<p>DePaul University in Chicago has recently caught my attention and I'm hoping some parents here can give me more info about it..</p>
<p>Is it "too Catholic?" I'm unsure of what I believe (or if I believe) so would I feel entirely out of place there? I'm comfortable with religion but I would prefer it not be like....jammed down my throat at every instance. For example, I'd be fine with Fordham--not so much Liberty (not Catholic, but you get the idea...)</p>
<p>How is the Financial Aid? </p>
<p>How integrated into the city is DePaul? </p>
<p>I will not turn this into a chances thread, but I'm a B student. Is DePaul the right academic fit for someone like me? It seems so from the Collegeboard site, but perhaps you have different experiences.</p>
<p>Well my EFC will certainly be low, but I have a grandparent with quite a bit of money willing to help. That said, I’m not going to ask her for $100,000, for example.</p>
<p>If my need could be met through merit aid, that would be great.</p>
<p>My son and I visited DePaul a year or two ago and there was almost no emphasis on religion that we could see. The one thing he didn’t like was that there is only housing on campus for freshman; after that you’re on your own. The dorms we toured were very nice. The train is very close to campus so you would be able to get to anywhere in Chicago very easily.</p>
<p>When you say that your EFC will be low…how low? The reason that I ask is that if it’s well below the Pell threshhold, then your chances for good aid is possible because of DePaul’s interest in helping very low income students with good stats…</p>
<p>The Pell threshhold for EFC is 4617. So, if your EFC is - say - 1500, you might get a good aid package that combines fed aid, school grants, and (possibly) state aid. But, if your EFC is - say $5k, then you may not get much in aid.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>You need to find out how much your grandma will give you each year.</p>
<p>I ran an EFC calculator and it said 0. My stats aren’t that great. I’m not entirely sure what my GPA is (we haven’t gotten final grades in the mail yet for this year) but it’s likely between 3.0 and 3.3. My test scores are better-- there are some personal reasons why my grades were not great that I explain in my CommonApp essay.</p>
<p>My grandma has basically told me she will pay the difference, but I don’t feel comfortable taking too much from her.</p>
<p>Depaul is in a great area of Chicago and is much more immersed in the ongoing city life than UChicago, Northwestern, Loyola, or UIC. It is close to trains and buses and reasonably close to good restaurants, the zoo, parks, and lakefront beaches.</p>
<p>Full federal aid is not a lot…for you, it would be about $5500 per year, plus another $5500 in student loans. </p>
<p>So, not much towards what you need. DePaul might give you another $10k+ in grants, but combined with the fed aid won’t be enough to pay for tuition, room, board, books, travel, etc. :(</p>
<p>However, since you’re in Virginia - a state that meets need at its public universities - you need to apply to your state schools!!! </p>
<p>You can apply to DePaul to see what happens, but your grandma would likely end up having to pay a big chunk each year. </p>
<p>What are your test scores? What is your GPA?</p>
<p>3.1 GPA (again, some personal issues), ~ 2000 SAT and (I just took the ACT yesterday so I’m not sure) if I had to estimate, a 31 or 32 on the ACT.</p>
<p>Will have 6 AP’s total. Have taken 4 so far: an A, 2 B’s and a C. All 5’s.</p>
<p>D is a rising junior at DePaul - accounting major, school of commerce. She loves DePaul. It is a very urban campus, and the main campus in Lincoln Park is very pretty. It is not overtly religious - you are required to take religioun courses to graduate, but the selection of “religioun courses” is very broad.</p>
<p>I thought the major drawback was the scarcity of on-campus housing, but my daughter - and most of her friends - really WANTED to move out of the dorms (and that’s not because the dorms were bad; they were actually very, very nice.) Apartments are pretty plentiful in the Lincoln Park/Lakeview/Wrigleyville area.</p>
<p>A B student do fine there - depending on your major. My D has had some pretty rigorous acounting classes this year, but she’s hanging in there!</p>