Your Opinion, Please?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Santa Clara University
1

<p>Good Afternoon.</p>

<p>I'd truly appreciate if some students already enrolled in Santa Clara University can give me their honest opinion in this situation:</p>

<p>Do you think I can get in SCU with financial aid?</p>

<p>Info:</p>

<p>Status: International Student (from Central America)
High School GPA: 3.8
TOEFL Score: 101
SAT: I'll do it on November, but from the practice I've done so far, it seems that I won't get more than 1900 :(</p>

<p>I did the International Baccalaureate Program. My score was 32/45
I got 7/7 in Mathematics Standard Level and 6/7 in English as a Second Language, Higher Level.
Along with the program came the CAS project, which consists of community service.
I did 160 hours of community service (in different activities)</p>

<p>My possible cons:</p>

<p>-My SAT Score</p>

<p>-My economic status: My parent's CAN'T afford the price of SCU, so that's why I'm applying for financial aid and a possible bank loan here in my country.
However, SCU asks for international students to demonstrate that they'll be able to pay the price, and at the moment I can't.
I can probably recieve the bank loan but they require me to be accepted in SCU.
The most I can afford to ask as a loan is $20k-$30k</p>

<p>So, can anyone give me his or her opinion:
Do I have a possibility to be admitted to SCU with a good financial aid?</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

2

<p>

</p>

<p>Recent historical trend will say that SCU will not provide much in need-based FA. This is for a multitude of reasons including the endowment losses from the Recession (which last year they began to recoup), budgeting decisions, and cost to operate (facilities and personnel). I’ll do an independent analysis of their funding and budget like last year, but generally speaking the proportion of money set aside to help students cover tuition (need-based grants and aid) are a small percentage compared to a) how much student tuition payments make up that year’s income and b) the overall amount of budget the school says they have.</p>

<p>They do provide merit aid, however SCU is always elusive on how much each merit scholarship or grant will give a student and what will even qualify a student for that award. This is likely because they change the amounts and eligibility criteria each year to reflect what they can afford to allot to those grants. Only the NMS award has a figure and that’s because it’s a national award:
[Santa</a> Clara University - Financial AidSCU Awards](<a href=“http://www.scu.edu/financialaid/SCU-Awards.cfm]Santa”>Financial Aid - Santa Clara University)</p>

<p>You will not receive state and federal need-based aid assistance as an int’l student either.</p>

<p>Perhaps a letter from your bank to SCU stating that you will be guaranteed the funding if you are accepted would help the school understand your situation, however this gets into the definition of having a need-blind admissions policy - which goes against them even stating to you that you would need to show you can pay before they admit you. SCU is known to go back and forth on a need-blind admissions policy depending on how it suits their needs, also very elusive in nature, IMO (from 2009, Section II, item 1, bullet 1 here: <a href=“http://www.scu.edu/cas/facultyandstaff/upload/CoC-Summary-11-18-09.pdf[/url]”>http://www.scu.edu/cas/facultyandstaff/upload/CoC-Summary-11-18-09.pdf&lt;/a&gt; ).</p>

<p>EDIT:
Post 7 here: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/santa-clara-university/1329734-cal-vs-scu.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/santa-clara-university/1329734-cal-vs-scu.html&lt;/a&gt;
The first paragraph explains the point how tuition contributes a whole lot to the school’s use, but they give back to students proportionately so little.</p>

3

<p>So what you try to say is that I don’t have any chance at all?
I know that the only financial aid I could recieve if merit-based and financial need.
I honestly didn’t know that there was a recession in USA and that this is affecting the country.</p>

<p>So this means I won’t get a gran or financial aid?
If that’s the case, tell me.
I need to know because if the answer is no, then I won’t even bother to apply, since I can’t afford the price.</p>

4

<p>I’m not saying you will not receive any need-based FA from SCU, but based off of historical trend, the school’s own finances, and other related factors, it certainly can be seen as highly unlikely that you will receive anything other than merit - if you even qualify for that.</p>

<p>This is why I mention to you to look into your bank sending a letter of intent of sorts notifying the school that they are not giving you the loan now because it is not the bank’s policy to issue students loans before a student is accepted somewhere, but that if you are accepted into SCU (or any other school), then you will receive the financial backing from them.</p>

