<p>I live in Washington State, and unfortunately cannot get into any of the UC schools. (financial aid sucks)</p>
<p>anyways I guess the best chances I have are for Private schools. So here is my list so far.</p>
<li>Occidental</li>
<li>Claremont/pitzer/pomona </li>
<li>USC</li>
<li> University of san diego</li>
<li>university of san francisco</li>
<li>chapman</li>
</ol>
<p>are there any other good private schools out there? </p>
<p>oh yeah I know I skipped stanford because It’s just too much of a long shot.</p>
<p>I looked at Pepperdine also but It’s way to religious for me.</p>
<p>University of Redlands has a campus that is very similar to Pomona in size and appearance. Redlands is a nice college town, with lots of historic Victorian houses. It is also right at the base of the Mt. San Gorgonio ski resorts.</p>
<p>If the financial aid sucks at the UCS, why are you assuming the privates will be better? If financial aid is a major consideration for you, you need to look at each of the schools on your list and see what percentage of demonstrated need is met.
You don't give your stats or intended major so it is difficult to help with other schools.</p>
<p>My D is applying there, too. We're also in state. It's too bad they don't give more merit scholarships, even a small one would be nice. Right now it's looking more and more like D will be going to an OOS school that offers great merit aid.</p>
<p>D wants to go to school in CA, too, but probably won't. She is applying to Santa Clara (also a Catholic school) but she won't be able to attend if they don't come through with a fat merit scholarship.</p>
<p>By the way, St. Mary's merit aid is not very good.</p>
<p>Pomona is just as hard to get into as Stanford, so I would say go for both (despite the fact that you'd just add to my Stanford competition lol). I mean, Pomona's average SAT score is 2240, higher than Stanford's, which I believe is under 2200.</p>