up with horrible jobs they hate. what school you choose to go to doesn’t define how your life will play out. it’s what you choose to do with it. if you go to a top BS but you can’t afford to do anything, or if you don’t choose to do anything, you won’t get into a good college. and if you go to say, a tier 2 on full scholarship, you can afford to do so much more. if you work hard, colleges appreciate that. </p>
<p>so i would take the scholarship. in the end, it’s what you do that matters, not that you went to a tier one boarding school or a regular old public school.</p>
<p>if you love something about kent, webb, etc…then go there. think of where you’ll be happy, b/c the academics at tier one and tier 2 schools are all the same.</p>
<p>I might do it for Choate (though unlikely). Not Milton, though.</p>
<p>What about a full scholarship to say a rarely-mentioned school vs. Andover? Or even a full scholarship vs. maybe a few grand at Milton/Choate?</p>
<p>Right now, I’m def. leaning toward taking to full scholarship.</p>
<p>Alex - a full scholarship?! These “rarely mentioned” schools are great institutions. How could you ever think of putting your parents $160k in debt over shades of difference! Please, in this economy, perish the thought. Plus, as Periwinkle correctly pointed out, a great, full scholarship performance out of a Kent, Webb or Hun will be every bit the springboard to an Ivy, if that’s your ambition.</p>
<p>I think it’s all dependent on whether or not your family can afford to pay all four years at like, Milton. If you can, and you like those better known schools, I say choose it. That way, somebody at a lesser known school gets your scholarship money, and you get the school you really want.</p>
<p>If it’s gonna be a hardship, take the money.</p>
<p>as most people have already made clear, i would definitely choose the scholarship over the full tuition. </p>
<p>im sure the academic challenge is going to drastically variable between the schools you are stuck with. but, if your parents don’t mind paying you the whole money, then i say go for milton or choate. </p>
<p>hopefully you’ll make the best decision for yourself</p>
<p>Howard and Matthew Greene, the authors of The Greenes’ Guide to Boarding Schools, recommend that parents and applicants choose schools at which the student will be a “top one-thirder.”
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<p>The economic picture is not improving. I have read that loans for college will no longer allow recipients to put off payments. Attending a good prep school on a full scholarship puts you in a much stronger position four years hence.</p>
<p>One more thought. This year, it’s clear that students who don’t need any aid have an advantage in college admissions. I don’t think that advantage will go away. I think it will become larger. If your parents wait until you enter college to pay tuition, that will be an enormous help when applying to colleges. If you are full-pay to Choate or Milton, they may not be able to pay full tuition to Duke, Tufts, etc., in four years. </p>
<p>I think you need to talk with your parents.</p>