<p>So D1 applied to SCU back in October. Her intention was to apply EA. But she checked RD and I missed it when I reviewed her app. So after doing CSS/Profile back in October and wondering why she never heard anything by Christmas, she emailed admissions and found out her error. So now we wait. </p>
<p>But what's starting to worry me now (I'm a world class worrier) is that since she's now RD, the won't be as much scholarship/merit money available to offer her to go there, which is an absolute necessity for her to attend SCU. </p>
<p>Does anyone know how much of a difference in Merit aid offered there is between EA and RD admissions? Obviously time will tell and when we do find out, we will have the full picture.</p>
<p>Not sure. However I would think that it might go down a bit, I don’t think the difference would be all that large though. I would contact the University for answers to that.</p>
<p>Actually, I found having applied last year that they were more generous with aid in RD than in EA. I applied EA and got 14,000 a year. A friend with lower stats applied RD and got 27,000! I think it depends year to year, but at least last year it seemed that they were more generous when they saw the entire pool of selected applicants and knew how much merit money they had left to give. It may very well work out in your favor.</p>
<p>Toast, your friend’s 27K grant is merit based only or includes other needed-based grant. My friend’s daughter also got 14K merid aid last year with RD. (Her family doesn’t qualify for needed based aid and didn’t check need financial aid box in the app.) My point is - without knowing the student family’s financial situation, it’s very hard to compare the grant amount since SCU gives out both merit and need based aids.</p>
<p>It’s highly possible that the 27k included need-based. Usually, merit aid is a fixed amount by meeting certain academic reqs, so as long as the student meets the reqs, they obviously qualify for the amount offered. This is indicative of the fact that the friend had lower ‘stats’ but somehow came away with more aid.</p>
<p>I don’t believe that merit based aid would change based on when a student applies. Need-based does change based on many factors including how much is in the pot, how bad SCU wants the student to attend, and actual need level. True Story.</p>
<p>Toast (and a_mom, if you know your friend’s info), could you please give me an idea of your ACT/SAT/GPA that earned your merit money? My son applied RD hoping for more merit, probably cannot attend without a decent offer, but it is his first choice. Also, do you have any idea if in state vs. out of state carries any weight either way?</p>
<p>No in-state/out of state difference for merit aid. If anything, they may be slightly more generous in aid to encourage more out of state students, but I highly doubt it. My friend’s 27K was purely merit based as neither of our families are eligible for need-based. Personally, I had a 2180 SAT, 32 ACT, 4.24 cumulative (four-years) weighted GPA, 3.8 unweighted. I was student body president, football team captain, church retreat team leader, etc. I recieved 14K in early action and was put in the Honors program. My friend has around a 2000 SAT, 30 ACT, 4.1 weighted GPA, 3.6 unweighted. He was a football and rugby player and on student council. He recieved 27k regular decision. The merit aid is pretty subjective, which I’d say is good. You can meet three or four people here that would be equitable on paper, but have different scholarships for whatever reason. I think that there is significance to applying RD to get more aid. It worked in this case. My friend and I also think that the discrepancy between our scholarships may have had to do with his business major (seems more ambitious and focused?) as opposed to me coming in with an English major. I think you will find that Santa Clara gives great scholarships overall though. I understand it’s a big concern for many families, but the vast majority seem satisfied. If you want to hear parents in a real tight spot, look at the Boston College forum. They told my mom she needed to mortgage our house in the middle of the recession to pay for college because they were not going to give us aid. Santa Clara won’t do that to you.</p>
<p>By the way, that’s not a dig at BC. I loved the school and always root on their football team, so long as they aren’t playing my true favorite, Notre Dame. Haha.</p>
<p>Thank you Toast, for all of the info. I think I’m more nervous about this whole process than my son is! Sounds like he is right in the mix for a decent offer as long as they are close to the same with offers this year. Hope to hear something by mid-March so he can make a decision and we can start planning his move (we are out of state).</p>
<p>How do you like being in the honors program, and life at SCU in general? Sounds like you are into sports as well; how would you rate ‘school spirit’ at the home games, and variety of clubs/IM’s?</p>
<p>I agree about BC, we toured this summer and were totally turned off by the campus vibe and overall pretentiousness of virtually everyone we met there, so not surprised by the lack of aid.</p>
<p>Lava - my niece (from CA) went to BC for a semester and did not like it for all the reasons you mentioned above. She transferred to a small LAC back in the west and was happy as could be.</p>
<p>Although this is the SCU thread, my son has had the same feeling about BC as stated above and has said even if accepted RD he will not go and will select SCU over them. (He was accepted EA in November to SCU.) So there, BC. ;)</p>
<p>Seriously if you can’t afford Santa Clara don’t go there. Your parents would be fools to mortgage their house to buy you private school when you could simply go to the local state college or community cost for a fraction of the cost. The student loans are not worth it either. Only a fool would go into debt 50k+ for a private school when they could have been debt free at a local accredited state school. I hate how my generation is so entitled. So what? You don’t get free money boo hoo!</p>
<p>^^ You are right. As a postscript, she was offered $11K in merit aid for SCU so she’s not going there.
I think the answer to my original question might be - “yes, we screwed ourselves there”.
Life goes on.</p>