<p>To answer the OP’s title question directly, YES, you can negotiate or appeal. You can let them know of other pending offers. And you should make that effort if you really want or need the funds. My opinion is that it isn’t going to net you much if anything. But it doesn’t hurt to try.</p>
<p>2collegewego, still doesn’t mean that NYU did not define need for the person. In fact, up until recently, NYU could and did give far better fin aid awards than ivies, even HPY in cases where a NCP was involved because NYU used FAFSA only. That has changed. I don’t know if the PROFILE they now use asks for NCP info, but they now include home equity, want to know your family’s retirement resources, sibling accounts, just to include a few differences. But prior to this change kids who were entitled to zero aid at an ivy due to a well to do NCP or high home equity amounts, just to give two examples, could qualify and get big bucks from NYU through financial aid Also, NYU was very “loosey” in terms of defining need when they made a play for a student. Throw in the fact that they could add merit to the aid, something that ivies do not do since they do not give merit money, they coul do better in a package than even the most generous schools when they so chose.</p>
<p>Being from the NYC area could help or hurt an applicant. Help due to certain community programs that NYU does subscribe to for some locals. Hurt, in that nearly every single good student in the area applies to NYU and NYU does want geographic diversity. They can fill their classes with NYers who desperately want to go there and will beg, borrow and sell to do so. Why should they pay for any but the top of the top? They will cut more slack for someone from out of state to build diversity, especially underrepresented states. </p>
<p>My frined’s son was eligible for financial aid because the family had two in college. NYU’s merit/aid package was the top dollar amount by quite a bit including ivy league schools. His local top 25 university which has the same "aura " that NYU does for NYers offered him self help only. That is the kind of difference one can get in aid offers.</p>
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<p>Your stats are great. But applying ED to a school like NYU basically says, ‘take me and I’ll agree to be full pay.’ </p>
<p>If you wanted to negotiate, you should have applied RD. </p>
<p>NYU’s website is clear: if you want to compare financial aid offers, do not apply ED.</p>
<p>From section H2A of the NYU CDS: “List the number of degree-seeking full-time and less-than-full-time undergraduates who had no financial need and who were awarded institutional non-need-based scholarship or grant aid”</p>
<p>176 for an average of <$7K</p>
<p>There is SOME merit aid out there, certainly not much.</p>
<p>This thread has been interesting. For a long time many NYU fans have been stating that there is big merit out there for tippy top students. This thread reveals that “need” is also a HUGE component for big merit for tippy top students. </p>
<p>So, it seems to me that NYU has a very limited amount of aid budgetted (merit or need), doesn’t meet need, so their answer is to strictly give big merit to top students with need otherwise those students’ would get gapped. </p>
<p>I think NYU has only recently been asking for CSS…that may be so that they can further sniff out those who truly have need and not accidentally give merit to those who have lots of equity or something else that CSS captures.</p>
<p>The 176 figure surprises me. Wonder if that includes the Abu Dhabi campus, as I mused before. </p>
<p>Well, things change from year to year, so who knows what the situation is this year. Penn State is suddenly issuing merit awards out of the blue. Pitt has cut down on their merit awards and made them far more competitive. CMU is committing to meet full need for ED kids… All things that were not the case at one time.</p>
<p>The 176 is the same data I quoted earlier, 176/5000 = 3.5%</p>
<p>mom2ck, Yes, that’s my take away also. </p>
<p>cpt, yes, I know they could have defined aid differently but there’s no ncp and the family does have more than one property with no mortgages-- so even discarding the home, it would be a stretch-- but maybe NYU made that stretch? Who knows. It was a few years back and, as far as this person knows, there was no fa since they offered no aid but things could have become tighter. They had a very sweet deal though. Anyway, thanks for the info. I didn’t realize that NYU basically limited those big awards to people with some fa. It is helpful when talking to kids. Oh, and they do now require Profile’s ncp form.</p>
<p>What you got is basically an admit/deny decision. If you want to come, ok, but we won’t do anything for you. My son got ED from NYU Tish Theater and between Merit and need-based he would still be $ 25K short per year, in other words a $100K debt for a BFA. Thankfully he was also admitted to NYU Abu Dhabi - and got an very generous full ride. </p>
<p>I think you can appeal and try to negotiate some aid, but you basically have your first big business decision to make. What is the cost/benefit ratio for you? After all is said and done, with summer programs and workshops you will owe around $ 300K to your parents and loan companies - now start looking at the interest that needs to be paid and what your chances are to get a well paying job and how long it will then take you to pay it off. Then think about a possible relationship/marriage/house/children and if you could ever pay for all of that.<br>
Growing up is overrated.</p>
<p>* Penn State is suddenly issuing merit awards out of the blue*</p>
<p>Well, do you think this has anything to do with last year’s scandal?</p>
<p>AbuDhabimom, do you think the numbers for merit aid include the Abu Dhabi campus? That 176 figure, which I figured was the same as what Bob had come up with, still seems high to me. </p>
<p>2collegewego, things change from year to year, so it’s really impossible to say what the situation is now. I am well aware that it is entirely possible that I did not know a single person getting sizeable merit aid without financial aid over the last 15 years. Never even heard of a situation. But, yes, it is possible. So I’am not dismissing what you have said. I guess the answer is that it is rare. But the OP certainly ask about it and if the family cannot afford to pay the $65K cost that NYU has these days, then s/he can withdraw and cross NYU off her list in hopes of finding a school that will cost less. With an NYU accept profile, there will certainly be some such options. Can’t go much higher in cost anyways.</p>
<p>Wow… didn’t think so many replies… thanks a lot.</p>
<p>The reason I applied ED is, first, I heard there’s a higher possibility to get admitted than those in RD pools (maybe that’s wrong), second, I know it’s unlikely for me to get need based aid, but was hoping to get some merit based money. Again, I thought my stats were strong enough to get some.
