<p>Hi, I'm a senior who has applied to Pomona College ED. If I don't get into Pomona, I need to apply to other colleges. I have my college list, but I don't have any financial safeties. I may be applying to the UCs, but I prefer a small, liberal arts college-style environment. I am looking for colleges that may offer me large merit scholarships (probably safeties). My stats are fairly good - 4.0 unweighted GPA, 2220 SAT I, 700+ SAT IIs, good ECs, etc.</p>
<p>My ideas so far -
Chapman University
University of Santa Clara
University of San Diego
Pepperdine University</p>
<p>Any other ideas? And how can I look up which colleges give more merit scholarships than others?</p>
<p>You might try posting on the Financial Aid forum. There are a few posters over there who specialize in finding merit scholarships for particular GPA+scores combos. Most of the schools are not in California, however.</p>
<p>The problem with your list above is that all of them are in the $50,000/year range and none offer guaranteed scholarships for your qualifications. A* Financial Safety *is a school you KNOW you can afford - you would only be able to hope for merit at those schools. And many scholarships are in the $10,000/year range, leaving ~$40,000/year to cover. If you can afford that much, then those schools might work as your financial safeties.</p>
<p>The UCs are about $30,000/year - if you can afford that, then a UC can be a financial safety (if it is one to which you are very likely to be admitted). California students also often find the CSUs to be affordable - most are under $20,000/year including room and board (and even less if you can commute).</p>
<p>You’d probably do well at many small liberal arts colleges in California that give merit aid, including the ones on your list, with the possible exception of Santa Clara. Chapman gives generous merit aid based on grades & scores.</p>
<p>You can also look at:</p>
<p>Whittier
Cal Lutheran
University of Redlands
University of the Pacific</p>
<p>Cal Lutheran offers to match the cost of UCSB for any student who gets into UCSB but chooses to attend Cal Lutheran. They might have expanded this offer to other UCs.</p>
<p>The problem, as alamemom points out, is that these schools start out on the very expensive side, so even with good merit aid of $10,000-$25,000/year, their costs will probably end up around the same as a CSU or UC. </p>
<p>Some schools publish their criteria for awarding merit aid, while others keep that fairly obscure. Here’s one example of an upfront college:</p>
<p>Do you need to stay in California, or are you willing to look out of state? There are a number of excellent liberal arts colleges in Oregon and Washington that have a lower COA and also give good merit aid that you might consider.</p>
<p>@alamemom: Thank you for bringing up the costs of tuition at the schools I mentioned. I hadn’t realized how expensive they were. I understand your reasoning. Indeed, the UCs and CSUs could be financial safeties for me since I could commute to one UC and one CSU, although I am hoping to not be in that situation.</p>
<p>@vballmom: Thanks for your suggestions. I will look those up. Thank you also for the link. I was only mentioning CA because I thought I might be able to find a commuter school. However, my reasoning was flawed in the schools I suggested (since they’re not commuter schools, they would be just as expensive anyways). I would rather be in CA than in some parts of Oregon and WA because I don’t like rain though.</p>
<p>@SlitheyTove: Yes, I’m planning on Occidental. I will check on that! Thank you!</p>
<p>For Chapman, you should be in line for their Presidential award, which was $25k last year. That would bring Chapman in line with UC costs. You might go check out some of the smaller CSU’s to see if they have any appeal for you. Sonoma State or CSU Monterrey Bay come to mind, though there are others.</p>
<p>Another vote for looking outside of California, including the Western exchange, for added value.</p>
<p>Consider Saint Mary’s, Gonzaga, and Whitworth, if you don’t mind the religious vibe. FWIW, I don’t consider Pepperdine a financial safety if it’s not a good fit, for them AND you. My D got merit at Santa Clara and Occidental but not at Pepperdine, and I thought it would have been a GREAT fit, both ways.</p>
<p>@sopranomom92: Thanks for the info. I will look into that scholarship. I am most likely not applying to CSUs though. @Shrinkrap: What is the “Western exchange”? Also, I have had U of Santa Clara and Occidental on my list. It is good to know that they provide some sort of aid, even if this evidence is only anecdotal @SMCguy: Loyola Marymount…another good one. Thanks for the suggestions!</p>
<p>Even though my daughter got the Regents’ Scholarship at UOP, that would have made a dent in the total cost to attend. Fortunately, the school wasn’t particularly high on her list, so it was a non-issue. </p>
<p>**vballmom wrote:</p>
<p>The problem, as alamemom points out, is that these schools start out on the very expensive side, so even with good merit aid of $10,000-$25,000/year, their costs will probably end up around the same as a CSU or UC. </p>
<p>Some schools publish their criteria for awarding merit aid, while others keep that fairly obscure. Here’s one example of an upfront college:</p>
<p>Quote:
Annual Award: $10,000</p>
<p>Regents’ Scholarships are awarded to exceptional high school seniors who apply to University of the Pacific. You don’t have to file the FAFSA to be considered and there is no special scholarship application.</p>
<p>Typical academic profile of students who are considered</p>
<p>GPA: 3.87
SAT: 1337 (based on the Reading and Math scores only) </p>
<p>As a value shopper, I appreciate merit aid. We were not going to get any financial aid so I told my S he needed to find a school with good merit aid. He ended up going to Redlands and is now a junior and is very happy with his choice. His classes are demanding and his professors are good. he got as much as they gave at the time- around 14K. Occidental offered $7 K but their tuition was $5K higher so that cancelled itself out (also he didn’t like the campus, loved instead the spaciousness of Redlands-some things are at the gut level). He also received an offer of all tuition paid at UC Riverside- one of the ‘safeties’ I made him apply to (financial safety, not admission). If money had been an issue that may have won the choice (also because his major will require grad school so more costs are pending down the road). As it is, Pomona and a UC are two very different approaches to learning, and environment. </p>
<p>One other thing to know- the deadline to apply if you want merit aid at Redlands was much earlier than the regular deadline. I don’t know if other privates have similar rules.
Hope you’ll update as to whether you got into Pomona- Good Luck!</p>
<p>I will definitely update! I agree that the LAC environment is way different than a UC, in a good way, in my opinion That’s why I’m trying to find some good merit aid LACs.</p>
<p>I am currently not sure on what I am going to do about my financial safety. I will know in a few days if I need to start feverently searching But I will keep UOPs program in mind definitely.</p>
But I will keep UOPs program in mind definitely.</p>