NYU is notorious for financial aid but they still give merit scholarships or other financial aids to the students they want to keep. Apply during RD and see what happens if NYU is your dream school. Don’t commit during ED if money matters.
Excellent. You have well over a year and a half to look at school options. Right now…concentrate on your grades. The better they are, the better your options will be. Then also concentrate on the PSAT your junior year. The better that is the better for you. Then really prep for the SAT and ACT. Again better is better!
You will have many more options of schools with the best possible grades and SAT/ACT scores.
And with those options could come schools that are far more generous than either NYU or Rochester.
OP, sorry you’re getting flamed here. Try not to get dismayed. CC is very helpful if you can just pay attention to the useful info people share. As a soph you are WAAAAYY ahead of the game and you have plenty of time to find the perfect school - even if it’s not NYU.
Thanks. It’s easy for people to say “just pick another school” to your dream school when it’s not/wasn’t their dream school. I plan to continue my high grades and the sort throughout high school. My stats are here if it matters to any of you: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/what-my-chances/1862125-what-are-my-chances-to-3-different-ny-colleges.html#latest
Your real dream school is not going be a financial nightmare. You have to learn how to dream bigger so you can have more options
Keep up,that GPA. You want to aim for an ACT score as high as you can get. Take the SAT too. Some kids do better on that.
Look at test optional schools that meetfull need as well (e.g. Bates)
I would suggest you look for a LOT of dream schools, and not just one. You want to have options. And a lot,can change in four years.
Unfortunately, NYU is very exoensive…$72,000 this year. Cost will likely keep going up. The school doesn’t guarantee to meet full need for all. Many students can not afford to attend. It’s just too expensive.
Wait a year…then give the fools here a sense of what you want to study…and where. You will,get lots of good suggestions. And by that time, you will also have those test scores as well.
My comment was not meant to be condescending. I’m facing this issue with my own son. My DS has a favorite school that we may not be able to afford, and we are considered relatively high income. NYU would be completely unaffordable for my family.
Keep making good grades and study for your tests. That is the best advice you have received.
I’ve looked at Columbia as well, that used to be my dream school. My aspirations of going there were crushed once I saw how people talked about what they’re looking for in terms of ECs. It seems as if people say you can only go to Columbia/other Ivies if you’ve cured diseases, ended world hunger, and then some. I still have some hope for Columbia because I know Ivies have great financial aid in terms of need, but I don’t think I’m what they’re looking for.
Name 5 things about the school that makes it a ‘dream’ for you. Many people here can help you find similar opportunities. Be specific “I like the core requirements of the accounting program” not “I’ve always wanted to go to school in NYC”
- Their biology department is very highly ranked
- Their location in NYC is great for internships which can lead to successful career paths
- I love the disconnected campus design that allows for urban integration yet also a loosely connected network of academic buildings
- The diversity and culture that can be found here is simply unparalleled to any other institution, it truly is a mixing bowl
- It's a research school, which is something that appeals to me since I want to possibly delve into research with my science career path
- The study abroad options are copious and much better than any other school in terms of money and opportunity and locations
I know you said not to mention the city, but it’s impossible to leave out that studying in NYC is a completely different experience in itself and there is no other school that accurately captures independence and academic rigor so closely as NYU does.
As for it being my dream school, I’m limiting my dream schools to the state of NY. I know some of you may have suggestions in other parts of the country but I’m not looking to leave the state.
See, those are things that can be found at many schools in NYC. Cheaper schools. Schools with better merit. Schools with diversity. My daughter goes to a small school in a very white town and there is a lot of diversity.
Lots of schools have research opportunities, with highly rated biology departments. The study abroad opportunities are exactly the same as at any other school. Anyone can go to Spain or Russia or Japan from any school in the US. Why do you think it is cheaper to go from NYU (where is this copious money you refer to for study abroad?). Sometimes you pay the school you are attending the regular tuition (which at NYU would be $50k or so) and sometimes you pay the foreign school’s tuition, which would be the same if you were going to St. Andrew’s from NYU or from a SUNY.
Anyway, you can’t change it. You can apply to NYU and see if you get enough financial aid. You can look for other opportunities that you can be excited about. You can choose to not want to move on from the dream of NYU. How come you could move on from the Columbia dream?
