Ethnicity - Asian
International (live in the U.S + full pay though)
ACT - 35
GPA - 3.87/4.3
ECs: Kinda good I guess? Awards in science olympiad, board member of a pretty major nonprofit, Stanford internship. Tried to spike for biochem
I really just want to be in New York lol. I’m gunning for Columbia ED but I’m hoping that NYU could be a potential safety.
No. NYU’s acceptance rate is much too low to be considered a safety.
NYU’s acceptance rate this last admissions cycle was 15% with 85k applicants. 3 colleges at NYU had single digit acceptance rates.
FYI for what it’s worth
ah that’s quite shocking! I thought it would’ve been higher.
With a 15% acceptance rate, NYU is a reach for nearly all applicants. As an international applicant, it will be difficult to find a true safety.
In NYC, Fordham would be a match school, Hofstra probably a highly likely admit. If you’re female, look at Barnard as a Columbia alternative, but it is another reach.
Is your state flagship a possible safety/near safety for you?
Agree with others. No college with a 15% acceptance rate is a safety for anyone. A safety school means you will almost certainly get in based on your grades and test scores, and can afford it, and would be happy to attend. You also have to consider acceptance rate. For someone with your stats, I think schools with an above 60% acceptance rate will be safeties.
As a full pay student, you are going to have plenty of good choices though. Target colleges with higher acceptance rates, maybe in the 30%-50% range, which will be matches most likely. Show interest. Look at some of the liberal arts colleges outside of NYC, which might look more favorably on a full pay, high stats, international Asian.
If you must be in NYC, you can try colleges in the CUNY system. Baruch and Hunter come to mind. You can also check out Cooper Union and St. John’s.
@whippymop We recently received a similar question and wrote this article to cover the topic in-depth which might help you answer questions in general. You can read more at this link: https://insights.collegeconfidential.com/how-to-choose-dream-target-and-safety-schools
Seen people with stats similar to the OP waitlisted or denied (IIRC the denied was stern). NYU really is holistic on admissions so even perfect scores are no guarantee - therefore not a safety. Full pay will help within the international pool as international admissions are need aware (domestic are need blind). Fordham should be a likely with those stats but I’m not sure if/how much internationals are disadvantaged on admission there.
Wow! Okay this is quite a surprise. I was under the impression that NYU was mid 30s in acceptance rate. Also, I must clarify, I’m Canadian. Not Chinese. Do you think EDing to Columbia would be a stupid idea then? I had thought that my stats were good enough to have a chance but I’m having second thoughts now.
The acceptance rates of NYU dropped pretty steeply in the past three years. It was pretty stead at around 30%+ for a while, but in 2017 it dropped to 28%, in 2018 it suddenly dropped to 20%, last year to 16%, and this year it was 15%.
“I must clarify, I’m Canadian”
What is the motivation for spending an extra US$200,000 to attend NYU rather than McGill or Toronto or somewhere else in Canada?
I will admit that this might be a more difficult question to answer for the US schools that would be more likely admits such as Fordham.
well, I’ve lived in the U.S all my life and ideally I’d like to stay here
Are you a US permanent resident? If so, then for the purpose of applying to universities, and for the purpose of having in-state tuition at public schools in your state, then you would be the same as a US citizen. What state do you live in?
As a Canadian citizen, at Canadian schools you would pay as a Canadian citizen.
Of course this means that if you are a US permanent resident then you have both in-state prices at public universities in your state and Canadian prices in Canada, which means there are a lot of universities which would be very affordable for you. Also, at least in our experience in-state public schools in the US and universities in Canada have relatively predictable admissions, meaning that you should be able to find quite a few very good safeties.
NYU will be worth an application (since you said you can afford it) but it is not a safety.