accepted by private middle school but no financial aid

[NotUrsula]

I'm not sure what kind of cost the OP is looking at, I only know what we pay for DD to go to a private Christian school. I think the school does offer some financial aid to people with lower incomes, but I would say its not much and not often. But I don't really know the specifics. They do offer a discount to families who are tithing members of the church but we go to a different church so we don't qualify for that.

If it is the kind of school that most of us think it is, probably between $12-20K per year.

 

[Anthony1971]

I am paying for private school and live in a good public school district....
as far as aide we get non and no we would not so no comment but I would like some if I could get it....
We pay for private becuase we want to. I went to private school and most of my friends did not... ONE of my friends that went to public school has a college degree and I am talking a large group... The ones who I went to private school with mostly went to college I know of 2 who did not (I am talking my class not friends) so for those who think private school is or was a waste of money you may want to take a closer look at the percentage of PUBLIC HS graduates who go to college before you say private is a wate... it ain't pretty.
There is a lot of emphasis from teachers in Private school concerning college in all grades.....
I will never say a Private school is better as far as education BUT they are far better at caring about a child and make sure he or she does the school work which gives them a better shot at even going to college.. and yes I am sure this also has to do with the parents of these children being able to pay and likely attending college themselves.
Also take a look at the unemployment numbers again as they do seperate those who have a college degreee and those who do not there is a huge difference....

 

[GinnyEmma]

lol, nearly everyone i know went to public school (I went to private), and amazingly enough managed to drag themselves out of the dregs of society and go on to improve their chances with a college degree.

A good teacher, class or school has little to do with public or private. As I have stated before, the broadbrush statements mean little. It all has to do with individuals...parents, students, teachers, and administrators.

 

[allison443]

If it is the kind of school that most of us think it is, probably between $12-20K per year.

The OP is in NJ like me. She didn't give the tuition amounts, but here Catholic high school costs $10K a year, and if it is a private school she is looking at, the ones I just looked up cost approximately $30,000 a year for high school. (and it seemed like there would be fees in addition to that).

 

[GinnyEmma]

I think your parents got ripped off. You can't even write a coherent thought. Your misuse of grammar, capitalization, punctuation and spelling are atrocious.

wow, rude!

While i disagree with that poster, i also know that i type the way i think, rather than the way i write professionally. i give others the same benefit of doubt.

 

[NotUrsula]

The OP is in NJ like me. She didn't give the tuition amounts, but here Catholic high school costs $10K a year, and if it is a private school she is looking at, the ones I just looked up cost approximately $30,000 a year for high school. (and it seemed like there would be fees in addition to that).

It's middle school rather than high school, so I skewed a bit cheaper because that usually is a little less, but you're absolutely correct; $30K is not at all outside the realm of possibility.

 

[allison443]

It's middle school rather than high school, so I skewed a bit cheaper because that usually is a little less, but you're absolutely correct; $30K is not at all outside the realm of possibility.

Ah, sorry, it was so long ago that I read the OP that I forgot she referred to middle school!
The ones I looked up are about $2k less for middle school, so about $28K, one charges the same for grades 7-12 so $30K. Of course these were just private schools I picked in NJ that I know of, so I don't know what the OP is looking at.

 

[MomToOne]

Wow, has this thread derailed!

I have to prepare my kid for not attending the private school. Yes, it is NJ, a good private school charges private colleges $$$. I have been unemployed for nearly two years and have another child with learning disabilities.
We have been living below our means but we have to dip into our savings. I think it would be easier for us to be qaulified.

We haven't saved for college, DH told me I should use those $$$ for college instead of middle school. I have talked to my kid, while she likes the private school, she really prefers her current public school. We are not in a bad school district.

1. It can't hurt to call the school and ask about financial aid. But don't expect a miracle - I get "tuition assistance" at my daughter's school (I'm a single parent so even with a decent job I come in low on the income scale compared to the other families), but it's only a 20% break. I still have to pay 80%. It sounds like even if the school gives you some financial aid, you still will not be in the position to comfortably pay the rest. And if you already applied for financial aid but didn't get any, then I think that's probably the answer you are going to get again - but hey, it can't hurt to call and ask!

2. If your child is happy where she is, its not a bad school district, and you haven't saved for college yet, then I think you know what you need to do. Many of us have done just fine in life with a public school education, including getting advanced college degrees.