<p>Theoretically, this shouldn’t affect their admissions decision if they are going on the need-blind policy, but then again they wouldn’t be asking you for financial security before they made an admissions decision if they were acting truly need-blind. Again, this is another factor all together.</p>

<p>It would be best if other int’l students @ SCU would post here to give you some insight as to whether they received some aid from the school, or not - and also if they needed to provide financial security to the school before an admissions decision was released.</p>

5

<p>Well, I’m still going to apply then.
My dream has always been to study in that University.
However, sadly, I was born in a country and economic situation that’s making this goal almost impossible.</p>

<p>I also need to convince the bank first.
Banks don’t risk lending money to poor families, and that’s my case.</p>

<p>I want to first say thank you, since you’ve been the only one who’s been trying to help.
Are you an student in SCU, perhaps a teacher or alumni?
Anyways, thanks for your help and I’ll try, although I know my chances are very slim, probably just the 10% of happening.</p>

<p>Second, I know.
International students in SCU could help me and I would appreciate their help.
Let’s just hope that one of them passes by and post his or her opinion on the subject.</p>

<p>I think it all depends on the SAT score, since many people have told me that American universities just focus on SAT.</p>

<p>Anyways, I’ll give it a shot, but again, it might be useless at the end.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help. Take care</p>

6

<p>Not a parent of international student. But as far as I know, it’s a common, if not standard, practice to ask for prove of financial support during the admission process for international students. I might be wrong, so you should check other colleges to verify this. Financial statement is needed for process I-20.</p>

7

<p>

No, no, and no. My wife is an alum (Philosophy '09), but we dated through her entire college experience there. Had ample opportunities to just hang around campus and talk with students and professors (they’re actually very easy going about that sort of thing, apparently), not to mention gather the knowledge and opinions of my wife’s friends from there. We currently still live very close to the campus, so naturally I get a lot of ear piece about what’s going on, plus I have a bunch of co-workers who are alum and one has a parent who works in the school’s Budget Office (we talk A LOT about that).</p>

<p>

Yes, according to item 4 here under Visa Information, financial docs are required to be submitted to SCU’s International Student Services (ISS): [Undergraduate Admission - International Students](<a href=“http://www.scu.edu/ugrad/admission”>http://www.scu.edu/ugrad/admission&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/em&gt;process/apply/international_admission.cfm)</p>

<p>If it is your dream to attend, then consider if the application fee to apply will be burdensome on you or your family financially. If $55USD is a lot to you (not sure if it’s higher for int’l applicants), then you may consider applying to other US school that have both a lower app fee and lower COA. I’m not sure how inclined/determine you are, but you may also consider California (or other state) Community Colleges and possibly transfer into SCU. Some community colleges have transfer agreements with SCU (x class at cc is equivalent to x class at SCU), and when you’ve finished the courses within that agreement, you then have a high chance to transfer into SCU. This still may require financial proof, but on the plus side you would also have options to transfer into cheaper state schools, many of which can be great schools for you depending on certain goals and preferences (UCBerkeley, UCLA, etc etc). Many other int’l students attend CCCs before transferring to CalStates or UCs. Also, an option to consider if you’ve not yet looked into it is other countries especially in the EU (like Germany). Costs can be considerably different, but this will hinder your plans if they were to attempt to stay in the US permanently after graduation.</p>

<p>What about SCU has attracted you so much? Many other schools can offer the same tools and services as SCU and might be relatively cheaper.</p>

<p>

This depends on admissions policies. For example, the “hollistic” process (which is SCU) to admissions does place certain weight on tangibles like SAT scores and GPA, however it is by definition attempting to get a snapshot of the “whole” person and not just the academic one. Therefore, other intangible things may be taken into account like alumni relation, community contributions, life outlook and experiences, etc. Typically, private schools like SCU use hollistic admissions and state schools use an algorithmic approach which crunches the SAT and GPA numbers to find the most desireably qualified applicants - not really taking into account who they are as a non-academic person or where they come from (life-wise, not by locale).</p>

