<p>Hi,</p>
<p>How do you find out how generous a school is for financial aid? Most of them do not have calculators or estimators, and the school website doesn't explicity say how much fin aid families within an income range will receive. Help!</p>
<p>Right now I have no idea on the fin aid generosity of these two schools:
Johns Hopkins, NYU, Boston University. It would be great if somebody could give me a heads up on these schools. Thanks!</p>
<p>NYU and BU are nororiously stingy with aid </p>
<p>these schools all have common data sets (note: BU's is listed as brown). You can go to the financial aid section of the common data set and see </p>
<p>the # of students that applied for aid
the # of students who the school felt had a financial need
those who had their financial need met
% of that need met
the average grant aid
average loan</p>
<p>I did my reseach on line and from books at library, those big ones- Money handbook for 4 year colleges, US news books, etc.
Usually you can find data on how many people receive merit based scholarships, how much money is budgeted for it, what % of kids get merit aid etc. My D received merit offers together with acceptance letter. Some schools have posted info about some merit scholarship contests and your child needs to submit additional essays or interview, etc.</p>
<p>What about JHU? The aid I'm talking about is mostly regarding need based aid</p>
<p>If you would like to calculate an estimate of your expected family contribution, visit <a href="http://www.jhu.edu/finaid/estimator.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.jhu.edu/finaid/estimator.html</a>. With this online calculator, you can estimate your financial need. The actual contribution calculated by Hopkins, however, may differ from the contribution you calculate by the federal method. Individual adjustments may be made to the basic federal formula to reflect more accurately the family's financial strength.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice</p>
<p>One last question: Im in the process of sorting out my final six schools for regular decision(ED decisions is coming soon). What is the best online research(website, etc) where I can find out quick financial aid info for different individual schools?</p>
<p>I used usnews college ranking guide. They have premium edition for $15 after buying which you can access fin aid details.
Not every college submitted that info and you have to remember that all that info comes from colleges themselves.</p>
<p>I can accept what Johns Hopkins offer based on their calculator, and it seems like most applicants have their need met(according to Collegeboard)</p>
<p>Is JHU considered stingy or generous in fin aid? I'm asking so that I can get a sense of what is considered "good" and what is considered "bad" in amount of aid offered and use JHU as a reference point</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is JHU considered stingy or generous in fin aid? I'm asking so that I can get a sense of what is considered "good" and what is considered "bad" in amount of aid offered and use JHU as a reference point
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Only you and your parents can determine that because everyone's needs is different. What is "affordable and generous" to your family may not be for mine. My suggestion is that you run the numbers past your parents (since they will be the ones writing the check for the EFC and taking out any PLUS loans ) to find out if these are numbers that they can live with. It makes no sense to get hyped up on a school that it not a financially feasible choice to attend.</p>
<p>Sybbie, I meant that the aid offered by JHU is acceptable to my parents. With this in mind, I want to use it as a reference point for looking at other colleges. My question is, if we can accept the aid offered by JHU(which is not considered generous by many), will I have a hard time in fin aid search for other schools?</p>
<p>Also, if I have to choose between Boston University and NYU, which one should I pick in terms of better fin aid? I'm a NYC resident by the way. </p>
<p>Thanks !!</p>
<p>Being a NYC resident really does not have any bearing on the amount of $ you will have to pay to attend NYU. I can tell first hand as a NYU grad and current NYU graduate student, the FA is not good. On the 30,000 price tag I got enough aid from NYU (after being a degree holder and having a 3.92 gpa from their school) to almost cover 1 class per term (NYU charges you by the number of credits and by what school you attend. there is no flat tuition rate for being fulltime).</p>
<p>If you read BU's FA policy, there are pretty straight forward in stating that a lot of their money is in the terms of merit. IF you are at the top of the applicant pool you may get good aid.</p>
<p>If I give you some raw stats could you give me a rough estimate for Boston?
