I am an international student from Sri Lanka, and I got into the NYU CAS for an English Major for the class of 2022. I applied for ED2 ( which I am regretting) and am now in a dilemma whether to commit or not. NYU was my first choice, however with a 20K scholarship, the school isn’t exactly affordable to me. Furthermore, I also got into University of Iowa and Hofstra University ( the latter with a 27K schol) and am still waiting on the decision for two more universities ( BU and UCB) I don’t have a good SAT score, with just a 1360, but I performed really well in my GCE Advanced Levels, with 3As. Now my question is this, do I commit to NYU, hoping that I can cover up to 20K with a job ( my parents can manage the 30) or do I decline, and set my sights on another school because I won’t be able to cover the cost?
I’d say you can’t afford it and should decline.
“hoping that I can cover up to 20K with a job”
Earning 20k per year after taxes while attending university full time seems very unlikely to actually happen. That is pretty much a full time job at the salary you are likely to get. A full time job seems both very unlikely to be something that you could find, and also incompatible with taking a full load of classes and keeping an acceptable GPA. This is probably also incompatible with your student visa. Going to NYU for a year and running up huge debt could put you into a very bad situation. To me this looks like a disaster waiting to happen unless you have at least $80,000 sitting around somewhere that you haven’t told us about.
As I understand ED and ED2, the only grounds on which you can refuse to go there is on the basis that you can’t afford it. The good news is that this is exactly your situation.
I am inclined to agree with @twoinanddone that you can’t afford it.
With a student visa, you won’t be able to earn anywhere near 20k. You will not get a student visa for NYU because you won’t be able to demonstrate that you can afford to attend it.
NYU is unaffordable. Contact them, and let them know that you won’t be coming because of the cost. NYU rarely gives good financial aid, so they won’t be surprised at all if you turn them down.
NYU is not going to fully fund your education. It is unaffordable.
UCB will not be affordable. It is a California public school.
You will not receive a penny of aid as an international student at a California public school. Fees there will run you ~$62K per year.
You do not qualify for that amount in loans from any US institutions.
Did you even check the actual costs for some of these schools?
You can’t “hope” that you will get funding to cover your fees.
You simply won’t be able to earn $20K with a job. As an international student you can only work 20 hours per week on campus. Those jobs pay little – depending on where you live it could be as little as $10-$12 per hour. You can do the math.
@chasingfaes9 Please pay attention to this. It’s not just NYU. To get a student visa, you must be able to show that you can afford whatever school you choose without having to work while in the US. If your parents can demonstrate that they can support you with $30K for four years, then you will have to choose a college whose costs are less than that (or where you receive scholarships that bring the cost to below $30k).
It looks like your Hofstra scholarship could be your ticket. It’s a fine school. University of Iowa would be a great school for an English major too. Would that be affordable?
These are your two options and they are fine options to have, especially for your major. UCB and BU are not going to be any more affordable than NYU and you will waste precious time waiting for them. Get started now on learning about the US student visa process and ensuring that your family’s funding sources will be acceptable. Learn about deadlines and verifications and all those things.
How much does Iowa cost? It’s very very strong in English
@MYOS1634 Iowa is affordable, and it’s a serious alternative, except the fact that NY would be ideal for me.
If you applied ED and were accepted, you should have cancelled the other applications. If you cant afford NYU you need to decline NOW. 20k from a notoriously ungenerous schools is quite good, and if you apply ED, follow the rules. IF you cant afford it, let it go.
@jym626: actually that’s not the way it works - if the college doesn’t provide full need and isn’t affordable, then the student doesn’t have to pull other applications, however the students does indeed to notify the Ed school they’re not affordable.
Honestly being a college student in NYC isn’t all that great since you can’t go to clubs or bars till you’re 21 and everything else costs a LOT of money whereas it’s free or low cost at many universities which work hard on campus activities and entertainment.
If u Iowa is affordable, considering how good it is, I’d go there in a heartbeat.
(Did you get into the honors college or apply to honors? If you can apply, do).
Of course if the school doesnt meet the students need (if it is unaffordable) they can decline. That is not news. And thats what has been said over and over (and in my post). But they should not hold an ED accceptance and still hold other acceptances after a deadline to accept.
^ sorry, I hadn’t understood that was your point. You’re right indeed. Sorry.
@chasingfaes9 : decline at NYU, tell them it’s unaffordable. Apply to honors college at Iowa if you haven’t already. Congratulations for getting into a top-notch program (for English, Iowa is as, if not more prestigious than NYU).
Thanks for your follow-up post, @MYOS1634. I thought I was clear, but maybe I needed to be clearer. You are right about Iowa’s writing program. It is superb and many are not familiar with it.
@MYOS1634 @jym626 Thank you, I decided to decline NYU, and opt for Iowa. Also, planning to apply to the honors program - fingers crossed. Thank you once again.
Congratulations!
And fingers crossed for the honors program 
Thank you @MYOS1634!
@MYOS1634 Just wanted to update and say that I got into the honors program. Thank you once again.
Iowa is an interesting & beautiful campus. Congratulations !