<p>Wondering how generous LUM was with FA? I have a student I am trying to help with her applications. She's hispanic, catholic, low income and first generation to go to college. She has a 3.3 GPA and will have some AP's by graduation, but not much. She has some good EC's (choir, church related, two sports, job). She will be focusing on VA state schools, but we are also looking at some religious based privates. Loyola U. seems a great fit for her, and they say that they cover 100% demonstated need. Has anyone had a personal experience with their FA? If you did get great FA, what were your stats? I am not expecting her SAT's to be very high, but we are prepping her and hoping for mid 500's in ea. section. Is there hope for good FA with a B avg? (no C's on transcript by the way).</p>
<p>Hi! My D will be a freshman there in a few weeks. I know exactly what your concerns are as I put myself through school, & we needed a lot of help with the oldest kid, who is now 32. This time around, we have a higher income, but it will still be a tight squeeze to do it. </p>
<p>We were not eligible for much need based aid. However, Lyl was generous with merit scholarship. A big premium is placed on the first generation thing so go for it. My D had abt a 3.3 or so, though I think more APs under the belt. </p>
<p>One thing that makes a big difference is service oriented activities, esp at a Jesuit school. They don’t have to be religious ones. My D is a Girl Scout & did her Gold Award, which was teaching kids–and some adults—to knit at a series of Knit Ins and asking more accomplished knitters to make baby hats for the NICU in our area. She wound up with more than 400 hats and she held 3 Knit Ins, which got rave reviews from the participants (Super Bowl Sunday etc). Part of her goal was to get several generations together, and that worked out well too. </p>
<p>My D could not quite pull into the mid 500s in math but blew their socks off in verbal & writing. We told her not to worry bec she wasn’t applying to Harvard anyway, where this wd be an issue—and the schools to which she was applying wd not care abt the math score as long as she was not trying to get into their engineering depts. This seems to have been correct. </p>
<p>What grade is she in? I wd have her take the SATs for practice again & again (either for real or with a prep book) & try to get that verbal up. My D took a prep course and there was a girl in there who was just taking them over & over until she got scores that satisfied her, which were just under 800 in everything. She had another classmate who was doing the same thing. It proved to me that getting a higher score is a function of how many times you do the darn test, just like getting a better swim time or doing batting practice. Just do it.</p>
<p>I am the parent of a rising sophomore with a Presidential scholarship in the Honors Program. Our DS loves Loyola. Fortunately or unfortunately, we do not qualify for financial aid, but I do hear that Loyola works hard at meeting financial need. Princeton Review, rates Loyola a 96 for meeting need. Loyola meets 97 percent of financial need according to both US News and the Princeton Review. (Please be aware that both publications are behind with admissions information which 2 years old, as both the quantity and quality of applications at Loyola has risen the past couple of years.) In reference to merit aid, both the Claver Scholarship and the Presidential Scholarship have some pretty high standards. I believe a 3.7+ unweighted gpa and 1350+ M & CR SATs or ACT equivalent are the recommended standards for Presidential consideration. The Claver Scholarship for diversity candidates has also seen a stronger pool of candidates the past few years. Recently I have read on this board of many qualified applicants with high gpas and great activities not offered merit aid due to the recent increase in competition among freshman applicants. Loyola is now SAT/ACT optional, so a very strong candidate can still earn merit aid without submitting standardized test scores. I agree with JRZMom that it would be a good idea for your student to retake the SAT and ACT. In any event, earning an acceptance into Loyola is the key as they will work with you if you have demonstrated financial need.
Good luck to you and your student in your college search. I believe Loyola will offer her an outstanding educational experience.</p>
<p>My daughter did not submit her SAT’s to Loyola, but I think we included her SAT II’s which were 700 and 710. Her GPA was 3.7, ranked 13 out of 300 students. She had taken 8 AP classes by graduation. She was yearbook co-editor, interned for Joe Sestak Senatorial Campaign 2010, Special Olympics Volunteer 4 yrs, President of Teen Democrats, and NHS, NEHS, and NSHS. She had very strong recommendations from her AP History teachers. She did not apply for their Honors college because of time constraints. She was awarded a significant Financial package in the form of Scholarships and Grants. They did not meet our full need as our EFC was 3370, but they offered her more than any other school, and she was fortunate enough to have several very good offers. She choose to attend another school instead as it was a better fit for her overall but I would definitely recommend applying to Loyola if you have a strong student who needs financial aid.</p>