Hi @txmom16. My D was also a high stats kid. We live in the western US. D did not apply to any CA schools since we also heard and knew from others experience that most of them do not offer merit aid. We also own a business and would not qualify for needs-based aid. That said, University of San Diego, a private Catholic university, typically offers ~$20-22K “scholarship” merit for high stats. Their tuition is high to start with though. However, if your D’s father is a CA resident, then the in state tuition may come into play. You should probably check with the UC system to see if that is true. There may be some sort of stipulation that she graduate from a CA HS. We ended up looking for those schools that had competitive full-ride or full-tuition merit scholarships at some of the smaller LACs across the country. Good luck!
@txmom16 - You don’t say how selective a school you are looking for, we found good merit for a high stat kid at Loyola Marymount, Concordia, and Cal Lutheran. 4kids4colleges mentioned Scripps — my D got merit there and your D is comparable in stats. (Though the merit at Scripps isn’t anywhere near a “full -ride” – but it is a full need met school so depending on your situation you could still do ok)
Agree that the jesuit schools like high-stats kids and offer good aid - Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, U of San Diego, Pepperdine, U of Pacific, U of SF. I would also explore residency options with dad for in-state schools, assuming in-state CA tuition is doable for you. Occidental also gives decent merit for high stats, but it may not be enough for you since it’s still expensive.
Not to split hairs, but I believe Pepperdine describes itself as “Christian” university committed to “Christian values.” It is certainly not a Jesuit school.
Plenty of merit aid in CA. You just need to know how to shop for it.
Use the searchable best college value college data base on Kiplinger.com to find some of them. Or look up the Common Data Set of any school on their website. The CDS data tells you exactly what percentage of students receive non-need based aid and also how much the average non-need based award is.
For example, 27% of USC students get merit aid and the average award is $18k. 46% of Santa Clara students get merit aid; average award is $12.5k. To get merit aid at any school, you want to be an above average applicant in that school’s applicant pool.
Santa Clara, USD, LMU, USC, Chapman, Pepperdine are in Kiplinger. But there’s many more too.
Merit schools are most often private colleges, but not the most selective ones (Stanford has zero merit aid).
The thing to keep in mind is most CA private colleges are at least $10k per year more to start with than comparable private schools in other areas (i.e. the Midwest, South, Northwest). So, at USC for example, that $18k is not going to make much of a dent in the $58k cost to attend, but the same amount might make a $48k school elsewhere affordable.
However, some of these schools may be very generous with need-based aid, which would potentially close the gap.
4kids – Not so much. Many colleges (especially those at the top) have adopted a national rather than regional pricing structure. How they differ and compete is more on the amount that they discount. Look at these prices from around the country:
Chicago 65
USC $63k
Gtown 62
Tulane 62
Wash U 62
Duke 62
SMU 61
Vandy 60
Stanford 60
Emory 59
Wake 60
Notre Dame 60
The lower in the food chain you go, the more regional pricing you will find. Among the Jesuit schools, for example, Santa Clara is 58.5 and LMU is 57. Creighton is 46.5 and Gonzaga is 47.
@northwesty, of course the tippy-top schools are wildly expensive, everywhere around the country. They also offer (virtually) zero merit to good but maybe not “the best” students.
That is not my point. I am comparing CA schools like Santa Clara, Chapman, Pepperdine, etc. – to similar good private schools that offer significant merit aid. Creighton and Gonzaga are good comparisons. As well as (most) all of the “Colleges that Change Lives”-type LACs.
The point is Santa Clara and most CA schools have a sticker price of $58, while many other good private schools are around $47k. Yet, the CA schools will generally offer similar merit awards (around $18-$20 per year). Meaning you pay at least $40k extra over 4 years to go to a private school in CA vs. a private (not top tier) school in many other parts of the country.
@txmom16 sent you a pm, too.
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New to this forum and have been looking through the threads on merit aid. I don’t see many California schools listed. My daughter’s father resides in California and she enjoys that lifestyle and climate and would like to do her undergraduate there. SAT is 2340 and gpa is 3.9, interested in medical school so she is striving for a high merit award. No financial aid will be given since I own a business and because I am nearing sixty I need to continue to save for retirement. Any ideas?
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Calif is terrible for merit if you’re looking at the UCs or more “known” schools unless you’re still prepared to pay a lot.
Schools that would give merit, but the net costs may still be too high…USD, USF, SCU, URedlands, Chapman, St Marys, LMU and a few even lesser known schools.
The UCs will be full freight.
USC might give merit, but it has become so unpredictable.
**That said, no OOS student should consider a Calif school for premed. NEVER. There is no plus to doing so, only big negatives. ** Your child may as well tie a boulder to her ankle. The problem with Calif is that it has far too many qualified premeds even for its huge size. There’s a reason why applicants from Calif have such a low acceptance rate to med school and often have to go thru the app process 2-3 EXPENSIVE AND TIME CONSUMING TIMES. For an OOS resident, it would be worse.
What do you want the net cost to be?
Will your DD be a NMF? What was her PSAT?
My son is a 3rd year med student so I can answer lots of Q’s regarding that whole process.
