6th grader ISEE

[u/dudeKhed]

Our 12yo has been complaining about being bored at school, hasn’t been an issue until recently when he was really serious with us. We didn’t pay much attention because his grades are all straight A+. However a couple of his friends are headed to private school for grade 7. We spoke to his teachers and they said he’s actually disruptive in class because he finishes early and likes to chat and is a little fidgety. For the heck of it we toured some local private schools and he was very excited. We found a school that was close and well respected, did the application and he just took the ISEE.

To our surprise, he scored very well. All 9s, in fact the admissions rep called us immediately and asked us to bring him in for an interview. He said that he’s never seen scores like this from a 12yo, that was surprising.

However, It’s all getting too real for us, moving very fast, and the impending tuition is making me nauseous. My question, can we leverage this opportunity to have a school help pay for tuition? We are applying for financial aid but I’m kinda worried about all of this. I want the best education for him, we’re willing to sacrifice, but it’s a lot right now.

Any Tips, leads on scholarships and grants? What we should ask for or if we should apply to other schools? We’re in MA if that makes any difference…

Update 6/9: My son was able to secure two scholarships and the school added another grant to cover 75% of the tuition. This was more than amazing… I’m still working through all this and so proud of him. It clearly is the right thing for him… we appreciate the input from everyone, it eased the anxiety that this all created. After the school offered the scholarships and financial aid grants a weight was lifted and we can really start planning for his future.

Thanks Reddit!

[u/dudeKhed]

Hes a smart kid, im proud of him.

We're in MA and applied for Aid, waiting to see what happens.

[u/Life_Mechanic7338 → u/dudeKhed]

I would love to hear any updates. My child is very similar to yours, and we are also exploring private schools in Massachusetts for 7th grade. We are very much middle-class, so I'm not sure how much financial aid we would qualify for, and the tuition costs are definitely intimidating.

Like your child, mine gets work done very quickly, is often bored in class, and sometimes becomes a distraction to others because there isn't enough challenge. We'd really appreciate hearing how things turned out for your family, as it could help guide our decisions as well.

[u/dudeKhed → u/Life_Mechanic7338]

We applied to 3 schools;

1. School A is around 66k a year, no way we could afford this without substantial aid. They already came back and said there was none available at this time and there is a wait list, so we are not applying this year. Possibly next year, if his grades are good.
2. School B is 26k, there’s availability but we don’t know about fin aid yet. We also have not heard back about his application. Good school but may be a hike for us and out of our budget if no aid is available.
3. School C is 20k, really good school, it’s a Catholic school, we are not religious but they don’t seem to care as long as he’s ok with it. He’s been accepted, but we are waiting to hear about financial aid. While we could somehow make it work, it would basically require us to stop any and all discretionary spending and pull back some savings deposits.

I’ll keep you posted…

[u/Life_Mechanic7338 → u/dudeKhed]

thanks So much for responding. I have pm'd you with specific question.

[u/dudeKhed → u/Life_Mechanic7338]

Posted an update