<p>Heya, I am a Community College student. Was a bad kid in High School... never took the SAT's... graduated with something like a 2.2 GPA... decided I was going to turn it around. So I hauled my ass through Community College and did just that. I completed all of the hard requirements in my first year, have straight A's (4.0), and I want to transfer and keep the rest of my undergraduate degree as cheap as possible.</p>
<p>I live in New Jersey, very far north, about 30 or so minutes from the city. I would love to go to a city school (Like NYU or Columbia) but the scholarships just don't seem to be there. NYU especially has horrendous merit based financial aid. I don't qualify for much, if any, need based aid... and my father might be willing to pay for NYU... but for the sake of my siblings (who will need college tuition to be paid of their own in the future), I would like to find a cheaper route. Preferably one with a full tuition coverage.</p>
<p>I have looked at New Jersey schools, and only two seem to be able to cover my full tuition with scholarships. William Paterson, and another college I would not be able to commute to so its off the table.</p>
<p>Is it possible to find a relatively cheap college experience as a transfer student in the city?</p>
<p>If not, are there any other suggestions for a cheap (or preferably no-cost) college? I honestly do not care how prestigious or otherwise the institution is. I plan to go to Law School, and my LSAT scores will speak for themselves. What matters to me is getting my Bachelors dirty cheap, and if I can do that in the city, then all is well. If not, then anywhere else will do.</p>
<p>Oh, it might be helpful to note that I am a member of Phi Theta Kappa (and eligible for their scholarships), and I have a great deal of extracurricular activities ranging from Student Government to launching a leadership program at my college.</p>
<p>If your community college transfer office isn’t particularly helpful in the scholarship hunt, check out the links from the Montgomery College (Maryland) website. A number of the scholarships identified are merit-based.</p>
<p>First you need to find out exactly how much your dad will pay each year. He may not want to pay $50k per year for NYU, but he might be willing to spend a much lower amount for a instate school or a low-cost SUNY or CUNY.</p>
<p>*I honestly do not care how prestigious or otherwise the institution is. I plan to go to Law School, and my LSAT scores will speak for themselves. What matters to me is getting my Bachelors dirty cheap, *</p>
<p>Right. Don’t spend/borrow too much for undergrad if law school needs to be paid for.</p>
<p>Are there any state schools that you could commute to?</p>
<p>Are there any SUNY/CUNYs that charge low OOS tuition? Do you live close enough to NY that you could commute to a SUNY?</p>
<p>Once you know what your ad will contribute and you tell us more info, we can better recommend schools.</p>
<p>My dad would be willing to contribute up to 50k. But I would prefer to go for as cheaply as possible.</p>
<p>The only schools that I could probably commute to are Ramsey (which offers no transfer scholarships) or William Paterson (Which seems to have enough offered to me to cover the full cost of my tuition.)</p>
<p>Ideally, I would like to live in the any of the 5 boroughs of New York City, but pay under 15k a year. Is that possible?</p>
<p>What about Fairleigh Dickinson University? They have two campuses, tuition is about $33-34k and they offer PTK scholarship to transfer students for $16,000.</p>
<p>I don’t see the competitive edge FDU has over William Paterson that makes it worth paying 16k to attend. If I would rather pay the 3k tuition over PTK scholarships to Rutgers and the 12k to dorm there and actually live on Rutgers campus than commute to FDU for the same price.</p>
<p>But my heart is really set on a city education, preferably. Does anyone know any way I can get a reasonably cheap education in the city?</p>
<p>However, with the exception of FIT, none of the SUNYs are in the city.</p>
<p>Hunter may have limited dorm availability. Queens college I think also now has dorms. ITE, Cuny has become more competitive as 2 years ago you could do on the spot admissions. This year, Queens did not offer fall 2010 students a seat to start in Jan 2011. When they filled up, they advised students to either apply early for next year, or take a seat somewhere else and apply as a transfer.</p>
<p>Are you saying your dad will pay $50k total, ($25k for each of your two years?) Or, $50k for each year ($100k total)?</p>
<p>*I would like to live in the any of the 5 boroughs of New York City, but pay under 15k a year. Is that possible? *</p>
<p>Including room, board, and books? No. OOS tuition alone is going to be about $15k per year (depending on the school). Do you mean a SUNY or CUNY?</p>
<p>What do you want in a school? If you pick a school that is largely a commuter campus, you won’t feel a connection to the school.</p>
<p>If I transferred to a city college, I would be living in an apartment in Queens. From there, I would either commute to a Manhattan college, or go to one in Queens.</p>
<p>I know St. Johns used to offer full scholarships to transfer students. But they discontinued that practice in 2006, sadly…</p>
<p>Hes willing to pay 50k a year. I am not willing to accept that much. I am just asking you to go over the different price options for me, because I just want to know what my options are. I can choose from there.</p>
<p>Any college in any of the 5 boroughs will be fine for me. I honestly don’t care what the college is, as long they are going to give me a degree, and I can get it cheaply.</p>
<p>I have been going to a commuter only community college with 17k students. I know how to make my place in the most awkward of situations :)</p>
<p>They all seem to have a noticeable lack of institutional scholarships, and seem to rely on scholarships from private providers. The scholarships that do exist only cover a fraction of the tuition.</p>
<p>Frankly, very few schools have any kind of substantial scholarships for transfer students.</p>
<p>Since you only have 2 years to go, and your dad is willing to pay, why not just go to a decent 4 year that isn’t outrageously expensive and quit worrying about little scholarships that aren’t likely going to make much difference. </p>
<p>Why not go to Ramapo or the College of New Jersey? or go south to an inexpensive 4 year flagship?</p>
<p>Haha, maybe? But who is to blame and who is not to blame isn’t going to help me find the best school. I will just keep bumping this periodically in case anyone has sent one of their children to a NYC College at a cheap rate.</p>
<p>*Why not go to Ramapo or the College of New Jersey? or go south to an inexpensive 4 year flagship? *</p>
<p>*That is likely what is going to end up happening. But can you really blame me for wanting to look into my NYC Options? *</p>
<p>What is in NYC that you want? If it’s just for occasional visits to NYC hot spots you can do that during Christmas break, Spring break, and summers when you’re home.</p>
<p>Honestly…you’re pre-law…go to a good 4 year that will well prepare you for the a law career.</p>
<p>Here’s what a tier 1 law school says…</p>
<p>**LAW School ACADEMIC BACKGROUND</p>
<p>The Law School does not require applicants to have specialized in any particular academic majors or subject areas closely related to law during their undergraduate education. However, potential law students should choose courses that will enhance their abilities in the areas of critical thinking, oral and written expression, and logical and analytical reasoning. Applicants considering law school are encouraged to enroll in a broad range of courses that will help develop these skills. **</p>
<p>So… it’s a good idea to have a college curriculum that includes the following courses… (these can be within any major, minor, general education req’ts, or electives.)</p>
<p>writing courses
critical thinking philosophy courses
deductive logic philosophy courses
maybe some business and econ classes
some science classes
some math classes
communication/speech class
literature courses</p>
<p>Most of my law-school preparation is not going to be course-related at all. It is just going to be 4 months studying two hours a day for the LSAT’s.</p>