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<p>Really? I would have said Columbia/Barnard.</p>
<p>There was recently an article about a woman who couldn’t pursue her desired occupation because she had too much debt. She didn’t have an enormous amount, about $25k if I remember, but she was refused entrance into the convent until she pays off the debt - yes, she wants to be a nun but the convent isn’t willing to pay her debt, and it isn’t willing to have debt collectors calling when she defaults.</p>
<p>It is really hard for people who have never had debt to imagine how hard it is to pay $10,000 or $100,000, especially for things you’ve already ‘used.’ Rent, a car payment, the bill for the vacation you took last week? Sure, you can justify that, but for the classes you took 6 years ago? For the dorm you lived in 8 years ago? Much harder to write that check month after month.</p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad
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<p>The kid who takes that gap year will have the added benefit of a full year of work experience. That will give the student a leg up on applying for jobs down the line, and students with that experience tend to be more focused, mature, and disciplined in their study habits when they do start school (as compared to kids straight out of high school), which also tends to result in a higher GPA.</p>
<p>And I think that you underestimate the quality of a job that a smart high school graduate can get – they aren’t all jobs flipping burgers. Even the process of applying for and getting that job is something that pays off down the line. It’s a cumulative payoff, because the ability to add a year’s worth of work experience to a resume boosts the quality of jobs and internships the student can get while attending college as well. </p>
<p>The OP is a high stat kid, immigrant parents, URM. He falls into the category where there is a benefit in getting a degree from a “name” school - it’s just that his parents are mistaken as to the value of the NYU name as compared to many other schools that are well respected but hold out the potential of substantial merit aid. Even leaving off school quality, the OP will be much more likely to get merit money during a regular admissions round, and be a much better off financially down the line if he can compare awards (and in some cases use an an award from one school to negotiate a better offer from another) </p>
<p>@cptofthehouse
Obviously I’ve just made the point that Columbia/Barnard are superior academically - but they really don’t afford the same “Big Apple” experience – the Morningside Heights location is rather far removed from the action. The upper west side has its own charms, but it is not the same as life in the East Village. Not even close. Just a whole different vibe. </p>
<p>However, when my daughter was 18 and took off by herself to attend admitted student events at NYU and Barnard, she realized that it was very possible for her to attend Barnard and take the subway on evenings and weekends in order to socialize with friends at NYU and participate in the NYU-area social life. Of course the same would be true for a student attending Fordham or CUNY-- and in fact when my d. was at Barnard she had college-age friends at many different NYC campuses. </p>
<p>@calmom </p>
<p>Do you think the OP can get enough merit money at a “name” school to leave a $15K cost of attendance that can be paid with parent’s 10K per year plus Stafford loans? That’s where I’m struggling. That’s about $200K in total merit money that OP needs if the school is private. That’s really a lot of merit money. </p>
<p>I’m not saying that a gap year has no value, I just think that the cost of it needs to be considered. We’re not really that far apart. </p>
<p>I think mom2collegekids was encouraging a more careful analysis of the options. </p>
<p>I think the OP needs to look at his goal. His instate options are not bad ones. He just didn’t apply there.</p>
<p>The family was paying for private prep school until part way through eleventh grade. Perhaps,that money could be diverted to college costs. </p>
<p>CRD, I personally think that the “brand name” of the school IS the issue here. The OP’s parents hoped for a brand name. If I were guessing, NYU is as close as it got to a big name school. </p>
<p>No, I don’t think he will get $300,000 in aid. BUT I DO think he can find a much less expensive college. Heck…most of the SUNY schools would be about $26,000 a year for OOS, and there are several instate NJ schools that would be in that range as well. If the family could pay half of his cost of attendance, he would have $50,000 total debt…far better than $300,000…which is ridiculous for undergrad school.</p>
<p>@ClassicRockerDad – I don’t know what sort of merit money the OP could get. The situation is confounded somewhat by his URM status. That doesn’t mean a whole lot these days to schools in urban centers – they have a very diverse applicant pool – but it could mean a lot to many more rural or suburban schools that value diversity and need to work a little harder to get it. And I’m not referring to the usual very narrow CC list in terms of “name” – there are a lot of excellent colleges that have enough of a reputation to mean something on a resume, even if they aren’t top 10 or top 20. I think he would do well to spend some time researching schools & merit aid policies to draw up a list. </p>
<p>Keep in mind that even if he ends up at the same schools that are accepting latecomers, he’s unlikely to get merit aid this way. So let’s say that there is a school out there that will give him $15K a year in merit aid – that’s $60K saved over the course of 4 years.That’s probably considerably more than what he could expect to earn as a first year salary post college – and that’s still a fairly modest award. </p>
<p>It may very well be that he ends up having to borrow more than he would like for college -but there’s a world of difference between graduating with $45K in debt and graduating with $300K of debt. Plus, if he lives at home while working for the coming year, he can bank most of his earnings to apply toward tuition, and maybe he can get his parents to agree to bank the $10K they would have put toward his tuition, improving the financial picture for next year. </p>
<p>The OP already said that he was going to take a gap year!</p>
<p>By the way, does this qualify as child abuse? These parents don’t seem like they are fit to raise their child, much less advise him on college issues.</p>
<p>No it’s not child abuse. It’s bad financial judgement…but not abuse.</p>
<p>Calmom, I think he could easily go to someplace like Truman State, which has a lot of peer students with the same SAT, right now for $21K/yr. The problem with $15K/yr in merit aid is that it’s just discounting an already too expensive private school leaving a $50k/yr price tag. I don’t think that your math works. </p>
<p>Are there openings at any SUNY campuses? Costs for OOS are less than half of NYU costs. </p>
<p>I’d add that a young person who holds down a full time job for a year is going to have a lot more realistic understanding of the impact that heavy debt might have on his life. My daughter’s first job coming out of college had a starting salary of about $36K. When she accepted that position, she thought it meant that she would be paid $3000 every month. When she saw the amount left over to deposit after all the payroll deductions, it was a definite wake up call.</p>