Hi. I’m an international high school senior taking the IB program. I want to double major in film and math (I know it’s a weird combination, but I like both!). However, I need a huge amount of financial need. I initially wanted to ED to Barnard because of the meet full need policy, but now I learned that NYU is also going to meet the full need of students this year. (yay!) In terms of film major, NYU is certainly one of the best film school in the country, and for this reason I would really want to attend NYU. But I also love Barnard and the opportunities given to Barnard students about Columbia University. Barnard’s film major is also very good, since you can take the Columbia film classes also. The thing is, Barnard only has one ED option, whereas NYU has 2 ED options. So I was thinking applying to Barnard first, and if I am rejected, will apply to NYU in the second ED option. But now I am not sure. Should I do as I planned or should I directly apply to NYU ED 1? Thank you!
Both schools are NEED-AWARE for international students (non-US Citizens) per the FA offices. This means that your level of financial need WILL be taken into account during the admissions process, although idk to what extent. I would recommend confirming with the financial aid website or contacting the office that if admitted, your full demonstrated need will be met as an international student.
Also note that schools vary widely when it comes to calculating your need and that the calculators on the website tend to be meant for US Citizens/Permanent Residents (as Barnard’s NPC states in #7 here: https://npc.collegeboard.org/app/barnard ,) and are ESTIMATES, not guarantees.
Hope that helps! Good luck with admissions!
Hi, can you link where you saw that NYU is planning to meet full need this year?
Regardless yes as pointed out above, NYU is need aware for internationals. It is occasionally very generous to internationals, but these are for the most outstanding students. Also be sure you are aware of the requirements at NYU to double major across schools, especially Tisch (film). (My understanding is that you have to be accepted at Tisch and then apply to double major in CAS (math) once you are enrolled, you can’t do it the other way round. You’d need to confirm that before you apply of course as you will apply to a particular school within NYU.)
I don’t know much about Barnard but if it is a true meet-full-need college and finances are your top priority, then it makes sense to ED there and ED2 to NYU. Of course both of these are highly competitive colleges, so I presume you have a range of other schools to apply to for RD as well.
OP- here’s the list of colleges which are need blind for internationals AND meet full need for internationals:
Amherst College.
Curtis Institute of Music.
Harvard University.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Princeton University.
Yale University.
It does you no good to ED to a college which you cannot afford. And you need to do your research to understand that you telling a college “I need 60K per year” does not mean that the college- even a “meets full need” college is going to give you 60K per year. Every college has their own formula, criteria, methodology for awarding their own money.
If you truly need a lot of aid, I’d be looking hard at schools where your stats put you at the top of the pile if the college gives generous merit awards to international students. And I don’t think NYU or Barnard falls into that category.
Also contact the Education USA center in your country.
https://educationusa.state.gov/
Also research colleges at which your access to diverse departments may be greater than in large university settings. Look into Wesleyan, for example.