<p>Again, IMO based on historical perspective by known experiences and school reported data, it is highly unlikely that you would be offered any amount of need-based aid at SCU.</p>

8

<p>“If it is your dream to attend, then consider if the application fee to apply will be burdensome on you or your family financially. If $55USD is a lot to you (not sure if it’s higher for int’l applicants), then you may consider applying to other US school that have both a lower app fee and lower COA.”</p>

<p>No… of course I’m not that poor…
I can pay that, but my parents can’t afford to pay more than $4000 a year.</p>

<ul>
<li>Berkley is out of my options. I think it’s even more expensive and rigorous then SCU.</li>
<li>I tried UCLA, but they told me they don’t provide any type of aid to international students. In addition, they require me to do SAT Subject Tests. I don’t have time to do that since if I were to study in USA I would need to begin studying in Fall/2013.</li>
</ul>

<p>CCC’s aren’t a good idea to me.
The process is too complex, the one you mentioned, and in the end I might just be doing 2 years of college.</p>

<p>Do you really think I have no chance of doing that?
Trust me. It was very harsh to read what you said.
I wanted to kill myself (metaphorically).
If that’s the case then everything I’m doing is worthless.</p>

<p>I want SCU because:</p>

<ul>
<li>It’s location is AMAZING.</li>
<li>It’s a catholic institution (I’m a faithfull catholic)</li>
<li>It’s near where my aunt lives, and atleast I could have some sort of family support.</li>
</ul>

<p>But again, maybe, like you said, I was very naive and very idiot to think I could actually go and study there.
Let’s face reality: I live in a disgustingly developing country, and to try to go to a beautifully developed country is just absurd…
I guess this thing wasn’t even a dream. Rather it should be called stupidities…</p>

<p>I think it’s better to find out sooner than later…
It’s really harsh to face it, but I guess USA is too much for me…
Well, I guess this is the end lol.</p>

<p>Goodbye.</p>

9

<p>Hey, hey! Your dream is NOT stupid! Never give up on your dream! If it is your dream to go to SCU, then you have to apply! I love that school as well. I’m applying there, and I would love to go there! You’re right, it is a great location. And I’m Catholic as well, so it’d be great to go to a Catholic institution. Does your country offer any type of financial aid for students? Does your aunt live close enough for you to live with while you are attending school? That would cut down the room and board costs.</p>

10

<p>Hello Puppylove95.</p>

<p>Thanks for your optimism, but reality is that this isn’t a dream lol.
I can’t even fight to go to SCU since I don’t have any way of getting money.</p>

<p>In response to what you say:</p>

<p>-First, yes; The government over here offers loans for studies, but these loans are distributed in different banks.
The government can’t give me directly the money, so different banks over here are the ones who make the process.
One of the problems of this is that:
-My family is of middle class. My father gains $25k a year, and I have 3 brothers, where 2 of them are still studying. This is a terrific background to ask for a loan since I’ve been taught that banks don’t even risk in lending money to families like mine. It is going to be hard to show that I can actually pay for that loan after I graduate from SCU.
Besides, my family doesn’t owns a house. We pay rent monthly for the house we live, and I think this kind of loans asks to put our house as a warranty.
-The maximum loan you can ask for this government student loans is $40k. You can’t ask for more, and this money just covers the tuition.</p>

<p>And second, my aunt lives in Mountain View.
However, she lives in an apartment. She doesn’t has her own home, and I think that US laws are that you can’t have a person living in your apartment unless he or she is also paying for it.
Besides, my aunt is also in a kind of hard situation, since she gains the exact money to sustain herself.
If I were to live with here it would be a little too much for her.</p>

<p>And I’m already applying for SCU. I already payed the fee.
However, the requirement where I need to prove my financial status is one that’s blocking my way to complete the application.</p>

<p>Also, I can’t apply on November since I still haven’t done the SAT.
I’ll be doing it next Saturday.</p>

11

<p>Yeah, it sucks that it’s so expensive. Have you tried exploring other scholarships? You can try different scholarship websites. You just enter in some information about yourself, and it shows you scholarships that you are eligible for. I’m sure there’s some that are just for international students, and some that are open for anyone to apply. Also, good luck with the SAT. Have you tried the practice questions and full practice test on collegeboard.org? It was really helpful for me.</p>

