<p>I am a little confused by this thread… Our daughter just accepted an offer from her dream school… Nowhere in the admission process did we indicate that we were “full pay for all four years”. Nor did anyone ask. We knew we didn’t have a chance at getting FA so we didn’t bother applying for it. Folks on this thread seem to suggest families would be ineligible to request FA later ($200K+ later with multiple kids in school). That’s not my understanding and I haven’t seen anything to that effect in any of the admissions or financial aid information that we received during the process. On this thread its treated like common knowledge that there is only one bite at the FA apple.</p>
<p>People would need hundreds of thousands of dollars sitting in a bank account to know that private school costs are completely covered. And, even then, things happen which might make a family seek financial aid in subsequent years.</p>
<p>I’ve seen the decision to not request financial aid described as being “not forthcoming”. This strikes me as a little harsh. A family that can swing multiple tuitions now may not be able to swing them in 2, 3, 4, 5… years. If that happens, they apply for FA. At which point the schools decides yes or no. Then the family may (or may not) have a tough decision to make. </p>
<p>I would think it was understood that ability to pay for years of private school is an uncertain thing. Doesn’t every parent have the idea in the back of their mind that they might, someday, need to tap FA as the perfect price discrimination of higher education suppliers slowly impoverishes families fleeing public schools?</p>