Hi everyone, so I just got accepted to the University of Redlands with a 28k Achievement award (yay!?) and I was just unsure as to whether or not that is good or bad— you see it will still be a little hard for my family and me to pay the rest of the cost off and don’t know if they could’ve offered me more…? I’ve been looking up other people’s experiences and some say they are waiting for financial aid packages for “need-based” aid in the mail even after their Achievement awards, which prompts my own question: will I be offered more money? I really like the school and would love to attend but the cost worries me >_<
Curious to hear from some informed folks on this as well! Congrats @pamcookingspray! And curious to hear what other schools you applied to, your college hunt story, etc.?
@pamcookingspray and @JeanJeanie (great names BTW): Looking back, my d. found out about her academic merit award in December, an additional talent award after her audition in February and then the total financial aid package (inc. loans and work study) in March. Redlands has a reputation for offering good financial aid. My d is very happy there.
Thanks for that, @clarinet13mom. Yay for your D!
My son will be a transfer student and I’m only now discovering the lack of merit adi for transfers, especially in geographical areas he would be interested in. Geez. i had no clue.
Yes, @JeanJeanie that can be an issue for transfer students at many schools. The schools on the west coast and east coast (esp. cities) tend to be pricey because everyone wants to go there! You might want to explore further to see if there are departmental scholarships he could apply for once he is enrolled. Also, see if he qualifies for need-based aid and work study. But I understand, the lack of merit aid may make it tough. Good luck to him (and you)
@clarinet13mom thanks for the thoughts and the empathy! 
@JeanJeanie Ah sorry for the late response! Well, I applied to UCI, UCR (Accepted), UCLA, UC Berkeley for UC’s. Then, privates, I applied to Chapman (Accepted), Stanford (yikes lol), USC, Redlands (Accepted), and LaVerne (Accepted). I’m still waiting on most of the UC’s and privates, but I got into my CalStates (Long Beach, San Bernardino, and Fullerton). My SATs are honestly the only thing holding me back, I got a really low score nervous laughter but I’m second in my senior class of 667 kids and have a GPA that makes up for it??? Really hoping I get into UCLA or even Berkeley cause they’re close to magazine companies (good for internships) and they’re overall really good schools, my dream is to major in English with emphasis on Creative Writing :P. All that would be left is the financial aid man, that’s why even though USC is my dream school, I’d never go, too expensive :(( But how about you?!
@clarinet13mom thank you so much for taking the time to answer I’m seriously considering Redlands but the price always scares me 
@pamcookingspray, if you’re an incoming freshman, Redlands has BIG funds–you should give it a try.
Congrats! What were your merit “stats” that afforded such a nice offer of aid?
@bigfandave I’m ranked second in my senior class of 668, my weighted GPA for my high school is a 4.95, I guess the only thing I didn’t quite excel at was my SATs, which I got 1160 on. I take IB classes and have been a part of Speech and Debate, National Honor Society, 300+ hours of service, wrote my own novel at 14, and started my own Creative Writing club on campus I ended up getting free tuition because I qualified for Cal Grant A and had a 3.50+, but have chosen to attend UC Berkeley!
Congrats on UCB, esp given the 1160. What major?
@bigfandave thanks! I’m going to be majoring in English and minoring in Creative Writing hopefully