<p>Hey folks-</p>
<p>Our high school junior from the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. has earned excellent grades (close to a 4.0) in difficult classes (she'll graduate having taken 10 AP classes) at a well regarded public school. She has an active roster of activities including varsity crew and volunteer work through the NHS. Her SATs are pretty good -- near the middle of Trinity's reported range -- and plans to re-take. She wants to major in Spanish. </p>
<p>Three questions. 1. Can folks confirm our impression that foreign languages are a popular major at Trinity? 2. Is Trinity a good fit for smart, hard working, well rounded, open minded kids and fun-loving kids who are politically liberal but not politically active and not really the "intellectual" type? 3. What kind of "merit aid" package might a top student with only average SATs (by Trinity standards) from half way across the country receive to attend Trinity?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I can't speak to all of you questions but I can tell you that living and going to college in San Antonio would be an excellent choice for an intended Spanish major. Your daughter sounds like a good fit for TU on the basis of the smart, hard working, well-rounded, open -minded and fun-loving, criteria. The last three points would probably be best answered by a visit. </p>
<p>I don't know that anyone can tell you with any certainty what the merit aid package to your D would be but since her GPA is so high, her course rigor is in place and she is retaking the SAT to bring up her scores it seems like she would be likely to get an attractive package. In addition, I know they are after geographical diversity so being from VA I imagine would only make your D that much more attractive. Does TU offer crew??? If so that's another reason for them to perhaps make you an offer you can't refuse ;-)</p>
<p>My daughters are currently Juniors planning to apply to Trinity too. One of the things that makes it attractive is that the size of their endowment makes it easier for them to grant more generous FA packages. Our strategy as a family has been to encourage our girls to apply but to let them know that without the FA package, attending school so far out of state may not be doable. If one or both are accepted and the FA package is sweet enough they will probably do an overnight sometime next spring to help them make a final decision. Good luck in the college search!</p>
<p>Thanks. At this point I'd just appreciate getting an idea of the typical size of merit aid packages that are awarded. Our "problem" is that our state schools -- especially U. Va. and William & Mary, but also several others including James Madison, Mary Washington, and Virginia Tech -- are so highly regarded that it's hard to justify spending triple the money for private schools even though we can afford it. Merit money to attend a solid private school thus can make all the difference. One of our daughters chose Grinnell College over William & Mary because she got money; our daughter considering Trinity doesn't have quite the SATs (but Trinity doesn't appear to require quite the SATs) but an equally strong academic record. Just to throw a number out there, if the cost of Trinity after merit aid was $25,000 or less we'd consider it.</p>
<p>I copied this from a web page. It is a student quote:</p>
<p>“My overall experience at Trinity was a great one that I will always remember. The classes were not only interesting, but were taught by experienced and intelligent professors. The students, as a whole, are a smart group who are passionate about learning and fun to be around as well. The University was very accommodating to student needs, and listened to the students’ opinions, which was refreshing. The campus, at times, feels like its own world or bubble, but at least it is safe and in a great location. All in all, I loved my experience at Trinity and would highly recommend it to any potential students.”</p>
<p>Got this from petersons.com I don't know if it helps but it seems like if they are meeting an avg of 82% of need, and the avg. loan amount for freshman year is only $3,541 then that bodes well for their FA packages in general. I am no expert. This is my first go around too but I do know that TU is also ranked as a best value college. I really think the best thing for your D to do is apply and see where the numbers fall.</p>
<p>Tuition: $24,864 </p>
<p>Comprehensive Fee $33,292
$33,292 includes full-time tuition ($24,864), mandatory fees ($158), and room and board ($8270). Full-time tuition and fees vary according to course load. </p>
<p>Room and Board
college room only: $5380. Room and board charges vary according to board plan</p>
<p>Financial Aid:
Average percent of need met, year 1
82<br>
Average financial aid package, year 1
$14,343<br>
Average need-based loan, year 1
$3541<br>
Average need-based gift aid, year 1
$10,827</p>
<p>Hello. I live in San Antonio and know several students attending Trinity who attend our church. They are basically the kind of kids everyone would like to take home - nice, polite, hard-working. One girl was the star of our high school basketball team and now plays on the Trinity team. The campus is really pretty and they seem to get a lot of famous people coming to lecture there or give musical performances. People don't do crew here and I have a vague idea that it is a water sport. Unfortunately there's very little water here and Austin is probably the nearest place for anything like that. Spanish is spoken everywhere of course. I don't know on the merit aid. My daughter wants to leave Texas so we haven't explored the school in terms of going there. But please let me know if you have any questions on San Antonio.</p>
<p>My daughter was recently accepted, she has 3.76 GPA/2100 SATS but is only in top 25% in her highly competitive high school. She recived $8K presidential scholarship, i think it might have been higher if her class rank was higher. We loved the campus when we visited and are going back for a more intensive Trinity 360 in March where she will spend the night with a student on campus.</p>
<p>My daughter is a sophmore at Trinity. She was top 10% at one of the most competitive high schools in the State of Texas. Her SAT was average for Trinity (1300). They didn't consider the writing portion that year. She had about a 3.8 GPA on the Trinity scale (they only consider core academic courses on an unweighted basis). She participated in athletics and has continued at Trinity. Several significant EC's. Trinity looks for well rounded students. She has a Trustee's Scholarship as $9500 per annum. There are three levels of merit scholarships, President, Trustee and Murchison. I think the typical Murchison was around $12000 two years ago. I believe they raise the amount a little each year, because they raise the tuition. For enrolled students, however, the accepted scholarship does not increase each year. </p>
<p>Trinity appears to me to be an excellent school. My daughter spends many hours studying, but she is not alone. Professor are very accessible and helpful. There are quite a few on campus activities, but of course, not as many as at a large state school. The athletic teams are very successful, but it is DIII. That means the kids play because they love it, but the spectator level is pretty low. Most of the kids have very busy schedules. Men's soccer has been popular of late. They were undefeated and ranked number one until the national finals when they lost to Middlebury on PKs. Also, just for fun, check out the Mississippi Miracle. Time Magazine rated it the most outstanding sports of the year and it won the $100,000 scholarship prize from the ESPN Pontiac Came Changing Performance contest.</p>