 

[RadioFanatic]

just read this article and it made me think of this thread:

http://www.leaderpost.com/news/sues+preschool+being+playground/4437771/story.html

 

[chisnpeke]

wow, rude!

While i disagree with that poster, i also know that i type the way i think, rather than the way i write professionally. i give others the same benefit of doubt.

I think the comment was deserved. The post by Anthony was equally rude.

 

[Leajess99]

But, honestly, would you want that for your child? If you have to work at Walmart to pay bills, nothing wrong with that. But any decent parent is going to want more for their kid than that.

Defensive, much?

I'm not defensive but you certainly make rude posts.

Whether or not it is wanted for a child, it happens. Look at some of the people that were oncce making 100,000 or more a year that are now getting food stamps or working low paying jobs just to get by because their company closed or they were laid off and can't find jobs in their job field.

Maybe you should watch being so hateful because Karma is a witch.

 

[GinnyEmma]

I think the comment was deserved. The post by Anthony was equally rude.

Eh, whenever someone pulls out grammar or spelling it usually just shows they haven't a better comeback.

 

[maggiew]

DD was accepted by a private school, but they didn't offer her any financial aid probably because we have savings...as I am not working...
Will it help if I were to call their financial aid office?

I understand I won't know until I call..but am wondering whether anyone was offered a financial aid when it was initially denied by the school.

I have to prepare my kid for not attending the private school. Yes, it is NJ, a good private school charges private colleges $$$. I have been unemployed for nearly two years and have another child with learning disabilities.
We have been living below our means but we have to dip into our savings. I think it would be easier for us to be qaulified.

We haven't saved for college, DH told me I should use those $$$ for college instead of middle school. I have talked to my kid, while she likes the private school, she really prefers her current public school. We are not in a bad school district.

If your public school district is not bad, your DD prefers her current school, you don't have the money for the private school AND you have not saved for college, why are you even contemplating paying ~$30,000 (approximated by others) on a MIDDLE SCHOOL education. I am totally blown away by that.

And the mom suing the preschool in the article that was posted??? I can't believe that either. Besides the fact that preschool SHOULD be a "big playroom" IMHO, didn't she look at the school before paying $19,000??

Maggie

 

[Leajess99]

lol, nearly everyone i know went to public school (I went to private), and amazingly enough managed to drag themselves out of the dregs of society and go on to improve their chances with a college degree.

A good teacher, class or school has little to do with public or private. As I have stated before, the broadbrush statements mean little. It all has to do with individuals...parents, students, teachers, and administrators.

Great Post!!!! My son's teacher is big on encouraging the kids to go to college and she has college recruiters in to talk to the kids.

I also am encouraging my kids and feel that by them seeing me graduate college (I joined the military and started college while on Active duty but finished this past December after being out of the military and not going back to school until the youngest went to preschool). I talk to my kids and encourage my kids and save for my kids. I would have loved to send the younger 2 to private school but financially it is not a possibility. College is way more important for my kids. The kids do attend pretty good schools so I don't stress as much.

Around here only a couple of the private schools offer financial aid and for one you must find a sponsor that attends that church to get any kind of aid. I feel if I can't afford to send my kids to private school than they don't need to go. I am a single parent and I don't expect anyone else to provide for my kids.

 

[GinnyEmma]

Great Post!!!! My son's teacher is big on encouraging the kids to go to college and she has college recruiters in to talk to the kids.

I also am encouraging my kids and feel that by them seeing me graduate college (I joined the military and started college while on Active duty but finished this past December after being out of the military and not going back to school until the youngest went to preschool). I talk to my kids and encourage my kids and save for my kids. I would have loved to send the younger 2 to private school but financially it is not a possibility. College is way more important for my kids. The kids do attend pretty good schools so I don't stress as much.

Around here only a couple of the private schools offer financial aid and for one you must find a sponsor that attends that church to get any kind of aid. I feel if I can't afford to send my kids to private school than they don't need to go. I am a single parent and I don't expect anyone else to provide for my kids.

What a great inspiration. My sil graduated with her kids from college. She homeschooled them, and then went on to finish her teaching degree. (She didn't attend the same school or anything!)

 

[prncess674]

Eh, whenever someone pulls out grammar or spelling it usually just shows they haven't a better comeback.