12

<p>

Unfortunately, the issue is securing the finances for you to attend. Here is what’s truth: COA for undergraduate at SCU is $55-60k/yr. That includes 42k in tuition+R&B, and then 15-18k in books, transportation, and personal. Do you think you would be able to secure those kinds of figures for 4 years? It blows my mind sometimes the decisions that SCU makes. They have a specific fund set up for undocumented immigrants to attend there, which pays nearly all of their tuition+ (a recent The Santa Clara article also highlighted the fact that many legal immigrants or citizens were struggling to pay for SCU when these undocumented students were given near full-rides just for being undocumented, or rather, bringing a different “perspective” to the campus by their situation), but don’t have an equivalent set up for international applicants?</p>

<p>If you can secure the figures,then no community college - check. No state universities (true that they will not offer aid as well, but sticker prices are cheaper) - check. Since you intend to live on campus, it can get quite expensive (~$43,000USD per year just on tuition and R&B: [Santa</a> Clara University - Financial AidCost of Attendance](<a href=“http://www.scu.edu/financialaid/Cost-of-Attendance.cfm]Santa”>Financial Aid - Santa Clara University) ).</p>

<p>Though you mention the pros of SCU, would you be willing to consider other schools that may offer more need-based aid? There are a couple other Jesuit (Catholic) institutions in CA alone - University of San Francisco and Loyola Marymount University, which (IMO) may be more generous with need-based aid. Both also are in great locations (depending on what you’re looking for), but will not come with the benefit of close family.</p>

<p>From the sounds of it you do not have a completed application for admission until you submit the requested financial docs, so that should be number 1 priority. If you know you cannot get them, and you believe you’ve done everything in your power possible to do so, then you may need to come to the realization that SCU may need to be placed on hold for now or pursue your education through other avenues.</p>

<p>EDIT: At least for some encouragement, you are not alone. It’s even harder sometimes for domestic applicants to get accepted just to find out a couple months later when FA letters arrive that there is no sane way they would be able to afford the school. Heck, I know for sure I would not be able to attend there if I wanted to either. I applied to USF (University of San Francisco) last year, was accepted, and even after applying some decent grant aid they offered and my generous government benefits to cover tuition, I still couldn’t afford it. I’d have to use all of those financial advantages, take out ~$10,000 in loans per year, and still pay $5,000 out of pocket each year. To attend I would have had to quit my job (live and work in a different city), so that wouldn’t have helped to cover the cost. Trust me, I thought USF was the school for me, but it didn’t work out financially.</p>

13

<p>And maybe this recent thread can help:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1406912-i-cant-afford-college-there-just-isnt-any-solution.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1406912-i-cant-afford-college-there-just-isnt-any-solution.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

14

<p>To add on to what turtlerock said, yeah, it is hard to pay for college. When my dad and sister filled out the FAFSA a few years ago (we haven’t filled it out for me yet) our EFC was 40,000 per year. If that’s what it is this year too, then I’ll have to rely on getting merit aid, because paying 40k is just insane.</p>

15

<p>Oh wow. Well, yeah I guess I have no choice.</p>

<p>The problem is that it would be hard to find another college, and that’s my fault.
In High School I was so adamant with the idea of going to SCU that I just focused on it.
I didn’t even considered other options.
The idea of going to SCU was stucked in my head.
Now that I’m realizing that I can’t and won’t be able to go… I feel pretty stupid.</p>

<p>For other colleges, I’ll try, but I guess their deadline is before December, and I’ll be getting my SAT scores around those days.</p>

<p>Damn it… The worst thing I wanted is going to happen: study here…</p>

<p>I guess there’s no choice right?</p>

<p>Well, even though this is the worst day of my life, I think you are right.
Lets face reality now.
I was never in a possibility of going to SCU.</p>

<p>I guess I won’t go to USA after all. Lol I did the TOEFL and SAT for nothing… I wasted $240 in nothing x_x (it was actually my money, not my parent’s lol)</p>

