<p>IS clark known to give decent aid or is it ****ty?</p>
<p>I’d say so. a lot of students get some sort of aid and i think the amount is usually satisfactory</p>
<p>I go there and work in the financial aid office so I see a lot of award letters. the merit aid is pretty decent, they give some pretty good aid packages.</p>
<p>if you have any questions about the school let me know…i go there and im a worcester resident to boot lol</p>
<p>oh nice! I really like Clark or at least what I know about it. What is worcester like/do you like Clark?</p>
<p>ok here goes my rant…</p>
<p>worcester is a small city, not quite 200,000 residents. i guess your experience here can depend on whether youre from a large city or a small town…a lot of people find worcester exciting when they are from towns but the people from larger cities enjoy what it has to offer even if its not as exciting as where theyre from. theres a lot of bars and clubs, so yes theres a night life and no, not eveything shuts down after 11 pm lol. like every other city it has its “good” and “bad” locations…if you havent visited clark yet, youll discover quickly that its located right in the middle of one of the not so great areas in worcester…theres not a ton of violence or anything surrounding clark but there tends to be quite a few robberies from dorm rooms located on the ground level, also there are usually a few incidents every year where students walking alone at night off campus are mugged. honestly though, ive never felt threatened but im not a stupid person…and what i mean by that is that most students are smart enough to know not to walk around alone at night, not to carry valuables on them at night if they can help it, to shut and lock their windows before they leave their dorms, etc. for example, i faithfully shut and locked my window whenever i left the room, but my roommate never did, and sure enough one day there was a hole in the window screen and her laptop was stolen…just be smart about your safety and the safety of your possessions lol! during the day is perfectly safe though (but you still should lock your windows whenever you leave the room). clark offers an escort services aka 2 vans that operate from 4pm-4am and drive students anywhere within 1/2 a mile from campus (cvs, grocery store, cafes, whenever) as well as an on-foot escort service which accompanies students who are walking around alone at night. campus police also always patrol the neighborhood.</p>
<p>the people are all pretty friendly…there are some people who are “out there”/kind of strange but still very nice…the school makes a big effort to be eco-friendly. the classes (except for intro to bio and some other intro science classes) are all pretty small and intimate (usually 12-25 students, not usually past 30, though i once had a class with 7 students including me!) the profs are all generally nice and want to see you succeed if you put the effort in, and are very approachable. they are very nice to freshman as well and give them advice on how to improve their work to a college level. most of the students are science, economics, or psycology majors. the theater/music/visual arts departments are pretty small and tight knit, but make an effort to have exhibits and performances (student artwork is usually on display, there are 2 musicals per year, several theater plays, and a bunch of musical performances by students, faculty, and guest artists.</p>
<p>do you know what you want to major or minor in yet?</p>
<p>there are tons of clubs, they have almost everything (theres a club for people who are fans of beards- LOL), and if theres something youre interested in, i hear its pretty easy to start a club. theres no football team, but there are other teams and intramural sports (not sure if i spelled that right lol) most of the teams are not huge competitive teams, so thats something to think about if sports are important to you. there are a ton of international students from china and india and other interesting places, so theres a lot of diversity when it comes to religion and culture.</p>
<p>i have mixed feelings about my time at clark so far. this is partly because i stayed in worcester for college and felt like i was missing out on the college experience, so i was kind of resentful towards going to clark. most of the clarkies i know adore clark though and love their experience there for the most part. im a music major and the music dept. is small but very friendly and supportive! however im interested in pursuing music on a more conservatory level, so ill hopefully be transferring to a music school by the end of this upcoming school year.</p>
<p>Thank you so much! that was super helpful. Small evniroment is exactly what I want and clark sounds like a pretty good fit for me.
Its like an hour from boston right?
Also, I want to major in psych and minor in english.