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Agree that the jesuit schools like high-stats kids and offer good aid - Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, U of San Diego, Pepperdine, U of Pacific, U of SF.
I would also explore residency options with dad for in-state schools, assuming in-state CA tuition is doable for you. Occidental also gives decent merit for high stats, but it may not be enough for you since it’s still expensive.
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some of those listed schools are not Jesuit, and some aren’t Catholic.
In the case of divorce, the UCs consider residency of the parent who has had custody while the child is a minor. In this case, the CP is a resident of Texas. The UCs would use the fact that the student is going to high school in Texas as further proof that the mom is the CP.
pg 22 deals specifically with children of divorced parents and residency
http://www.ucop.edu/general-counsel/_files/ed-affairs/uc-residence-policy.pdf
Hi, I’ve tried to research this using the search function, but it doesn’t really work, so forgive me if this has been asked. I know a rising senior who has her heart set on NYU and has the stats to get in. However, she is unlikely to receive any financial aid and her parents can’t afford it. 3.8 unweighted / 4.2 weighted GPA, 28 ACT. What are some NYU alternatives that would be more affordable?
@LuckyPenny711, I would start a separate thread to ask your question. And if you do, try to explain what it is about NYU that the student is so enamored with.
Is it a specific program, that it’s in NYC, or something else? How much are her parents prepared to pay? And what state does she reside in?
I’m no expert on NYU but I don’t think a 28 ACT makes anyone a shoo-in.
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has the stats to get in.
3.8 unweighted / 4.2 weighted GPA, 28 ACT. What are some NYU alternatives that would be more affordable?
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@LucieTheLakie is right. With an ACT 28, NYU is a HIGH REACH. An ACT 28 is at the BOTTOM quartile.
What state is she in?
How much will her parents pay?
Will she retest and hopefully get higher scores? Will she take the SAT as well?
What is her major and career goal?
Agree with above. 28 ACT and 3.8 UW may not be enough for NYU. My D, with 30 ACT and 3.8 UW, was waitlisted at Tulane (which I consider comparable to NYU, tho I may be wrong). She applied RD, however, which is a big disadvantage.
A TX resident has many excellent options for private school merit, and shouldn’t she be an automatic admit at UT Texas?. My D received the best merit of all at Southwestern U, (outside of Austin), where she is going this fall ($25.5k for 4 years). Trinity was almost as good, and other TX schools, including Baylor, St. Edwards, and Austin College, reportedly are great with merit as well. Plus, sticker price is much lower to begin with.
As far as medical school, I don’t know much, but seems to me most TX med schools are excellent and a total bargain compared to the rest of the country – for in-state students. It might be in this student’s best interest to stay in TX for that reason alone.
More affordable alternatives to NYU? Literally any other school in the country.
NYU may be the most overpriced school of all. I don’t understand the love. Aside from the sky high tuition with little to no aid, you’re looking at insane housing costs to live in very cramped rooms. And for what? The social life of NYC, a bar on every block serving $12 beers. If you cannot easily afford the cost of attendance, wait til you get a load of the ancillary costs of living there. Meanwhile, what are you getting academically? Unless you are a strong candidate for high-end Wall Street jobs, or a fantastic actor with Broadway aspirations, there is nothing compelling academically about NYU undergrad. And if you are one of those candidates, there are plenty of other schools that will get you to the same goal.
As for alternatives, if it’s the urban experience she desires, there are schools right in the middle of every big city in the country. What does she wish to study? What is her actual budget?
You have to be top 7% to get an automatic admit to the University of Texas and top 10% to get into A&M. But, at A&M if you are top 25% and have a 1300 combined (for math and verbal) then you usually get in there as well. The cost of attending UT for an in-state student is about $23,000 to $25,000. For Texas A&M, it is about $22,000-$24,000. So they are the deal of the century if you live here and have the numbers to get in. Out of state for UT is around 45-50 and its 37 for Texas A&M (which is still better than some other schools). http://www.collegecalc.org/colleges/texas/the-university-of-texas-at-austin/
@mom2collegekids - If California is oversupplied with pre-meds, what in your opinion would some less competitive states?
I was going to start a thread but saw this one! My friend’s S is looking for merit money.
They live on the west coast and dad’s salary is less than $100k and they own their home. Still, college money is an issue.
He is a senior, top 1% of class at large public high school. On the Asperger’s spectrum so would like to focus search on small liberal arts schools that also have sports teams. Plans to major in econ.
Stats: GPA - 4.5
5’s on 3 SAT subj tests
36 on ACT
National Merit finalist (or semi, I’ve forgotten)
4 yrs sport
extracurriculars: academic teams
exmplary
Any ideas for schools?
http://nmfscholarships.yolasite.com/
there are lots of schools that will pay him to go to college
with those stats he should try for Stanford, MIT- great economics program, U of Chicago, ditto re economics.
Does he want to PLAY intercollegiate sports in college? or watch?
@menloparkmom, he wants to volunteer for sports teams. He’s been involved as a volunteer in our local soccer org. He also a good stats keeper. He’s a avid fan of basketball and soccer. His mom says he does have some social challenges (I think its more from shyness) and being involved in sports in those capacities is his “thing”. He also would feel comfortable in a small school setting.