Chance Me for NYU, GaTech, Berkeley, UMich (GA resident, 3.7, 1570, finance/business) [<$20k from parents, NMSF]

Demographics

  • US citizen
  • Georgia
  • Somewhat competitive public high school (not totally sure how to gauge competitiveness)
  • Asian male
  • Sibling legacy to GaTech

Intended Major(s)
Finance/business

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.7 (upward trend, 3.9 after freshman year, not sure if that means anything)
  • Weighted HS GPA (incl. weighting system): 4.2
  • Class Rank: school doesn’t do rank
  • SAT: 1570

Coursework
~12 AP Courses, 6 DE Courses, handful of honors courses
AP Calc AB, AP Calc BC, GaTech DE LinAl + Multi, AP Physics 1, AP Physics C, AP Micro + Macro, AP Gov, AP World, AP CSP, AP CSA, AP Stat

Awards

  • Honor Roll
  • 2x Gold PVSA
  • 3rd FBLA Nationals in relevant event
  • National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist
  • AP Scholar with Distinction
  • Top ~3% in state-level decently competitive finance competition

Extracurriculars

  • Established and manage nonprofit based on a health app with 700+ downloads and 100+ monthly users
  • Programming/data intern for local financial services company
  • Founded and run finance club at school
  • Emory business school research assistant
  • Vice-president of state chapter of nonprofit tutoring organization

Essays/LORs/Other
Average

Schools

ED: NYU (Stern)
EA: GaTech, UGA

Safety: GSU
Target: UT Austin, UIUC, UWash
Reach: UMich, Berkeley, CMU, UPenn, Stanford (applying to CA schools because of supposed omittance of freshman grades in GPA calculation where I would have a 3.9)

Current high school senior first-year applicant btw

The only school on your list that doesn’t count freshman grades is Berkeley.

Can your family afford to be full pay? Or are you expecting some kind of merit or need based aid?

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While Ga Tech dual enrollment math is no guarantee for admission, it is rare that someone who has done a year of math at Tech is rejected. So your chances are pretty good.

For UGA, have you calculated your weighted GPA using their system?

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Parents would probably contribute around 20k a year so I would be seeking some type of financial aid

You won’t get any aid at the out of state public colleges.

At Tech & UGA, I assume you are eligible for Zell?

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Yes

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I think it would be roughly a 4.0

Would you be eligible for need based aid?

FYI…Berkeley gives zero dollars in need based aid to OOS students…and maybe $3000 at the most in competitive merit aid. That one would cost you $75000 a year…or so.

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4.0 UGA weighted is a bit on the low side. The middle 50% for admitted students last year was 4.04-4.32

Some decent amount I think, though I’m not totally sure. The NYU NPC said I would get ~$40k in aid if I remember correctly.

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It can actually get quite a bit higher than that for Regents (even approaching full ride), but of course it’s a long shot and you certainly can’t count on it. So I do totally agree that it doesn’t make a lot of sense to apply to Berkeley out of state if you aren’t prepared to pay full price - around $70K/year.

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NYU costs over $80,000 a year. Where is the rest of your cost to attend going to come from?

I’m not going to discourage you from applying…but the costs should be considered.

You have great instate options.

Are you interested in getting suggestions for additional colleges?

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My parents would contribute around 20k a year. I do really like to the school and the city though. And yes, I’m open to other school suggestions.

$40,000 in aid, plus $20,000 still leaves you with a shortfall of at least $20,000 for NYU.

You have a strong SAT score and your GPA is fine. Would Fordham be of interest? Try that net proce calculator and see what it says.

There are lots of cities…is NYC the only one of interest?

As a NMF you have the potential to be a finalist and that opens up the door to a number of colleges with great awards for NMS. Fordham has an award that is not guaranteed, but is possible.

University of Tulsa is another option for national merit finalist awards.

The usual suspects…University of Arizona, University of New Mexico, University of Alabama, Arizona State, UT Dallas (I think).

Check the NPC for Southern Methodist University. That’s a possibility.

Emory?

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Thanks for the suggestions. By the way, is $80k a lot of debt for a graduate/would that take a really long time to pay off?

Also, could I even get into NYU?

I’m not an adcom. I always tell students to reach for whatever they want to reach for. So apply to NYU and see. But have ALL of your other applications done as well. Make sure you don’t miss any deadlines for scholarships…some of those dates are earlier.

If you get accepted to NYU, and it’s affordable, you can withdraw all the other applications. If you don’t get accepted, the other applications will be all done.

Re: debt. I personally think less is better. For $80,000 in loans, you will be paying close to $1000 a month for about 10 years.

NYU COA is $90k per year, so your shortfall is $30k/year (and it’ll be higher each year). You’re talking about at least a $120k loan. IMO, definitely not worth it.

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You can’t even borrow that much as a student. There is a limit. To get that much in loans, your parents would have to co-sign and be willing to take responsibility for you debt. That is not a smart move financially.

Are there any good ways to help pay for the cost besides loans like working while in school? How much is it realistic to make?