Hi! I’ve been looking to apply as an electrical engineering major to a few UC schools, namely UCLA, UCSD and UC Davis, because of the environment (weather/location/area) and the solid educational programs they offer for engineers. However, I’m unsure how the merit aid will be, considering I’m an out-of-state student (Alaska). My sister is already in college as a sophomore, and I don’t want the cost to be overwhelming for my parents.
As the title says, I was wondering on how good the merit aid scholarships were for this year’s incoming class from the UC schools listed above, and if there are other UC schools I should consider. Thank you for your help!
Additional info: Asian from Alaska, first-gen, , 1500 SAT, middle-class family, sister will be attending college as a junior/senior during my first two years
UC’s give little to no financial aid (need-based or merit) to OOS students. You should expect to pay full fees at $65K/year to attend. I advise you to run the Net price calculator for all UC’s of interest.
Regent and Chancellor scholarships are the main merit scholarships found at the UC’s and they do have a need-based aid component for in-state students. Here is some information:
UC Regents Scholarships and amounts:
Amount: Awards vary by campus and are not transferable if you transfer to another UC campus.
UC Berkley $2,500
UC Davis $7,500
UC Irvine $5,000 edited with updated amount
UCLA $2,000
UC Merced $7,000
UC Riverside $10,000
UC San Diego $2,000
UC Santa Barbara $6,000
UC Santa Cruz $5,000
In addition, certain perks are provided to Regents recipients: priority registration, extended library privileges, honors dormitories, faculty mentorship, and others, dependent upon campus.
Number of Scholarships Awarded: Varies annually—students in the top 1-2% of the applicant pool are considered for the scholarship.
Eligible Students: Entering freshman or transfer student who demonstrate academic excellence (based upon GPA, standardized test scores, and other academic criteria) along with personal accomplishments. Must be a US Citizen, Permanent Resident or CA Dream Act Student. Students must be enrolled full time and maintain a 3.25 GPA in order to continue receiving the scholarship.
Having your sister and you in college at the same time would increase your financial need but would have not any effect on merit scholarship possibilities. You need to look at the California private schools where you have a better chance for merit aid based on your SAT and GPA. Some schools to consider are Stanford, Occidental, Claremont Colleges (Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, Claremont McKenna, Pomona and Scripps (if female), University of San Diego (not UCSD), University of San Francisco, Santa Clara.
@Gumbymom Thank you for the insight. Just to clarify for most out of state students in the same boat as me (middle-class, out-of-state) - from a purely financial standpoint - attending a UC would only be viable if a merit/institutional scholarship is earned to lower the cost of tuition, correct?
Also, not sure if you would know, but I’ll ask anyway: if someone earned a competitive merit scholarship from a school that is comparable in rank/prestige as a UC, what are the prospects of successfully negotiating for a better deal? I understand that the UCs are a public university system, so the money they would give out to OOS students would be very tight.
UC’s do not negotiate when it comes to financial aid. There are plenty of OOS applicants that are willing to pay the costs to attend. Your SAT definitely makes you competitive but no guarantees on the few merit scholarships that are available. Odds are much better at the California private schools where your SAT and geographic diversity would be rewarded with decent FA.
S18 applied to 4 UCs (UCLA, UCSD, UCSB and UCSC) as an OOS student. Admitted to all 4, did not apply for any special merit aid, but was awarded $15K a year by UCSC. So it is possible!
@Totoros; that still leaves around $50K/year or $200K for 4 years to pay. Also the lower tier UC’s are willing to put out a little more money to attract OOS students. All UC’s have OOS cap limits and the top UC’s have no problem attracting top OOS students.
@Crossover10: Yes, there is money out there but what is the bottom line on your budget and will the ROI be worth that $200K amount or higher?
@Totoros: Thanks for the insight! It’s relieving to know there’s a slim chance to be able to get a quality financial package.
@Gumbymom: My EFC is ~ $30k, and I would like the cost to be under $160k for the four years. It’s possible for me to get one year’s worth of credit through AP tests (I have ~30 quater credits worth thus far), though that won’t be near halving the cost. Of course as you said, the bottom line is how much I’m willing to invest into the cost of attending a UC, which for me is probably at UCLA.
Anyways, thank you so much for the help, it really brought clarity to the reality of the cost and investment, so on and so forth.
Run the Net price calculator on UCLA and see where you stand. You do not mention your GPA but if it is as competitive as your SAT, California private schools with merit could meet your target. Any interest in USC? Apply before December for the best chance a financial aid and merit scholarships which could make it within your budget.
You can look up the AP credit here for the UC’s, but do not expect the credits to help cutdown much of your time at a UC. Majority of the AP credit you will receive would go towards elective credit. Many times the UC’s will not allow AP credit to be used towards your major pre-req’s. My son attended UC Davis and received about 28 units of AP Credit, none which helped with major pre-req courses and only 2 fulfilled some GE courses. https://admission.universityofcalifornia.edu/counselors/exam-credit/ap-credits/
AP credit won’t be useful for your major. It may allow you to enroll in a sophomore level class as a freshman but beware of the competition since they will be used to the rigor and pace. It won’t cut down your time.
As far as I know UCLA and UCB have so many full pay qualified applicants that they don’t need to offer merit scholarships. UCSC (as well as UCR, UCM) would. UCD perhaps. But even then the cost would be in the 50’s at best - not 30k.
As has been mentioned, you’d stand a better chance at the private colleges.
As mentioned above, generally speaking AP credits don’t help that much at the UCs, but it depends on which major, which school/college and which university. Students often come in with 25-50 AP credits and theoretically they do count towards graduation, but you’ll probably find that you’ll go well over the 120-180 Unit threshold because of requirements anyways, plus some of the credits become null credits, ie one you take a class at the college level it replaces the AP credit.
I would say though that for the UCs, saving one semester or two quarters is a reasonable expectation for the right APs.
At UCD, you cannot use AP credit for GE (general education) requirements. You might be able to use AP to get out of an entry level course for your major but, for the most part, AP credits are elective units.
Luckily when my son started UCD, they did allow AP credit for some GE courses and AP credit could be used towards getting a better registration priority. As noted by @lkg4answers noted above, that is no longer possible at several of the UC’s.
Again, no harm in applying as long as you are aware that the UC’s may be unaffordable. If California is your ultimate destination, I have listed several private colleges that would love an outstanding applicant like you to attend. USC is a great option if you are able to get 1/2 tuition with their Presidential scholarship along with some need-based FA.
@Gumbymom: Thank you for all the insight! I’ll still apply to the UCs listed above, though I’ll be aware that the prospect of great financial aid is slim for OOS. I’d also like to thank you for the help on listing several private colleges in California that may be more financially viable (I’ll likely apply to USD and USC). Anyways, thank you so much for the help, I really appreciate it!
It’s not just he prospects for great financial aid - it’s the prospects for aid at all.
Run the Net Price calculator on every private college listed on this page. USD offers terrible financial aid whereas others have more funds (Harvey Mudd for instance has decent aid)