Bad Economy Good For Getting Into Private Schools?

absofu__kinglutely!

on the other hand, I figure a harvard/yale are going to benefit from those (not in the endowment sense, in the admissions sense).

They're offering crazy financial aid these days, basically if your parents make up to something like $120k you pay nothing....

aifamm:
You will definately see access a bit easier. However, if, you were able to somehow rank the 100 or so private schools. What you will see is that people will (trade up) i.e be more aggressive in their choices. This will leave some of the weaker schools suffering. Some of the top schools are already seeing this effect. The Oct-Dec application process saw greater numbers of apps than the previous year.

ny22: Financial aid is a different animal. It comes from the general fund which is made up of tuition, the annual fund and endowment earnings. The latter two are hurtung this year. Most schools will push the envelope to keep financial aid on par with the 2007-08 school year, not increase it.

I can't recall where I read it, but one of the admissions advisors (private, fee-based, so in her interest to say everything very competitive) reported that some of her clients actually withdrew applications for 2009 admissions.

nyc10022 - Harvard and Yale WERE offering those financial aid packages, but the rumor is that the financial commitments Harvard made based on a $35 billion endowment are not sustainable now that they are down 8 or 9 billion. I wouldn't expect free tuition to necessarily continue.

patient09: good thought. you are talking about manhattan private schools right? I would think the concept would still apply. Considering the crazy nursery school application process began on Labor Day, I wonder how many parents are rethinking the private schools.

"nyc10022 - Harvard and Yale WERE offering those financial aid packages, but the rumor is that the financial commitments Harvard made based on a $35 billion endowment are not sustainable now that they are down 8 or 9 billion. I wouldn't expect free tuition to necessarily continue."

I got the president's letter... they're cutting back on new construction and a few other things... but not financial aid.

I was talking about NYC. I misread the ny22 about H/Y. But to your last point. Many are reconsidering private schools. Better data will be out by March when all the applyers can can compare notes with their friends.

remember the other thread from a couple days ago... huge numbers of parents are now choosing pay as you go over all at once.... figuring they might have to pull kids.

There might be a bunch of openings in a few months..

Not to get too deep into detail, but I will anyway. One potential outcome of the NYC economic meltdown that is getting started is a new phenomenon in the private school sector. Historically, it is extraordinarily difficult to be admitted in non entry years. Depending on the school, entry years tend to be K, 6th and 9th grade. In the better schools, it is damn near impossible to get accepted in 1st-4th grade. Most every grade at the better schools will see at least 1 departure because of economics next year. If you have the desire and the checkbook to go the private school route. This coming year could be a once in a lifetime opportunity to switch schools.

Definitely better time to get into pre-K and K levels. My wife works at one of the "top" schools and they've actually lost a student already and are expecting much lower applicant levels next year.

As someone who's been unabashedly bearish on housing, I will say that the constraints on education/school options in the city are, to me, the BIGGEST reason why prices won't drop as low as some expect (the 50% or >'er crowd). The growth in "white" children, (and their attendant families), over the last decade has far outpaced any other subgroup, and is representative of how much the city has changed since the last downturns of the 70's and early 90's, and why the depth/duration of this one may avoid the cataclysm that many see coming. 2 income households have driven this market higher, and the scarcity of quality public school education, especially outside the city, means that HH's will cut nearly all things before their child's education. There are many studies on this, and those that have outlined how neighboring towns with similar characteristics except for public school ratings have significantly different RE profiles. Studios will see more pricing pressure, as they have actually appreciated in the last 10 yrs at a faster rate than all other sizes, and lack the support from this family group. We'll see

I agree with patient. Most schools have a "range" of students they can accomodate for their classes, and it is a bit of a guesstimate for the admissions directors to fill available spots. After the overacceptance debacles of a few years ago, many directors have been relatively conservative in their offers, meaning that many of the top schools, while not undersubscribed, nonetheless had some space and wiggle room already. Combine that with people leaving, and you have opportunity arising from this awful situation.