Can I Consider NYU as a High Safety/Low Match? (At the risk of sounding egotistical)

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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<p>Let me first say that I'm not trying to be arrogant. I was recently deferred at Cornell and I'm only wondering as to how safe of a choice NYU would be for me. I'm well aware of last year's low acceptance rate (~29.2%). If accepted, I will definitely consider attending, depending on the size of the financial aid package.</p>

<p>Applying to CAS (Biology)</p>

<p>Gender/Ethnicity: Male, Asian</p>

<p>Location: New York</p>

<p>Graduating Class Size: ~650</p>

<p>GPA:
Unweighted: 3.86 (2 B+s and a B, all in math, not your typical Asian :))
Weighted: ~4.9 (Weird system; the max is 5.3 if a student took all honors and APs, but since I transferred to a new school district during 9th grade, I was forced to take 6 lower level classes, which screwed my weighted GPA)</p>

<p>Rank: School doesn't rank (But probably around 7-8%, which may be somewhat detrimental)</p>

<p>Courseload:
10th Grade: AP World History (5)
11th Grade: AP English Language (5), AP Calculus AB (4), AP American History (5)
12th Grade (In Progress): AP Biology, AP Comparative Government, AP Spanish, AP English Literature, AP Statistics
The rest are mostly honors courses.</p>

<p>Standardized Test Scores:
ACT: 35
SAT I: 2190 (690CR, 780M, 720W)
SAT IIs: Biology (710), Math I(740), US History (760)
(Sent both)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Activities/Awards: (I think these may also be somewhat problematic)
-Internship at Brookhaven National Laboratory in X-ray DEI (Diffraction Enhanced Imaging)
-Science Bowl Team (I finally made it senior year, we've won the regionals 4 years in a row but the competition is in Feb so this probably won't help at all)
-150+ hours of volunteering at hospital
-Varsity Tennis 4th singles (Definitely not good enough to play for college)
-AP Scholar (Probably shouldn't even bother to list this)
-National Fraternity of Student Musicians (Piano Guild)
-Marching Band (10th grade only)
-Youth group leader at church
-Spanish Honor Society
-Global Language Honor Society
-Future Business Leaders of America</p>

<p>Subjective evaluation of:
Essays: Commonapp one is pretty good, or so I thought (My English teachers thought so too). I haven't started yet on the supplement.
Recs: Both should be great, one might be slightly better than the other one.
Counselor Rec: Good/Mediocre (I only met with him maybe 4-5 times throughout my high school career, and half of those times I was there to complain about the school administration messing up my schedule, not weighing honors courses from my previous school district, etc).</p>

<p>I appreciate any constructive input. Thanks in advance.</p>

2

<p>sounds like your in for CAS</p>

3

<p>in for sure</p>

4

<p>yeah i think ur def in</p>

5

<p>I would say that NYU would be a low match for you - you never know due to the large amount of applications they recieve.</p>

6

<p>yea, you seem like a perfect candidate, but then again, so are most people who apply. i'd say apply, but don't get your hopes up too too high, just in case. there are so many people who have amazing stats who get rejected just cause...well i have no idea why, but you never know. i'm not saying you're definitely in just because you never know what admissions thinks, but i personally would want you in my school. :)</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>

<p>Just out of curiosity, if I am accepted, is there a possibility that I will have a shot at getting close to a full ride (excluding room & board)? I would almost certainly attend if my total cost per year is <15K, since that would beat most of the financial aid packages I would receive from the other schools that I'm applying to. Also, are the merit awards largely based on academics/SAT+ACT scores, or do the intangibles of your application play a greater role in determining the amount financial aid that you will receive?</p>

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<p>I wouldn't call NYU a match for anyone, frankly. Take a look at the threads for the students accepted and rejected ED. There were students who got in who I thought were too weak, and then there were students who were rejected but had fabulous numbers and ECs. The adcom has proven over and over again that it'll choose who it wants to, no reasons given.</p>

<p>As for an almost full ride to CAS, you might get it. I got the top Presidential Honors Scholarship when I applied to NYU - my test scores and GPA were better than yours, but I think my ECs were weaker. That being said, I graduated in 2007 so the standards may well have gone up since then.</p>

<p>As a senior in college, I asked an admissions officer why I had gotten the scholarship. She refused to give me any specifics and kept to the party line - people like me who received the top Presidential Honors Scholarships were in the top 5% in the incoming class. So I assume numbers play a significant role in how the best scholarships are given out.</p>

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<p>Just an interesting thing I've noticed... Asians like to play tennis in high school. Don't take this comment as racist or offensive, as I am Asian myself, but it's a personal thing that I've noticed. :]</p>

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<p>Yes...99 percent of us also play the piano and/or the violin.</p>

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<p>^true that lol (piano 6 years)</p>

