I am a current sophomore. both my eighth and ninth grade grades probably averaged a C/C+ (in my school, eighth grade grades are on our transcripts/gpa) this year, my grades have gone up to about a B average, and im working hard to keep it up and bring it up higher. all of my classes are honors, (and all will be) and I am planning on not taking any ap classes, but our 11th grade US History course is AP level (does that count?). I got an 1100 on the PSAT without any studying and without completing 10th grade math (is that good) and I am going to start studying as soon as the semester ends in a few weeks, so hopefully i can bring it up a lot higher. my dream college is NYU, but I am aware of how selective it is, but I really want to go. do you think I have a chance?
Too early to tell, but it’ll definitely be a reach.
Can you and your family afford to pay full tuition and expenses?
You will need at least a B+ or A- average to be a competitive applicant for NYU, and about 1350 or above on your SAT.
You need to stay at A’s and B+'s to stand a chance, and try to get to a 1400 SAT to make up for lower GPA. Also NYU is very expensive, can you family afford it? Not taking any AP classes isn’t going to look amazing for a competitive school like that either.
NYU has crappy financial aid. Be sure you know that before getting your heart set on it.
NYC has many cheaper alternatives, if being in NYC is your choice. Check out CUNY system of schools. It’s an entire system of colleges (including 4-year senior colleges, 2-year community colleges, technical institutes, etc.) Some of the schools offer top-notch programs at a fraction of the cost of NYU.
Hit the “explore” button when you follow this link-- http://www2.cuny.edu/admissions/undergraduate/
Also google [cuny] and [notable alumni] to discover who else graduated from those schools and the various colleges.
the financial aspect shouldn’t be a problem, because my mom works at NYU and her benefit is that her kids receive free tuition (with taxes) but yeah that lowers the cost a LOT so thats not a make it or break it for the school
Okay so maybe look into the Liberal Studies program at NYU or the Gallatin program. They have different admissions streams, I think . . . . My understanding is that the Liberal Studies program takes slightly lower scores (sends the kids abroad immediately so that it doesn’t count against NYU’s USN&WR reporting) and nurtures them into the upper tier school.
Maybe your mom’s benefit extends to one of NYU’s international campuses? That could be an interesting option, Shanghai?? Perhaps??
NYU Liberal Studies Program
http://www.liberalstudies.nyu.edu/page/home
NYU Gallatin
https://gallatin.nyu.edu/
NYU Abu Dhabi
http://nyuad.nyu.edu/en/
NYU Shanghai
https://shanghai.nyu.edu/
I would bet about $10Million that the int campuses have much more lenient standards–because a main objective is going to be sucking in full tuition payments from these pools of wealth, and they don’t need to report these scores to the USN&WR. Just my opinion. I may be wrong. Check thoroughly that your mom’s benefit extends to all NYU campuses before moving in this direction.