Financial Aid 2013-14?

<p>Just got the financial aid offer for my DS. Ouch! Sadly it puts SCU out of the running.</p>

<p>^ was fin aid on the website or did you receive in the mail?</p>

<p>It’s on the website now. I just checked and it was unfortunately nowhere near what it’d need to be for us.</p>

<p>My D received her financial aid award letter today. She got 13,500 for a need based grant. Has anyone received both need based grant and merit scholarship together in the financial aid award letter? I was hoping she would get some kind of merit scholarship since every private university she applied to offered her something. The interesting thing is that SCU is the only private that offered her need based aid.</p>

<p>My son was accepted as engineering major early action back in Dec and received an $17,500 scholarship (merit). We were waiting to hear if they would offer some need-based aid (since our EFC on the FAFSA was $13,000), but nothing else came. Called their Finanical Aid office this week and they explained that it was all they were going to offer. So they definitely don’t separate need and merit-based aid, nor do they meet a a good portion of the need like many other private schools do. So this means my son won’t be going there. I’m surprised, too. He is a Nat’l Merit Finalist, 4.8 GPA, varsity letter in a sport, a club president, lots of meaningful community service, etc. He would be a fine strong addition to their university and they don’t seem to want him bad enough. It’s a shame because he really loved the school and it was at one point his top choice. We were planning to go there next week to take one more look. He wants a more intimate educational experience and has no desire to go to the bigger engineering schools (Berkeley, Stanford, UC Davis, etc.).</p>

<p>Thanks chimchim, looks like my D wont be attending also. I’m sure your son has been offered many generous awards with stats like his. Another university will benefit from his academic excellence! Good luck to your son.</p>

<p>My daughter’s award offer is over $53,000.00. I was astounded and very happy. SCU was already a good fit for her but the offer was the highest she has been given and makes attending a very real option. Other schools left a little bit too much to pay and we were focusing on UC Davis which offered her a full tuition scholarship. She is still waiting for decisions from one more school (Stanford) and the financial offer from USC before making a final decision.</p>

<p>My kid received need based grant from couple of colleges too (USD is
one of them). I read that need based grant can change based on GPA and family income
in the subsequent year. However I am not aware if the colleges practice bait and switch
(withdrawing the need based aid from sophomore year onward).
Any feedback from readers in this forum will be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Like chimchim, my son was accepted for engineering. Financial aid package was not even close, I mean so far off it left us to believe they missed something. We’ll have three (!) in college next year and they didn’t even close the gap to the cost of an in state public university. Son called yesterday and it was explained there would be no reconsideration. Not sure if I should make a call, doesn’t sound promising.</p>

<p>That’s disappointing to hear ^. The is a big FA difference for me too between USD and Santa Clara. It may make the decision easier - or harder - depending on how you look at it :(</p>

<p>Last year, my dd applied to SCU, received $20K in Merit aid and that was it; so, we said no and she went to davis where she’s very happy.</p>

<p>SCU is only offering my D $3500 - so UC Davis is right at the top of our list right now. $20k in merit probably would have won us over to SCU as that’s pretty close to the all-in UC estimates.</p>

<p>I am a Hispanic student with mediocre grades (3.6ish) and a 32 on the ACT. I received the National Hispanic Scholar Award and have been taking all community college classes my senior year which I have financed myself through money earned working for the Parks and Rec. Department of the city I live in. Santa Clara has offered me 30,000 dollars in the form of a need based grant and the Cal Grant is something like 9,000 which takes care of the majority of tuition for me, and because I would be living from home this makes SCU a more than viable option. My question is whether or not there could have been some kind of mistake in the award process, because I see tons of other admitted students getting no where near the kind of need based money as me and based on merit I don’t think I stack up to most other admitted students. My worries may be unheeded, any advice would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>Are any of you parents whose sons/daughters did not get expected awards SCU alums? My D is a legacy and I noticed that in her acceptance letter they mention that status twice. While her grades were very good (4.00 UW, 4.28 W) and her SAT was decent (2130) I am thinking that the legacy status may be equally important to SCU.</p>

<p>@mjgoony </p>

<p>I doubt there’s any mistake in what they awarded you. If that’s what you got then that’s what they intend to give you. This is because I also received a very generous offer from SCU, and trust me, I’m not as great as some of these students when I compare myself to them statistically. But hey, the college ultimately decides on the financial aid award, so I have no complaints. That being said, I wish you well on your future!</p>

<p>Mahoney: I am sure it is correct. You have good numbers and being Hispanic is a plus for the university to increase their diversity. They want you. I would seize the opportunity!</p>

<p>Sorry…mjgoony. Darn spell check.</p>

<p>Did anybody get a good financial aid offer from SCU in waiting list acceptance?</p>