Are you a NYS/NYC resident? If not, then why are you simply only looking at NYS (specifically NYC schools), when you could possibly be leaving money on the table in terms of state aid from your home state and possibly affordable tuition at in-state affordable options in your own state. If you are you should be adding affordable options like CCNY (which has a new state of the art science facilities, and Hunter along with Stony Brook and the other SUNY research centers…
It has been my experience that many of the NYC kids that I know are looking to go to school anywhere but NYC. My own kid felt she did not want her educational experience to solely be on the island of Manhattan.(and wouldn’t entertain the though of going to Columbia). NYC is not going anywhere; plenty of people find careers and live in NYC.
Every loves a hotel room with a view. You pay extra for the view.
NYU has 25k undergrads, not 60k.
As a HS sophomore, you have enough opportunity to look very broadly at where you can study within your budget for the best academic fit for you. Many students do have a ‘dream school’ for a variety of reasons. However the paradigm has changed and each student/family situation has to fit with the current scenario. Perhaps parents/family/friends can help you gain a broader understanding of other opportunities.
I liked seeing your list of what you liked about the school. Keep honing what you like/don’t like and what are critical points - do you strongly want to stay in a state or a region or can you be flexible?
As a scholarship student, you may have an opportunity where you didn’t realize. It depends how much time and energy you want to devote to pre-application search, and how much time/energy for the application process.
In a perfect world, maybe these things might not come to money. But it’s not a perfect world. No one means to be harsh with you. Many, many of us at one point or another had children with a dream school. And most looked at NPC calculators and said, um, yeah, no. My son didn’t feel I was being harsh when I explained to him the realities of what could be afforded a.) If he qualified for National Merit and b.) if he did not. While it’s okay to be bummed or sad that a school is not practical, ultimately it is a better use of your energy to look at schools that you can be happy at that are practical for you. You have lots of time. It’s great that you are looking at this stuff now rather than when you are a senior. It gives you so much of an opportunity to find a similar match which is afforded.
But the biggest advice of course it to keep the grades up. Your stats are great. Keep it up. Try to do really well on the PSAT next year because National Merit Finalists have many doors open to them. Not, perhaps, to NYU. But in a year or two, there will be other places that look good to you. Cast a wide net and be open to possibility.
There are lots of great urban schools that offer many of the things you are looking for, some even throw in major merit for high stats and NMF. Northeastern in Boston for example which also gives need based aid. Or University of Pittsburgh which is a research university surrounded by several top hospitals. Also Case Western and many more.
Nobody here is saying that you as a person are not special! Simply pointing out that the fact that you cannot afford your dream school does not make you special because that happens to a lot of students.
My son was accepted to NYU with a merit scholarship but did not go because it was still too expensive. He graduated from a regular public university. Fast forward 6 years. He is working in Manhattan now and is looking to move there. He can afford it because he has a decent salary and no loans. It is disgustingly expensive - he is considering to rent practically a closet in Greenwich Village for 1.7k/month.
To truly enjoy Manhattan you need to have money. Save this experience for when you are older (and richer).
“See, those are things that can be found at many schools in NYC. Cheaper schools.”
You reference that my wishes can be found in many NYC schools, but you don’t name any. Can you name some?
“How come you could move on from the Columbia dream?”
I could move on from it because I realized my chances to getting in are slim to none. I haven’t done anything noteworthy, and I’m not a child prodigy (which seems to be what most students liken themselves to). I actually have a good chance of getting into NYU. If I were to get into Columbia I would be elated, of course, but I think it’s harmful to set a goal that’s almost certainly not happening.
“Are you a NYS/NYC resident?”
I’m a NYS resident.
Also, thanks for pointing out CCNY. I’m sorted interested in this one as well and I’ll do some more research on it. Do any of you know any useful stats about it that make it appealing to someone going down a bio/science career path?
I hope you all have mercy on me. My public HS isn’t the richest and they haven’t spoken a word to us about GPAs/SATs/college/etc. Our counselors are, frankly, horrible and I seek most info out myself.
It’s a little premature to assume you’d be accepted to NYU, with only one full year of grades and no scores yet. But assuming you have the average stats to get in there, you could look at these schools as cheaper alternatives / better merit aid:
Baruch - ~$20k in-state, ~$25k OOS, all-in, plus merit scholarships beginning with 90 avg and 1300 SATs
Fordham - Pricey, but less so than NYU, and offers some merit as well as need-based
Cooper Union - Tougher to get into than NYU, but incredible financial aid.
Moving on from the NYU dream is no different than moving on from the Columbia dream. In one case you have no shot academically, in the other case you have no shot financially. Different side of the same coin. You’re fortunate to be starting early. You’ll have lots of good choices.