Hi, my daughter really likes LA, San Diego, and Southern California in general. She has good enough stats to be considered at any school (4.5 GPA, 35 ACT, NMSF), which of course doesn’t guarantee admission anywhere, just makes her competitive enough to pass the first round of consideration.
Although we saved enough to pay for an undergrad degree almost anywhere, D is mulling an option of leaving that nest egg for grad school instead. Other than USC, can you recommend any private schools in SoCal that are generous with merit aid for high stats students? Thanks!
Some colleges to look at are Chapman University, University of San Diego, Occidental College, Loyola Marymount and the Claremont Colleges.
What’s wrong with the public schools? Not good enough for you?
Add Pepperdine to @Gumbymom 's list. I know local students who got especially nice merit money from LMU and USD and both are in lovely “So Cal” locations. Does she have any particular major or program in mind?
@ProfessorPlum168, nothing wrong with them - UCLA is one of her top choices, SDSU will probably be a nice safety. We visited most on the public’s already, that’s why asking about the private ones. Thanks!
@CaMom13, I looked at their websites, looks like the most USD would offer would be 25K, I know it’s a lot, bust still leaves a hefty price tag of about 25K a year for tuition only. SDSU has a good language program D is considering as one of double majors, as I mentioned in another post, it could be a good safety. If D gets into USC, she will automatically get half tuition off as a NMF, and we all see the value in paying extra for USC for some advantages it offers over UCLA or SDSU, such as a chance to get a masters in 4 years, etc. Not so sure USD offers the same value.
@typiCAmom - in terms of name value and flexibility, USC with an automatic scholarship is certainly a very good deal … but only if USC is a good fit for your daughter. I know students who chose other local schools over USC for reasons that had nothing to do with cost. I am a big believer in fit - I know it’s natural to think in terms of getting a bargain for education but when you’re comparing schools with similar costs you don’t just look a name value and flexibility, you also need to ask if your D will be happy, flourish, enjoy her surroundings, make friends, enjoy her classes, be challenged enough in her academics and have good opportunities to pursue work in her chosen field. I know extremely happy students at just about all of the colleges listed here and they’re all bright, ambitious and hard-working … so I’d say which college offers the “best deal” for you very much depends upon what kind of college environment your D wants.
@CaMom13, we haven’t visited any private schools in SoCal other than USC. Would you mind sharing why did some kids you know chose USD, LMU, etc. over USC? Thanks!
My niece went to USD. She did not like LMU (don’t know why) and she wasn’t accepted to USC, but her best friend and roommate at USD was so did pick USD over the others. Money was not an issue, and I think she picked USD because of others she knew who were there or headed there, the ‘big fish in a smaller pond’ vibe, and the way it was set up. Also, I think they preferred semesters to quarters. It really worked out well for the friend (and for niece too). Friend graduated with honors and Phi Beta Kappa and was accepted to many law schools right out of college. She turned down two T-14 law schools to take a big merit award at another high ranked law school, and was a superstar there too.
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Our son was offered this, and he did win national merit, but he chose another school. You need to really consider what this means in terms of dollars. Half off of tuition still means you pay the other half along with room and board and all the other fees. This all means you still pay ~$49K per year.
https://admission.usc.edu/learn/cost-financial-aid/
If USD is giving you $25K, it’s still slightly less expensive than USC:
https://www.sandiego.edu/finance/student-financial-services/student-accounts/cost/undergraduate.php
Aunt Bea, thanks for sharing. One thing that I like about USC is its flexibility in doing double majors, co-term Masters in 4 years while finishing Bachelors, etc. I haven’t seen other private colleges showcasing such programs.
@typiCAmom You can’t really compare a school like LMU (9K students) and USD (8K students) to USC (44K students).
USC does an amazing job selling themselves. Their tours and marketing are fine tuned machines. There is nothing wrong with that but I don’t know of any other school (private or public) that allocates the same level of resources to recruiting students as USC does.
Many schools offer double majors or majors and double minors or other combinations of degrees. Co-terms depend on the size of the school and your area of study.
Cal Lutheran in Thousand Oaks used to have some good merit aid. I haven’t looked at their website in a few years.