<p>Say I apply ED at NYU, and they accept me, I know I have to withdraw my other applications at other schools, but what if I NYU's financial aid package isn't enough for me? Will I find that out before or after I withdraw my other applications? Could I potentially be left without a college to go to if I am accepted to NYU, but can't afford it, and can't go anywhere else because I withdrew my applications?</p>
<p>So basically I guess my question is: If you apply early decision, will they give you your estimated financial aid package when they give you your acceptance, or after you have made your decision?</p>
<p>If you apply ED you cannot drop out and hope the others accept or something.</p>
<p>What you could do if financially it’s really bad you decline or just don’t reply to your NYU acceptance (even though this is not morally correct) you could hope that NYU don’t go out and tell other schools that you were an ED admit. Schools rarely share info/communicate with each other. However I remember the time one student accepted 3x RD offers (triple deposited) and in that story the student ended up with 3x rescissions.</p>
<p>i think with most ED situations, if you prove, to the best of your ability, that NYU’s financial aid package absolutely cannot work for you and you can’t afford college, they’ll let you leave and you can apply regular to other schools. that’s why on some data for colleges, it’ll say 57 accepted ED but 54 enrolled, because some people leave for financial reasons.</p>
<p>NYU will decide just exactly how much they think you need, and that is what they will award you if they decide to meet your need. If you don’t agree that they have met your need, you will be one more person creating an “I can’t believe my ED school didn’t give me enough money. What can I do now?” thread next spring.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, it is not smart to apply anywhere ED. You should make Rolling Admissions, Non-binding Early Action, and Regular Decision applications instead. That way in April when the financial aid offers all come out, you can line them up on the table and then choose between the schools that you still like and can actually afford.</p>
<p>If you don’t have any idea what your EFC is, have your parents sit down with you and run the FAFSA and CSS Profile calculators at collegeboard.com Then ask your parents to tell you the real truth about how much they can afford, and how much debt they are willing for you to take on.</p>
<p>Ignore some of what’s posted. Here are the common app instructions:
This means what it says. You just say thanks but no thanks, and apply RD elsewhere. You don’t have to prove anything. Schools have no interest in forcing someone to attend who can’t afford it. What’s the point if you have to drop out later because you can’t afford it? NYU won’t tell the world that their FA offer was not enough; they already know that. They’re just saying “Come anyway if you can.”</p>
<p>NYU will tell you what your FA package will be before you have to decide. </p>
<p>But, you should apply ED only to your one dream school above all others that you will attend if there is any way possible to make it work. And because it’s NYU and a gapping school, you should expect that your costs after EFC will not be fully met, but occasionally they are, especially for top students. I agree that if you want to compare FA offers, don’t apply ED.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help guys! Especially, vossron, I can’t believe I overlooked that part of the Common App! So I will definitely see my estimated financial aid package before I withdraw my other applications?</p>
<p>Think of it this way: You will see your estimate before you have to decide on accepting the ED offer, and if you decide to accept it, then you withdraw your other applications.</p>
<p>While vossron is right than you can withdraw, it’s not always simple. And I agree that in general it’s not a good idea to apply ED (esp. to someplace like NYU which, as hmom5 mentions, is not known for great aid), because then you don’t get to compare packages – maybe the NYU package will be enough, but barely, and all in loans. If you apply ED, you’ll have to take it. If you apply RD, maybe NYU will look less appealing next to (potentially) better aid packages from other schools.</p>
<p>Weskid, which schools have made it not simple, and in which ways? We hear rumors, but not actual cases, which would violate the simple instructions on the Common App.</p>
<p>I agree about NYU, where only very top students get good aid.</p>
<p>I’m still really debating it. I know for sure that NYU is my top choice and I know I’ll find a way to make it work, I just want to make sure that just in case something goes wrong I’m not screwed. And yes, I would like to hear some of those cases as well!</p>
