Merit Aid Possibilities at Santa Clara University, Mills College, and St. Mary's College of CA

Paying for College
1

I was looking at colleges around the Bay Area/Silicon Valley region that had pretty solid merit aid, and three that seemed to have good aid (from what I saw) were SCU, Mills, and SMC.

Does anyone know my chances of receiving merit aid at any of these colleges with my stats?

GPA : 4.00 UW, 4.46 sophomore/junior year, 4.30 freshman/sophomore/junior year (school doesn’t allow AP classes freshman year)
Class Rank: 1st
Class Size: 211

SAT Superscore: 670 M, 730 CR, 740 W
SAT Highest Single Sitting: 660 M, 730 CR, 740 W

ACT Superscore: 36 (36 E, 35 M, 36 R, 35 S, 10 essay)
ACT Highest Single Sitting: 35 (33 E, 34 M, 36 R, 35 S, 10 essay)

AP Scores: Physics 1 (2), Chem (3), World (4), APUSH (4), Calc AB (4), Lang (5)
(I’ll be taking Bio, Lit, and Stats as a senior)

Extracirriculars: (years in parenthesis) •Academic Decathlon (on team 9-12, starter 11-12)
• CSF (9-12, lifetime member)
• Key Club (9-12)
• Jazz Band (9-12 on piano)
• Pianist (private lessons) (3-12)
• FFA (9 and 12)
• Choir Pianist (9-10)

Leadership positions:
• Sophomore year: Student gov’t advisor
• Senior year: Senior class secretary and hopefully also CSF VP

Volunteer/Service Work:
• FFA
• Key Club
• May begin some with CSF (it hasn’t been service-oriented previously but the adviser wants to make it like that)

Honors and Awards:
• Academic Block E (10-12)
• Academic Excellence Awards (9-12)
• Scholar Athlete (9)
• AP Scholar w/ Distinction
• FFA Greenhand Degree
• FFA CS Team 1st in State
• Acadec 2nd place Club Award

And if you read until the very end, if you know of any other places in the Bay Area/Silicon Valley region that gives lots of merit aid and would probably accept me, feel free to let me know!

2

St Mary’s will give you a merit estimate as part of the NPC. Although it is possible to get more in your actual package. I think you would get at least 20 and there may be a few larger awards just given to a few and not part of the NPC. I don’t know that Mills gives super large awards.

3

tyi, since I needed to run it for someone else, this is if you don’t qualify for any need aid at St Mary.

Estimated Costs of Attendance
Tuition and Fees$41,380
Living Expenses$14,140
Subtotal: Direct Costs of College$55,520
Books and Supplies Expenses$1,107
Personal Expenses$1,800
Transportation Expenses$900
Total Cost of Attendance$59,327

Estimated Grant Aid Available
St. Mary’s Scholarships$24,000
Total Grant Aid Available$24,000
Estimated Net Price
(Costs - Grant Aid)
$35,327

Estimated Other Aid Available
Federal Direct Student Loans$5,500
Total Other Aid Available$5,500
Estimated Cost of Attendance
(Net Price - Other Aid)
$29,827

4

None of these schools have guaranteed merit awards, but your stats are good. I would,suggest you send your ACT and not your SAT. Your CR/Math SAT isn’t as strong as a 35 ACT score.

5

@thumper1 Yeah, I know that they’re not guaranteed, I was just wondering if my stats seem competitive for any of those colleges, particularly at SCU since that seemed to have the largest possible merit aid bundle (full tuition) from what I saw.

6

Yes, but also the most competitive.

7

@BrownParent Do you know if those more competitive people at SCU have as good/better stats or if I still have a decent chance? Or would you say since it’s more competitive, it’s more of an “you just have to apply and find out” sort of deal?

8

You just have to apply and find out.

9

@thumper1 Alas. Thank you both for answering though.

10

You seem to be a good fit for St. Mary’s. These are very different schools.

11

In case people come across this in the future, here’s what happened.

I ended up applying to SCU; I got the Dean’s scholarship ($18,000 per year) and a need-based grant ($7,600 per year).
I also got into SJSU (invited to apply to Humanities Honors Program), UC Davis (Regents Scholarship / Honors Program) and UC Berkeley.

12

Where do you think you’ll go?

13

@katliamom I’ve narrowed it down to either UCD or UCB.

14

Two great choices. Congratulations, and let us know your final decision.

15

@katliamom I officially accepted UCB’s admission decision! It feels so unreal @.@