Thanks again for your help, I look forward to visiting.</p>
<p>yes around an hour, and last year there was a shuttle bus that drove students to boston and back on saturdays for the day</p>
<p>Dear soontobesenior,
Clark has very good merit packages, as well as financial aid for its size. My son did not qualify for merit, but they were very generous with the need based Jonas Clark Scholarships. Some top students at Clark get amazing packages. It truly is a unique and wonderful school, especially for motivated students. (*and one of the “40 Colleges that Change Lives”)
We live near Worcester, so I do understand jab211’s comments about being so close to home. My son does live there, so he is getting that college experience and honestly, really did not like the dorm experience freshman year. We should have opted to get him a single in a quieter dorm. Water under the bridge now, and he will be living in a suite next year, so hopefully that will be better. </p>
<p>Psychology is one of Clark’s best majors. Great choice for you to consider. And as they always tell you, Clark is also part of the Worcester Consortium that allows you to register for courses at a dozen other great schools in Worcester. Again, the motivated student will surely take advantage for that hard to find course, offered only at Holy Cross, etc. Plus at Clark, they also have the 5th year free option for your masters degree if you keep your gpa up. Great incentive to do well. </p>
<p>Clark may be smaller, but it is not easy. You will work hard. My son had a pretty good freshman year, with the exception of an Art History class, which he took as it qualified for one of the perspectives he needed to have. Yikes…what a disaster. Despite trying very hard, meeting with the professor several times, going on all the field trips, he got a D in the class! I almost had wished he had failed it so he could re-take it. It was a serious hit to his gpa and hopefully he will be able to recover in time to study abroad his junior year. </p>
<p>At Clark, like any other urban college, you have to be safety smart. Clark was very responsive this year after students seemed to be becoming targets for local thugs, stealing their ipods, etc. as they walked at night on local streets. I was very concerned and was happy with the university’s response to the problem, meeting immediately with Worcester police, and developing a rapid plan to prevent further problems. Boston is much more dangerous than Worcester, by comparison, as is Philadelphia, where my other son is a college student. You just have to be safety conscious.</p>
<p>Good luck with all!</p>
<p>we should just make a sticky post about worcester. that is probably the thing people ask about most.</p>
<p>I just visited today, and they spoke about merit aid slightly. There are a few really good options available for students in regards to aid. I would say check out the site and set up a visit.</p>
<p>I was wondering if you think I would qualify for academic Merit:
SATs: 710 Math 590 Reading
Senior Courses: AP Calc, AP Econ, English Elective, Physics, Spanish H
E.C.: Regional VP for NJ BBYO (Membership President for all of northern and central NJ), Varsity Tennis (3 years), Mock Trial (Witness and lawyer), Filmed School Movie, Houses to Homes (went to Guatemala), 50+ hours working in school for kids with autism
GPA: (I go to a very competitive private school highly regarded that deflates the GPA. Everything is unweighted. The typical acceptance rate for Clark regular is 3.12): 3.4
Essay: Very Good
Recs: Very Good</p>
<p>also i have 5 relatives that went to clark</p>
<p>what would a “top student” at Clark be - to receive high financial aid. I have a strong financial need - though apparently some schools dont think so, leaving my family to pay over 20,000 out of pocket. (with two siblings also in college). I have a 3.64 GPA. Any thoughts on how much merit scholarship I could get? This is obviously a huge concern.</p>
<p>darwise, I’d say you’re a contender for merit aid. My D, a Clark sophomore, got offered merit aid at several schools, but Clark’s was the most generous. She had a 30 on the ACT, 4.03 weighted GPA from a college-prep Catholic school, 4s and 5s on her APs (she took 4), and normal ECs. She got the presidential scholarship.</p>
<p>As for the questions about Clark, CapeCodLady got it right. It is surprisingly rigorous academically given that it’s not super hard to get into. My D has been challenged and has had to work hard for her grades. Naturally, not every professor is perfect, but overall she has gotten a very good education, better than we expected. She particularly loves her English classes this semester.</p>
<p>She really doesn’t like Worcester, though. Not so much the bad-neighborhood thing, but just that there’s nothing to do within walking distance. Not really Clark’s fault-- the school is good about having lots of happenings. But my D has realized that she’s a born-and-bred city girl, and she’d rather be in a city with a lot going on. That said, she loves Clark and has been getting a great education and has made some terrific friends.</p>
<p>I didn’t get enough aid to be able to go there. Fin Aid office wouldn’t budge on their low offer.</p>
<p>Clark was a lifesaver for my niece. They gave her $18k in merit aid and a great financial aid package – no other college came close to what they offered. In fact, an excellent award package was essential to her ability to attend college. She will need to take out $7500 in loans as a freshman, which is about $2000 higher than many schools recommend, but overall I’d say Clark has EXCELLENT aid, especially for good students with high financial need. </p>
<p>Clark also gave two of her friends – not as high-need – the best package of several schools.</p>
<p>Is $18,000 Clarks highest merit aid award? (President Scholarship)</p>
<p>That’s $18K a year. My son received the Traina Scholarship, which also is $18K a year plus it provides money in the summer for research. They also rounded out his financial aid package with grants, etc. Their package was among the most generous my son received.</p>
<p>There is also the LEEP scholarship, which is a full ride scholarship (room, board, tuition…)! It is new (class of 2017 being the first to be able to earn it), and highly competitive.</p>