<p>Vossron: To be fair, I’m just basing this off of rumors and a couple of stories I’ve seen on CC. I just think it’s a risk. But my main thought is that even if the OP gets enough aid, it might not be the best package. This is true for any ED school, but esp. for a school like NYU.</p>
<p>If you can display that your family needs more aid (demonstrated need) you can get out of your contract, but it’s generally frowned upon.</p>
<p>I’ve heard a lot that if you have one school that you’re focused on, you should go for ED. However, whenever I hear this, people neglect to touch on the financial dilemma you potentially back yourself into.</p>
<p>You don’t have to display or prove anything; you just say thanks but no thanks. See the common app instructions in post #6.</p>
<p>However, if this is your dream school, you may want to appeal to the financial aid office to check if you can supply any more info to show need.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, this is so helpful. NYU really is my dream school and as of now I’m willing to take loans out to go there, but can you guys explain to me the implications of taking out a loan? I mean, obviously I know what a loan is, but will there be a lot of interest on it? Are there any hidden college loan things I should know?</p>
<p>NYU has caused more students more pain by far than any other school from what I’ve seen IRL and here on CC. It is one of the most expensive schools in the Country given tuition and expenses related to location and this is complicated by it’s poor, loan heavy aid.</p>
<p>Yet it remains the number one ‘dream college’ in the US and families keep taking these crazy loans. One girl I worked with who lived in poverty in NYC took on $80K between Parent Plus loans and her student loans by the time she was a junior. The family didn’t understand finance and they had no idea of the magnitude of these loans.</p>
<p>NYU even understands this, this year they called some freshmen admits to explain:</p>
<p>Make sure you understand what loans mean by figuring out what you’ll need to take and calculating the monthly payments on a site like finaid.com. Unless you’ll be at Stern and have amazing contacts with high paying business jobs, think twice about borrowing more than $25K total.</p>
<p>hmom is right. If you NEED financial aid to attend college, then NYU is not the place. The heartbreak I saw this past year of kids getting into their “dream” school and not being about to go because they couldn’t afford it is just shocking. Find another dream school unless you are a top, top, write your own ticket type of student.</p>
<p>Wow, I’m so glad I posted this. All this feeback is really making me think twice about NYU, escpecially that article, hmom. I’m still going to apply and see what happens, but now I’m not so sure about applying early. The whole reason I want to attend NYU is to take advantage of the internship opportunities and the like, and if I’m working three jobs then I just don’t see how that’s possible.</p>
<p>According to NYU’s own statistics supplied to US News (2009 online edition), NYU meets on average only 65% of undergraduates’ financial need—and that INCLUDES the need it “meets” through loans and work-study, which are essentially forms of self-help, not true “aid.” I absolutely would not apply ED to NYU if you have financial need, because you’re bound to be disappointed. </p>
<p>There are some on CC who love to bash public universities for failing to meet 100% of financial need. But the top 6 publics in the US News rankings all come much closer to meeting full financial need than NYU:</p>
<p>Average % of need met for full-time students with need:</p>
<p>UC Berkeley 88%
UVA 100%
UCLA 82%
Michigan 90%
UNC-Chapel Hill 100%
William & Mary 86%</p>
<hr>
<p>In fact, among private schools in the US News top 50, NYU ranks dead last in financial aid.</p>
<p>Privates in US News top 50 meeting less than 100% of need (av. % of need met):</p>
<p>Notre Dame 99%
Vanderbilt 99%
Wake Forest 97%
Lehigh 97%
Johns Hopkins 93%
Case Western Reserve 90%
RPI 87%
U Rochester 86%
Brandeis 84%
Carnegie-Mellon 81%
Yeshiva 75%
NYU 65%</p>
<p>Out of the entire top 50, only Penn State (59%) does a worse job of meeting students’ financial need on a percentage basis—but because the cost of attending Penn State is about $18,000/year cheaper than NYU for OOS students and $29,000/ yr cheaper for in-state students, it’s fair to say that NYU is THE school in the US News top 50 that leaves its students with the biggest gap between financial aid and financial need. And it’s not really even close.</p>