<p>You will probably have to come up with the EFC - If you qualify for 2860 in Pell grant and $4000 in fseog your EFC must be pretty low (around 1400ish?). Stafford and Perkins are student loans. If the loan levels remain constant for 4 years the total for student loans = $23,600. Plus loans are generally parent loans (& require application and approval). Total at that level for 4 years = $90,000. So debt of $113,600. That is a heck of a debt load to take on.</p>
<p>COA (cost of attendance), on which finaid packages are based, generally includes room and board. I would guess that the $50,000 includes room and board - but I do not know NYU and you need to double check and find out exactly how much this school is going to cost you. Even if it includes room and board - Still too much debt in my opinion.</p>
<p>It's broken down in the Financial Facts sheet in the FA package:
Tuition and fees: $35,280
Room and board: $11,780
Books and supplies: $700
Transportation: varies
Personal expenses: $1,000 (Hah!)</p>
<p>It's ok....my parents somehow have the idea that NYU's going to cost $70k a year. Yeah right.....tuition, room and board are $49k at most, and living expenses and books and stuff like that....probably around $4k. They're in for a pleasant surprise when college costs $17k less than what they thought.</p>
<p>i want to go to gallatin so badly but even as a commuting student, i'd have to take out loans of 18k each year. and, i don't want my parents to take out the PLUS loan but all the private loans that student themselves can take out are all at adjustable interest rates -_-</p>
<p>that free ride at rutgers is looking so fine.</p>
<p>You're only guaranteed $9500 in grants from NYU. Apply for the FSEOG and Pell grants, which should be pretty much guaranteed, for ~$7000 in grants from the Fed govt. </p>
<p>You will have to pay everything else through loans or out of pocket (work study is what you get by working a part-time job on campus at NYU, so you'll have to pay that amount upfront to the university when your bill is due - you will earn that amount of money later if you choose to work)</p>
<p>mad2talk, if you are the Gallatin-type -- a person who would do well with a program of individualized studies -- you will do well at any college. Many colleges offer the ability to structure your own major or design an interdisciplinary major, or perhaps cover the same ground with a dual major. I wrote my own major many years ago at a public university. This isn't something I would have known about when I applied, but I found out it was an option after I had been there a while. </p>
<p>I don't know anything about Rutgers, but I do know that wherever you go you can be the master of your own learning and do a lot to structure your education to fit your goals. In some ways, a public education can be more flexible, because public universities are usually more generous with AP credit (thereby exempting you from many gen ed requirements), and the money you save on tuition can leave you in the position that you can afford to spend for outside opportunities, like study abroad or internships. </p>
<p>So I'd agree -- a free ride at Rutgers looks very good.</p>