<p>Santa clara university is not ranked, but if it was, where would you place it on us news list? maybe around #60 - 70?</p>
<p>Santa Clara is ranked #2 on the "Master's Universities, West" list: Master's</a> Universities (West) Rankings - Best Colleges - Education - US News and World Report</p>
<p>okay, but what about the overall ranking?</p>
<p>What difference does it make to you? I'm not trying to be contentious, I'm just curious.</p>
<p>It's kind of hard to compare...USNews online isn't showing all the stats this year.</p>
<p>You have to buy the premium service to get all the stats. </p>
<p>Santa Clara is an excellent Jesuit School in SantaClara, California.</p>
<p>It's my daughter's top choice, but chances are slim that she'll go there...too pricey! Have you checked the cost of their room and board? over $11K/year for the least expensive option.</p>
<p>jaf - my daughter applied there, and they were very generous with both need-based and merit aid (though I heard it varies from student-to-student), making Santa Clara cost about the same as the UCs for her. (Also, UCB's room-and-board was about $14,000-$16,000 when we were looking at it.)</p>
<p>Expensive room and board must be a California thing. We're OOS so I haven't looked at any of the UCs. D has an excellent chance for a merit scholarship, but their best is full tuition, which still leaves a healthy chunk of change. Not filing a FAFSA if it can be avoided. There are other schools who offer more in terms of merit aid. Not looking forward to the crying, though.</p>
<p>The FAFSA may make her eligible for some subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford loans she may need, and some schools require the FAFSA even for their merit scholarships. (I don't know if Santa Clara does, but I do know they use both the CSS/Profile and the FAFSA for need-based aid.)</p>
<p>Yeah, all the California schools we looked at had room-and-board charges ranging from $10,000 to $16,000. (And you are right - the UCs are VERY expensive for OOS!)</p>
<p>Good luck! (And hoping the crying is avoided!!!)</p>
<p>The Silicon Valley is VERY expensive.
For example in Palo Alto right near Stanford, the average house costs $1.5 Million.</p>
<p>alamemom, NO LOANS! That's a hard and fast rule. She has to pick a school that we/she can afford without borrowing. I think all of the state schools we're looking at don't require the FAFSA for merit aid. If I find out otherwise, they'll be ruled out. ;) I haven't seen anything on Santa Clara's website that makes me think it's required there.</p>
<p>Some of the rooms Santa Clara provides are pretty crappy looking, too. At least one HAS to be an old, converted motel and it's two blocks off campus. I'm trying to discourage D and let her know where H and I stand on the expense, but I think there will be tears anyway. By the time you factor in room and board, books, personal expenses and travel (and hoping for a full tuition scholarship), it would be less expensive to to to U Washington and pay full cost.</p>
<p>Good policy! We decided (as we are making a significant $$ contribution to D's education) to actually require our D to take a small amount of debt - $1,500 to $2,000 per year - to be sure she takes seriously the expense involved. That is her spending money for "extras" for the year, so she has to figure a way to budget to make it last.</p>
<p>(I still think the FAFSA is a good idea... have you done any of the EFC calculators? If your EFC is less than $50,000, you would be eligible for need-based aid at California private schools. Check out the Financial Aid forum for LOTS of info!)</p>
<p>Another Jesuit in the area w/merit aid: University of San Francisco. Have FUN!</p>
<p>We're not set on a Jesuit school. She latched onto Santa Clara because it has the major/minor combination she's looking for, offers some full tuition scholarships and is in California. It's actually the only Cali school we found that met all three of those criteria. Most everything else we're looking at are state schools with large merit awards for OOS.</p>
<p>We also expect D to provide her own book and miscellaneous expense $$, but I think Grandpa may come to her rescue.</p>
<p>You probably already know this, but I wanted to mention... the FAFSA in no way obligates you to make a particular contribution or take any loans, so if there is any chance your D might qualify for free money in addition to merit money, the FAFSA might be a good idea - it can only help. Starting out we didn't expect to qualify for aid, and ended up recieving enough that the $50,000+ private school D dreamed of was affordable.</p>
<p>jaf1991, Santa Clara may be in California... but it's not in a terribly interesting part of California - it's mostly bland, expensive suburban sprawl... I would think Seattle would offer a lot more in terms cultural/sports opportunities.</p>
<p>Well California just has some kind of appeal for her and Seattle, I fear, is too close to home. Almost but not quite close enough to commute. I mean, people do make the same commute to work every day, but I wouldn't wish that on my D. However, if everything else falls through, she will happily go there; many if not most of her friends will probably be there. (That's a minus for me...she has nice friends, but I want her to learn to step outside her comfort zone in college.)</p>
<p>alamemom, I know there's no obligation to take out loans, but that dang FAFSA is so - I'm not sure what. It bothers me but I'm not sure why.</p>
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okay, but what about the overall ranking?
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<p>Xenonator, that IS the overall ranking. Second on the list of Master's Universities, West. What more do you want?</p>