Jewishkidaz, if you’re planning on going to law school, save yourself all that debt and go to Syracuse. It truly won’t matter in your law school admissions. I went to a school few have heard of, much further down the prestige ladder than either NYU or Syracuse, but still got into a top 10 law school and landed at a large Wall Street firm. Your GPA and LSATs will be much more important. And NYU isn’t going to just hand you internships and opportunities - you’ll have to work for them. There will be opportunities at Syracuse, too. It is more about what YOU do than the school name on your diploma. Debt of over $100,000 for an undergraduate degree is crazy. Even if you could pay it off with an inheritance, think of all the other things you could do with that inheritance if you didn’t have those loans hanging over your head.
Dumb question from a Midwesterner: Are there actually places on this planet where NYU is considered head and shoulders above Syracuse in quality?
- No one is entitled to an education beyond HS. You have to work and pay for it.
- Syracuse will provide you an amazing education. Take the excellent opportunity that you've been given.
Still can’t believe you’re throwing aside a free ASU option.
A perspective from someone who lives in the Southeast, has many colleagues who went to Syracuse and many who went to NYU…and many who ultimately went to Law or Business school:
– Based on your scenario, GO TO SYRACUSE. It’s a great school with a national rep that equals NYUs (and surpasses it in some areas).
– The rest of us are surprised you are not jumping at ASU, esp since you are set on grad school anyway and you’ll likely get top grades and a great education (ASU faculty is some of the nation’s best, esp since so many esteemed people want to retire there so they take faculty jobs there). But, I get it-- you “hate” Arizona and your peers…so best allow someone else to have your slot-- someone a little more, uh, embracing.
– For grad school, consider NYU. Great law and business school, great connections, great environment.
The debt (even with a ‘guaranteed’ eventual pay off) is totally not worth it. It’ll kill your first ten years of work. I promise.
My pals who were NYU undergrads do not have the same depth of feeling about NYU then my Syracuse friends have for SU. And they are equally successful.
Don’t financial companies and banks do credit checks on prospective hires? How on earth would a new graduate with more than $100k of unsecured student debt find employment in the financial industry? There would be a risk they would embezzle. I do see OP has seen the light and will make a mature decision.
NYU is very popular but has consistently been ranked one of the “worst buys”. I received two FA awards for NYC universities: Columbia and NYU. NYU wanted me to take thousands of dollars in loans; Columbia offered me a full grant with no grants or work-study. While NYU was originally my first choice, the reality is that an Ivy League education was free.
ASU and Barrett honors has a great reputation. Are all your classmates going to be in honors?
It would also be warm there, no need for winter clothes.
And you would be closer to your mom, you mentioned medical expenses.
A lot of kids want to get away, but then for various reasons return, that free ride won’t be there then.
Just some things to contemplate.
I’m still trying to figure out how “only” $15,000/yr assistance from mom, plus “only” $35,000 in debt over 4 years (so, loans of ~$8750/year), which totals $23,750/year is “almost a full ride” to Syracuse. Seems like odd use of the phrase to me.
How does your offer from Syracuse break down with respect to merit/grant/loan aid? The reason I ask is that if the aid package is contingent upon current medical circumstances and that changes, your package in subsequent years might also change. You should clarify these details to your family’s satisfaction before making a final decision.
To pile on, NYU is not worth the premium; Syracuse and ASU are both fine choices academically. I can see that you’d prefer to stretch your wings, assuming Syracuse really is affordable.
Oh please. Unless you have someone bankrolling you for all of these costs, your thinking is flawed.
If your only choices are unaffordable NYU and Syracuse where you do not to go, take a gap year. Apply next year to affordable schools you actually want to attend.
You don’t need this excessive NYU debt to reach your goal or to have good opportunities for networking.
Inheritances sometimes don’t pay out how and when you imagine.
I know a man who I was told was going to receive a huge inheritance when his relative died. He and his wife allegedly were rubbing their hands in anticipation of buying a big house to raise their kids in and having the great life (they were quite comfortable, but not wealthy). Well, the kids have been raised and are out of college now, they are still in the old smaller house (probably perfect size for empty nesters), and at 58 years old ,he is still “waiting” for the relative to die. This relative may well live to be 100, as he is in absolutely perfect health. Looks like the inheritance didn’t come through in the way this man always envisioned.
What does this mean? If your parents have health issues, don’t count on there being a lot left to inherit. Base your decision off what your parents say they can afford out of current income and whatever they’ve saved for college, not some future windfall that may not exist when you need it. Your parents may feel guilty that a medical issue limits your options and agree to borrow more than they should to make up for it. Do not let that happen.
Ok, here it goes…
Speaking as a person who holds 2 grad degrees from NYU (no hate for NYU from me) and whose kid is an attorney (and a life long New Yorker).
I did not even consider the option of my own kid attending NYU undergrad with massive debt or taking on 200k debt to attend their law school (and she took and aced classes at NYU as a high school student and turned down the law school with no $$).
Blossom is right; NYU’s bread, butter and reputation is in their grad program (especially law and medicine). Unless you are admitted to Tisch or Stern, and only with a small amount of debt, I cannot see anyone going in NYU undergrad taking on massive debt.
Going to law school is about 2 things; LSAT and GPA (while NYU law may open some doors for you in big law, NYU undergrad will not). Any MBA program worth their salt wants work experience prior to attending B-school (8 of D’s closest friends all hold MBAs from HBS) and it was all the same; 3 years work experience then on to B- school. Take Blossom’s advice as a top corporate HR exec.
Take the money at Syracuse, who has a very strong alumni network in NYC (much stronger than NYUs) and don’t look back. Attend a couple of events at the Lubin house and get to know some people at Syracuse.
Prince Charles has been waiting for his inheritance for 50 years…
@jewishkidaz Something I don’t think I’ve seen mentioned about Syracuse is that for a lot of kids, it’s their dream school. From the Princeton Review:
The weather isn't much different than NYC -- especially compared to AZ -- and it's got just as good a network and more active alumni than NYU. Most of the reasons you're citing actually aren't accurate.
You can’t change the location, and nothing’s going to make Arizona or Syracuse be New York City. However, with the 100,000 you save, you can visit wherever you want. I totally get not wanting to stay in AZ, as there are certain parts of the country I wouldn’t want to live in myself. And yes, congrats on getting into NYU, and you’ll be a bit disappointed if you end up at Syracuse. But you can suck just about anything up for four years for that kind of money.
Another dumb Midwesterner here.
That #7 rating in economics and business is based entirely on research reputation and research output. Important for grad school, for sure.
But (related to another thread) I think the U at Buffalo is pretty decent, too!
On the topic of the predictability of an inheritance, an older relative was paying nursing home costs not covered by Medicare of $10,000 a month for a small single room during the last couple of years of his life in a decent but not lavish facility in a small Midwestern city.
Another story about waiting for inheritance… I know this guy who waited for his father’s big inheritance throughout his adulthood. While waiting in all these years, he had not been, should we say, the most productive citizen. When the father ‘finally’ died, imaging the son’s surprise in discovering that the will stipulates the inheritance to be paid out monthly matching the son’s earned income.
It always baffles me how “top” students so keen to study “economics,” don’t understand the value of a dollar and how much in earnings is required to pay the debt service on six-figure debt.