Early Decision?

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
1

Alright, so I’ve always planned on applying Early Decision I to NYU given it’s my first choice (even if I don’t think I’ll actually get in). However, it was only recently that I discovered how high their total cost is ($73,000)! This has me seriously considering whether or not apply ED. I’m dying to get in but I need financial aid and the thought that they may not help me terrifies me into hesitation. Honestly, I’m going to be taking out student loans wherever I go because my family can’t afford to pay for my tuition. My goal, though, is not to get into too much debt. My question therefore is: should I do it?

To give a better insight, I’m going to provide some information about my family’s financial situation. Basically, my parents are married but my father is the only one working (my mom’s a stay at home mom). He makes $100,000-150,000 a year (I think). Now this sounds somewhat like a lot but there are five people in my family including myself. Not to mention, my brother and I both attend a private school (which we also receive financial aid from). In the end, we’re clearly not poor enough to qualify for grants but not rich enough to pay for tuition. So yes, I’ll be in debt and take out student loans no matter what I do or go. Anyway, considering my older sibling currently attends BU and she received $20,000 ($5,000 of that was a FAFSA loan), can I expect something similar from NYU assuming I get in?

I’m just really torn up over this because NYU is my dream school and I want to go so badly but I also don’t want to be drowning in debt by the time I graduate [I hope to go to law school too (maybe…possibly)]. So, is it worth it? Should I just take a chance? I mean, I probably won’t get in as I said before but it’s the chance that I do that scares me. I feel like I’m choosing between applying to the place I REALLY want to go to and risk debt or not applying and going somewhere I don’t really want to go to without being in AS MUCH debt. Advice?

(Before you ask, I know I can always apply regular decision but I feel like ED I would give me that extra edge and possibly increase my chances. Planning to major in Business Admin. btw and maybe become a corporate attorney)

2

NYU is notorious for poor financial aid. Do not apply ED. You need to look for schools where your Stats will give you need-based and merit aid. As a student, you can only take out in loans $27K for the 4 years. The rest will have to come from your parents, any student savings and financial aid you can qualify. You need to run the Net Price calculator, inputting your family income and see how much you will be expected to pay. This school sounds like it is unaffordable.

Check out this thread: Read and Learn:::
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1803273-nyu-financial-aid-appeal-p1.html

3

Are you sure about the $27K thing? My sister is taking out $40K a year via student loans to go to BU and my parents aren’t paying for anything?

4

Yes, Federal student loans are as follows: $5500 for Freshman year, $6500 for Sophomore year, and $7500 each for Junior and Senior year. Maybe she was given some private loans or your parents took out some Parent Plus loans in their name and she will be paying them back.

5

Does ED increase chance in NYU? if not, why bother?

6

If you were to apply ED and be accepted, only to find that the FA package is not enough to attend, you can turn the offer down.

7

@jazzcatastrophe, while that is true, you would need to turn down the offer blindly. If you then went forward with your other apps and it turns out your ED offer was the best one, I don’t think you can get it back. For this reason, kids who know they will want to compare financial aid packages should best avoid ED or else they might find themselves turning down a school they wish they hadn’t.

8

Going along with the other people in this thread, if you want to compare aid packages don’t do ED1. Depending on when you find out about the other schools you are applying to, you could possibly do ED2 and deny the package if it is not as much as another school…but other than that you might want to apply RD. As long as your “Why NYU” essay is strong you really won’t have much of an edge going ED1/ED2 over RD.