My basic thoughts are if I’m showing them my commitment (I could’ve applied to an ivy) I might get something in return.</p>
<p>So I will talk to their financial aid office to try my luck. Another question: is it better to let my parents do the talk or myself? Or it doesn’t matter? Thanks again.</p>
<p>Merit is usually offered as an enticement to attend, not as a reward for doing well.
Schools arent motivated to offer merit to ED applicants, because those applicants are already showing them that the ED school is their first choice- they dont need to be “wooed”.
some schools ( Ivies et.al), dont offer straight merit awards, because it is assumed everyone is deserving who is admitted.
If you have a new notable achievement since your original application, then letting the school know, may inspire them to offer more money.
But since youve already applied ED, its not very likely.</p>
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<p>Absolutely true. (But your numbers are great, and would have been a likely in RD.)</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way in ED. </p>
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<p>Exactly, but you did not. But if you had been admitted to an Ivy (or other highly selective school), then NYU would have to compete for you to enroll with them, and they would compete with merit money; assuming of course, that they really wanted you.</p>
<p>But, by applying ED, you lost that ability to compete on price. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>To Captain of the House:
I’m not sure I understand all the figures that are mentioned here - I do know that he was offered merit aid, something presidential and some from Tisch. As far as I understand the financial aid to NYUAD is paid by the Abu Dhabi Government and not by NYU itself. Numbers have been thrown around about this aid, but from what I understood if your parents had a combined income of less than $250K you get a financial need scholarship - and I’m not sure if that is still true since the applications have been going up and the reputation as a good school is spreading, so there is less need to ‘entice’ students. Hope that answers your question</p>
<p>*My basic thoughts are if I’m showing them my commitment (I could’ve applied to an ivy) I might get something in return.</p>
<p>So I will talk to their financial aid office to try my luck. Another question: is it better to let my parents do the talk or myself? Or it doesn’t matter? Thanks again.*</p>
<p>Well consider this your first business lesson. You applied ED and therefore NYU knew that you were putting all your eggs in one basket therefore they didn’t feel they needed to offer you any incentives. They knew that you weren’t “shopping around.” </p>
<p>If you only had one grocery store in your region to buy from, would it bother to offer incentives (sales) to get you to shop there as a store in a community with 6 supermarkets?? No…it would know that it’s not competing with anyone else.</p>
<p>I would doubt that Abu Dhabi has much to do with the merit aid numbers. </p>
<p>I think most of the Abu Dhabi aid is classified as need-based (although on a totally different basis than NY campus).</p>
<p>More significantly, the merit aid numbers have been declining as Abu Dhabi has been brought online. In 2006-2007, for instance, the school awarded merit aid to 8.2% of the freshman class (386/4707), with average amount slightly less than $7,000.</p>
<p>In many cases, merit money is given to entice kids to commit to a school. As a result, in some schools, you are less likely to get merit during ED, though more likely to get full need met and a good needs package. THat’s a general rule of thumb. For ED, you are saying that you will come if accepted and if your FINANCIAL AID is adequate. Not merit aid. merit is usually offfered at the end of the process when the admissions office can see who they have and who they most want. ED students are old business at that point in most cases. </p>
<p>Bob, you are most likely right. Entirely possible that I just never knew anyone who got full pure merit from NYU.</p>
<p>I think a lot of the merit aid there is not academic like we usually discuss, but rather performance/acting/talent based. At least those are the merit awards I’ve heard about.</p>
<p>If you applied for financial aid, and you decide that you can’t afford to go, then you can ask for a release from your ED1 commitment. That’s spelled out in the ED agreement that you signed. </p>
<p>If you didn’t apply for financial aid, you are committed to attend, and shouldn’t have expected any merit aid. Why would they offer you merit money. They already had your agreement without it.</p>
<p>Classicrockerdad, you are absolutely right. However, NYU is not likely to hold the OP to the ED agreement if s/he does not want to go and/or come up with the money for it. How the high school looks at this is a whole other story. And whether NYU subscribes to the ED list that is circulated, I don’t know. </p>
<p>Seeing a lot of these this season–students applying ED and then trying to keep the option open due to lack of expected aid in merit as well FA.</p>