Odds of Merit Aid?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Santa Clara University
1

This is mostly directed towards people who have already been accepted to SCU. I was looking at their merit aid and was thinking of applying (well, it is also a pretty good school and it has my major and all that stuff. I’m not JUST applying for merit aid, don’t worry!) to the college, but was wondering on your input. (My major would be CS and possibly Classics)

How much merit aid do you think I could get with these stats? (I’ll just put as much as possible so that way I don’t miss anything)

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) [ul]
[] 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)
[li] Choir Pianist (9-10)[/li]
[/ul]Leadership positions: [ul]
[] Sophomore year: Student gov’t advisor
[] Senior year: Senior class secretary and hopefully also CSF VP

[/ul]Volunteer/Service Work: [ul]
[] FFA
[] Key Club
[li] May begin some with CSF (it has never been really oriented to community service but I’m going to try and help the adviser with doing that if I can)[/li]
[/ul]Honors and Awards: [list]
[] 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

2

I was hoping someone who knows more would answer your question. My son was accepted into CS engineering and will begin in a few weeks. He was offered a merit scholarship I think based on his SAT scores and essay responses. Maybe someone who knows more can give you a better idea. I can say that SCU is exactly what my son was looking for - great CS engineering training, chance to get to know and work closely with professors, access to Silicon Valley internships, and an emphasis on ethics. It is a medium sized school and he liked that, too.
Good luck in finding a school that matches your interests and I hope you get a good scholarship.

3

The problem is this isn’t a school where you can put in numbers and out pops merit it. It is a bit holistic. A lot of activities across students negate each other out. So many students are doing the same thing, getting 1st in this or that and with test prep everywhere, many have great scores cause they have practiced to get them, another equalizer. So that leaves you as an individual and how interesting you are to schools like SCU that are looking for fit. I use the example of a kid at another school applying to aerospace engineering that was also a pilot at 18. Ya, that stands out. Other typical school activities and awards are becoming commonplace or at least don’t differentiate. So you have good test scores (no one superscores the ACT btw but 35 still awesome) and good gpa. We are local and know a lot of kids attending there over the last few years. I am not making this up when I say I know kids with similar stats, one got $500 for books (and was totally insulted), one 6k, one half tuition, and another got the Johnson’s Scholarship. It is what is outside of the regular stuff that matters for the biggies or just something in your essays that says a lot about you as a person that makes them click with you. This is not unique to SCU, many privates run this way. But no one can give you a figure. Apply and cast a wide net over many schools if merit is critical for you. The good thing about privates is it gives you flexibility to move between majors, which sounds like may be important to you.

You have a great resume - wish you the best!

4

@CADREAMIN Was the kid who got the Johnson’s Scholarship the one who became a pilot at 18, or did they have any other sort of impressive holistic stats that made them stand out?

5

It was a different impressive background, not any statistic at all, but rather years of commitment to a passion that was built through time, with giving back to community through the passion and the fruits of all the effort. The pilot example I used was from another school but obviously would be good on any engineering app!

6

You are a very well qualified applicant for all but the most selective of schools. With a decent ap/essay, you should have no trouble getting in. I think you’ve got a very good shot at some aid. At least enough to reach parity with in-state UC cost of attendance, perhaps an even better offer is possible. Apply and see what happens.

7

Hi! Just looking for some input on my chance of merit aid as well… although I know at SCU it can be kind of unpredictable. These are my stats.

GPA: 3.83, unweighted
Class Rank: 54 out of 438 (top 12%)
APs: 8 total, 1 sophomore year, 3 junior year, 4 senior year. World History (5) US History (5) Psychology (5) Lang (4) and taking Statistics, Government, Literature, and Art History senior year.
SAT: 2120 overall, 610 Math, 770 Reading, 740 Writing. (still waiting on October SAT results, trying to get Math up!)
SAT Subject Tests: (not sure if SCU takes these, but) 730 Literature, 720 US History
Awards: AP Scholar with Honors
Extracurriculars: Quite a few. 10 years in 4H, was president. School newspaper, school literary journal, student mentoring. I also have a job working at a preschool/elementary school.
Common App Essay: It’s really good. At least, that’s what my AP Lit teacher said and other people who read it. I consider myself a very good writer.
Letters of Rec: Also should be very good. One of the teachers knows me extremely well, I talked to her all the time outside of class throughout high school and had her freshmen and junior year. The other is a math teacher who I got help from outside of class all the time throughout junior year.

Feedback would be appreciated!

8

Final results on aid!
I got $25,600 per year from a Dean’s scholarship (merit) and a grant (need), but it’s still more expensive than other colleges, so I’m not going there.

EDIT: Oh, and I got into SJSU (invited to apply for Humanities Honors Program), UC Davis (Regent’s scholarship / Honors program), and UC Berkeley!