The grammar and spelling comment was absolutely relevant to the topic. Anthony was touting his superior private school education, but yet he can't follow the basics of sentence and paragraph construction. I can overlook typos and the occasional sentence ending with a preposition, but his post is riddled with ellipses, random capitalization and rampant misspellings. His post shows that not all private education is superior.

The running joke about one of the supposed elite local private schools in my hometown is their motto should be “Pay your fees, get your B’s.”

 

[Leajess99]

What a great inspiration. My sil graduated with her kids from college. She homeschooled them, and then went on to finish her teaching degree. (She didn't attend the same school or anything!)

That is awesome as well!!! Sometimes life stops the schooling but going back is a huge accomplishment.

My ex has told our middle child that college is not that important which I constantly remind her that it is. While you could get a job in some fields without a college degree, not too many Marine Biologists have no college education. lol

 

[GinnyEmma]

That is awesome as well!!! Sometimes life stops the schooling but going back is a huge accomplishment.

My ex has told our middle child that college is not that important which I constantly remind her that it is. While you could get a job in some fields without a college degree, not too many Marine Biologists have no college education. lol

Geez, that stinks! I have one son who may be more of a trade kind of guy. We will see. But even a good trade takes education. It is merely a different form of education.

My niece wanted to be a marine biologist, but has wound up training zoo animals! Good luck to your middle.

 

[ctinct]

100% agree.



you would be right. we pay for me to go to cornell and my sister to go to yale completely out of pocket. next year, we will also be paying in full for my 2 brothers who will be starting college. oh, and this is my single mother paying for it on her own. yes, i definitely think they should be going somewhere they can actually pay for or if they want to be at a private school, then they should take out loans. college financial aid in the form of grants is ridiculous, but that is a whole other discussion, so if you wish to have it with me, then feel free to send me a PM and we can certainly talk about it (don't want to stray too far off topic).

as for whoever said top schools give merit aid, not the tippy top. ivies do not give merit aid. i believe most of the top 20 does not, however, i have heard of certain cases when they really want people to study in a certain field they will offer some (i'm using my own personal experience. a friend was told he would get a full ride to vanderbilt if he were to lead their hillel group and study something relating to jewish studies). of course, i only really know about the schools i applied to and there are definitely options out there. tulane, for example, gives great merit aid if you apply early enough.

You are correct that the Ivies do not give merit aid; however, the vast majority of them will meet full financial need. I think a few of them try to do it with little or no loans, using grant aid from their endowemnents instead. I'm not quite sure what it is about grant aid that you feel is ridiculous. If your mom is paying for two Ivies completely out of pocket, and will be paying for four college students next year, she must have an extremely high income. You are quite fortunate that she is able to do that for you.

 

[collegejunkie]

You are correct that the Ivies do not give merit aid; however, the vast majority of them will meet full financial need. I think a few of them try to do it with little or no loans, using grant aid from their endowemnents instead. I'm not quite sure what it is about grant aid that you feel is ridiculous. If your mom is paying for two Ivies completely out of pocket, and will be paying for four college students next year, she must have an extremely high income. You are quite fortunate that she is able to do that for you.

what i don't like about grant aid is that that means that students like me, who are paying in full, are essentially just giving other kids a cushion to come and then that money isn't going towards better resources, more research, more on-campus housing, activities, events, etc. so i'm paying all this money, but i'm not getting anything extra compared to the students who aren't paying and who aren't contributing money towards the things i just mentioned. that said, dbf is here on full aid and will graduate with only about 6k in debt. while i'm happy for him, i still think the system could be better. for example, lower tuition to say, 20k and just have everyone across the board pay the same amount but then it won't be ridiculously high and then it wouldn't be a huge deal. but i guess it doesn't matter what i think, because my opinion won't be changing how the aid system works. i suppose i can look on the bright side and figure if dbf has very little debt, then when we get married, he/we won't be in a ton of debt.

i consider myself very lucky and try to show my mom that her money is well spent by keeping my grades up and finding lots of positions and doing extracurriculars. it's a mix of good planning and her job. she saved for each of us starting with the year we were born. we had an agreement that we could only go away to school if it was within a certain rank, otherwise we had to go to local publics, which is what one of my brothers is choosing to do. she's my favorite person in the entire world, not just because of how she's letting me grow on my own, but just because she's truly a wonderful person i love my mommy