do you think that going to a catholic school and being from the east coast would help my chances of admission and/or amount of aid ?
3.8 unweighted 1900 sat (1260 m/r) nhs vice President
Neither will help your chances of admission or aid…
Aid is virtually non-existent for out of state applicants. Count on paying the full $35k/yr all 4 years regardless of your family’s financial situation.
I have better news on admission - assuming you’ve taken the required classes, (see the link) - you are very likely to be admitted with those stats.
http://arweb.sdsu.edu/es/admissions/freshmen/apply/agcourses.html
I’d also recommend you look into some SoCal privates like USD and LMU that are likely to admit you and offer aid.
Good luck.
Thank you!
@mattm25 Although I’m sure NCalRent was trying to be helpful, the link in that post is to San Diego State, not Santa Clara University. Different ends of California. 
SCU is a private school, and cost of attendance is the same for in state and out of state applicants.
As for financial aid packages, no one here can guess what kind of aid you’d be offered, so apply and see what happens. Best of luck to you!
Sorry @mattm25 and @msdarcy too many windows open at once… A 3.8 UW and 1900 should put you in pretty good shape for admission. I"d be surprised if they didn’t give you some aid with those stats. A strong EC resume and a few more SAT pts would help with with more aid.
It is a very good school, my dad was an alumnus, i know several current students and many successful graduates.
Good luck…