<p>Anyways, thanks for your answers.</p>

<p>Good look Puppylover95 with SCU. I wish you the best on it.</p>

<p>And good luck to your girlfriend in SCU turtlerock.
Wish you the best.</p>

<p>-_-…</p>

16

<p>

Haha, for the record she was my girlfriend while she was attending SCU. We married a few months after she graduated.</p>

<p>How relatively cheap is it to attend school in your home country? Would you be open to obtaining a Masters or other graduate degree in the US? Graduate students in the US almost never get need-based aid (and even less not with cuts at both fed and state level), but many school have “foundations” or other grants that set up programs to pay not just tuition for some select grad students in the program, but also may be able to have enough funds to pay them a living stipend as well (pay for housing, food, etc). What might be your intended major? If you feel like obtaining an advanced degree in your intended field, then there is still chance to re-evaluate the financial situation in the future.</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

17

<p>Yeah, I guess that by that time graduate school will be much easier…</p>

<p>Still, this is so unlucky for me! Damn it!
I’ll have to take the TOEFL again haha, and study for another test.</p>

<p>Ohh, and congratulations on the wedding :)</p>

<p>I guess I’ll just let time decide… I just need to recuperate from this sudden misfortune.
Damn!!</p>

<p>Good luck to you too.
Goodbye…</p>

18

<p>turtlerock, i say that you’re a champ, and that’s not just because we’re fellow turtles.<br>
Knowing that Santa Clara offers a fullride for undocumented students. I will hereby recommend to anyone who asks that they should NOT apply to Santa Clara.<br>
We were not at all impressed with their Biological Sciences department; we weren’t impressed by the quality of their Pre Health advising. They hold back merit that they misleadingly offer in their literature, but they will fullride an undocumented student for the diversity factor. They’re not the only game in town for midrange West Coast LACs, but for some reason they continue to garner preferable rankings.</p>

19

<p>

This is an interesting aspect of SCU. On the surface you can chalk that up to location (California in general with typically better, depending on which way you look at it, weather and the proximity of Silicon Valley) and therefore by extension their only two discernable academic standouts: business and engineering. Some can also argue that the local CSU, San Jose State University, is better for business since businesses in SJ hire more SJSU grads every year than SCU grads (but then again, there are more students attending SJSU for businees than SCU because SJSU in bigger in general). Seriously, IMO, anything else and SCU is not worth it unless it is financially advantagous aver other schools a family is considering. EDIT: Or SCU just pays rankings publishers more than the other schools, which would give us some sort of indication where their money is going if not to help students in affording to attend there or provide other student services (or give their employees the benefits they request).</p>

<p>I’ve said it beofore, and I’ll say it again: While on a tour of USF (another private Jesuit school in CA), my wife, the SCU alum, openenly exclaimed how much USF’s facilities (gymand pool, cafeteria, dorms and lounges or other student rec facilities, library with silent atrium), medical and nursing programs (with the nursing school), and general student services and diversity (more prominent and active LGBTQ, BSU, and other socially defined diverse groups) unquestionably blew SCU out of the water. And this doesn’t even begin to go over Gonzaga or LMU, the other two private Jesuit schools on the West Coast.</p>

<p>SCU would have better academics and job placement in business and engineering than USF, however USF’s MBA is highly ranked for international students or domestic students looking for an international business emphasis. San Francisco itself is obviously a more internationally diverse city than Santa Clara, and both schools use their environments differently: using the city as an extension of the classroom (USF) vs using the plethora of local businesses and related industries to supplement a resume or major (SCU). In fact, most students at SCU don’t do a whole lot off campus (in Santa Clara or SJ) as far as activities go. A major marketing scheme SCU tries to put on is that they are in a prime location since you can take public transit or drive to other external spots like SF, Lake Tahoe, or down to LA if time permits. However, some may figure that if you must travel 1.5hrs-6hrs to expereince something outside of the ‘SCU bubble’, then why not just go to school in those places (USF for SF or LMU for LA). Of course this starts to be a personal preference.</p>

<p>I can get into a lot of different aspects here, but this is getting off topic.</p>