Please Chance Me for Merit Aid!

<p>I want to attend Lewis and Clark College, but if I cannot get enough merit-based, would be really happy at Western Washington University. I am wondering if anyone has insight on how much scholarship money I should/could/might recieve. Thanks! Also, I am out-of-state from Boise, ID</p>

<p>Stats:
34 ACT
1/400 in my class
Will graduate with around 4.3 GPA
Straight A's all of Junior and Senior High
11 AP's
Two summers of biology research at University
Fluency in Spanish
Excellent teacher rec's
Not URM</p>

<p>Since L&C is a private U being OOS doesn’t matter. Your record is similar (almost identical) to my DD2’s. She has a 1/2 tuition scholarship at L&C. What would you pay at Western Washington?</p>

<p>You should get at least a Dean’s Scholarship (25% tuition), but I wouldn’t be surprised if you got 1/2 or full tuition either.</p>

<p>Did your daughter express a lot of interest in L&C before applying? Why do you think she did not get the full tuition and others did?</p>

<p>I think my family and I would be willing to pay the just under 10k tuition after WUE scholarship at Western. I’m hoping that Western can be my “safety” school as I would be more than happy to go there. I think even with a half-tuition to L&C, it would cost too much. Plus, it’s not necessary for me to accrue too much debt before the 200k+ in med school loans. There are more than enough opportunities there for me to utilize to get into any med school in the country.</p>

<p>However, I really am set on L&C and absolutely love everything about it. The school stands for everything (international emphasis and science research) that I do. Also, Portland is a perfect fit for me.</p>

<p>Our experience is that they provided aid for everything above our expected family contribution based on the FAFSA. It was a combination of scholarships, grants, work study and Stafford loans. We figure the cost to us would be about the same as if our son was attending an out of state public university.</p>

<p>We are merit only (EFC above COA). I don’t know why she didn’t get the full scholarship. She did go on a tour and interview.</p>

<p>That seems disheartening…</p>

<p>I know that what I get out of my college will be what I make out of it, but does anyone think L&C would be worth the extra 40k in debt or so compared to Western? And why?</p>

<p>Despite my D’s love of all things Portland, I can’t imagine any school is worth an additional $40K in debt. Apply to both an see what aid you get.</p>

<p>Son loved L&C, one of his top 3. We also are merit only. Other top choices (one on par with L&C in terms of rank and admission competitiveness, the other higher ranked and more competitive) offered $50,000+ of merit over 4 years, L&C offered zero. We had expected 1/4, had slight hope for 1/2. Something seemed off, I wanted to call the school to inquire, but son did not want to bother, wanted to go somewhere where he was “wanted.” Very happy where he ended up.</p>

<p>Nepop, there must have been a mistake. L&C usually does well on merit offers.</p>

<p>Kill the essay if you want full tuition. You’ve got a better resume than I did. You’re a science student with previous research experience, they’ll eat that up. Plus you’ve got diverse interests with the language bit. If you knock their socks off with a personal statement that’s so funny they’ll want to read it out loud to their friends at parties and so heartwarming that they’ll want to tell it to their children as an inspirational bedtime story, I think you’ll have a really great chance at significant merit aid.</p>

<p>Or, if you’re not a spectacular writer, have a FREAKING AWESOME interview. But personally I know I shine more in writing.</p>

<p>Source: I’m a full tuition LC student who knows where the strength in her application came from.</p>