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<p>first of all, i say you are most likely in for NYU - or so we would think. this guy who is 4th in our class didnt get in. (the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd placed kids all got into MIT and many got into bucknell, upenn, etc..just for some perspective on my school.) anywho, i agree with what was mentioned earlier - you can never know for sure! but apply definitely, you have a great shot.</p>

<p>also, we have a boys and girls tennis team and there is not ONE asian on either! interesting....</p>

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<p>Looks like your school is part of that 1% :)</p>

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<p>quartknee u probably dont have asians in your school?</p>

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<p>I'd think you're chances of getting in are fairly good, your stats are almost the same as mine were last year, and your ECs are similar. In terms of money that might not be so great, I didn't get any kind of merit scholarship, good luck to you though!</p>

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<p>I think you'll get in, but you may not get a full ride. Your stats are similar to mine, and I am currently in CAS.</p>

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<p>... I had better stats than you and I did not get anywhere near a full ride. NYU does not GIVE full rides, like EVER.</p>

<p>2nd - Don't get your hopes too high - NYU is dropping its acceptance rate a lot this year because it accepted way too many last year.</p>

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<p>"I had better stats than you and I did not get anywhere near a full ride. NYU does not GIVE full rides, like EVER"</p>

<p>From what I can see, you only beat me in class rank and GPA (Top 5 out of 350, 4.0 UW and 4.6 W based on your stats profile). Given your SAT score (1300/1600, 2100/2400), I would say that there's some pretty high grade inflation at your high school. And since when was a 35 ACT (~2340+ based on conversion charts) lower than a 2100?</p>

<p>Also, I've done some research around the boards here and have found out that people do indeed get close to full rides (excluding room & board). I know that these merit scholarships are only awarded to the top 5% or so of applicants, so my chances of getting one are less than spectacular. I think that ultimately, if they want someone enough, they'll give that applicant as much aid as they can reasonably afford in order to ensure that he/she enrolls. Right now, I'm just wondering whether I'm qualified enough to have a shot at it.</p>

<p>"2nd - Don't get your hopes too high - NYU is dropping its acceptance rate a lot this year because it accepted way too many last year."</p>

<p>Fewer</a> apply to Class of 2011 - News</p>

<p>Based on the article above, NYU accepted 10,500 last year and expected ~4200 to enroll. 4395 actually enrolled, which means they were off by ~4.6% (Fast</a> Facts | Office of Undergraduate Admissions | New York University)</p>

<p>I'm not sure how much difference 195 extra students can make, but I assume that, given the student body size of NYU, it wouldn't affect class sizes to a such a significant degree that it would make the admissions office radically alter the admissions process in order to "drop its acceptance rate".</p>

<p>Again, I'm not here to boast or anything. I know that there exists the possibility that I will not be accepted. I'm also aware of the fact that, assuming I'm accepted, my chances of receiving a significant amount of financial aid is mediocre at best. NYU is certainly not my dream school, but judging from my visit last week, I would be more than happy if I ended up here. In fact, I prefer NYU over half of my match/reach schools. Right now I'm just hoping that, if accepted, my cost of attendance is manageable enough so I don't have to impose excessive financial burdens on my family or myself in the future.</p>

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<p>First off, there is no way to call NYU a safety school and not sound egotistical. My parents lectured me for an hour for calling Bard my safety. However, I understand that you tried your hardest to to seem like an arrogant prick, and you for the most part succeeded. (If I had to get lectured, you at least deserved a mini-lecture).</p>

<p>Yes your stats are incredibly impressive, but how are your essays. Are they on a unique topic or are they your average "How losing the basketball semi-state game taught me a life lesson"? NYU looks for way more than just academics. Yes if your stats aren't up to par you most likely won't get in, however, just because your stats are way above par doesn't mean you'll get in either. From what I've read about everyone else's ED admission decisions, to get into NYU, you need a hook. </p>

<p>Also, with experiences just from my friends, it seems to me that the ivies and unofficial ivies give out a whole lot more financial aid than NYU. My friend got into Yale and would have only had to pay 3,000 a year and he is not below the poverty line by far (he went to Stanford instead, don't know how much he pays). Another goes to Harvard and I'm sure she got tons of money too, or else she couldn't have gone. </p>

<p>If you want to go to NYU, you have to be prepared to pay. Yes NYU give out full ride once in a blue moon, but counting on that is like counting on a snow day in Atlanta. Yes it is theoretically possible, but I'd do my homework anyway.</p>

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<p>Again, at the risk of sounding arrogant, I believe that my essays are significantly above average. I wouldn't consider them to be stellar by any means but I'm relatively certain that they are well written and they adequately communicate my personality and my life experiences. In the end, I think (or rather I hope, since this is only a subjective evaluation) that the worst case scenario is that they will neither help nor hurt my application.</p>