2300 SAT
680 750 760 800 SAT IIs
93-94 avg in public magnet school
psat semifinalist</p>
<p>I guess I'll take out NYU then, thanks for your advice</p>
<p>Sybbie, </p>
<p>I just spoke to a NYU alumni who graduated three years ago. She told me that NYU offers merit aid such as those for psat semifinalist and in the end she told me she got a pretty good deal. Could you tell me what type of merit aid BU and NYU offer and how hard it is to get them?</p>
<p>NYU's cost of attendance is $44,830 (if you live on campus) $34,770 as a commuter student. Getting a "good package" is a relative thing as there are many definitions of what consitute a good package. In the 10 years that I have been working with students attending NYU, outside of students who were accepted through the HEOP program and student s who recieved chase smart start scholarships, I have only heard about 2 students getting "big scholarships "- One was soozievt's daughter very talented in musical theatre through tisch (you can search her postings on cc) and another students. Most of the complaints that I have heard was about packages that were short on grant aid and heavy on loans (individual mileage may vary)</p>
<p>Here is NYU's common data set. You can see their financial aid numbers for yourself.</p>
<p>[ol]
[li]Number of students in line a who applied for need-based financial aid -3244</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Number of students in line b who were determined to have financial need -2641</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Number of students in line d who were awarded any need-based scholarship or grant aid -2640</p>[/li]
<p>[li]The average financial aid package of those in line d (those who were eligible for FA ) - $ 19,543 </p>[/li]
<p>[li]Average need-based scholarship and grant award of those in line e -$ 13,629 </p>[/li]
<p>[li]Average need-based self-help award (work study, stafford loans in student's name) $ 7,209 </p>[/li]
<p>[li]On average, the percentage of need that was met of students who were awarded any need-based aid. 67.5% (this means that that 1/3 of the cost of attendance to attend NYU will not me met in your FA package)</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Provide the percentage of the 2004 undergraduate class who graduated between July 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004 and borrowed at any time -60%</p>[/li]
<p>[li]Report the average per-borrower cumulative undergraduate indebtedness of those in line H4. Do not include money borrowed at other institutions: $27,639</p>[/li]
<p>[/ol]</p>
<p><a href="http://www.nyu.edu/ir/cds/cds0405/cdsh.php%5B/url%5D">http://www.nyu.edu/ir/cds/cds0405/cdsh.php</a></p>
<p>In the end the only way you really know how much you are going to get is apply, get accepted and see for your self how much the package is going to be.</p>
<p>our( 2nd hand) experience has been that NYU isn't great for aid.
Example a very talented girl was a sophmore just two years ago- when her mother ( single parent) died . Even though her high school was doing what it could on the other side of the country, NYU did not help her to bridge the gap to continue her education.
She is working- ( touring with Savion Glover) but she was disappointed to not finish college.
This poor girl had been through enough with her mother being so ill and then dying, and then having to drop out of school was just sad.</p>
<p>SCHOLARSHIPS AND GRANTS</p>
<p>Scholarships and grants awarded by the University generally range from $500 to full tuition and room and board. In addition, the University has established separate scholarship funds for students in the following special situations:</p>
<p>*New York University Merit and Achievement Scholarships. *</p>
<p>The University sponsors scholarships for finalists in the annual National Merit and National Achievement Scholarship Programs. New York University must be listed as the first choice of schools in order to qualify for New York University Merit and Achievement Scholarships.</p>
<p>*Presidential Honors Scholars. *</p>
<p>Membership in the Presidential Honors Scholars at the College of Arts and Science offers outstanding students the opportunity to receive special advising from College faculty and staff, to challenge themselves in honors courses and through independent research, to study abroad, to take advantage of New York Citys cultural resources, and to develop leadership skills through community service. Scholars comprise a distinguished group of undergraduates; only the top five percent of the entering class are chosen, and students who apply for entry after they have matriculated must demonstrate not only superlative academic achievements, but also a consistent record of leadership and service to the community.</p>
<p>Freshmen appointed on the basis of their high school records participate in a Scholars Seminar. They meet regularly for lectures and discussions and participate in a wide variety of cocurricular activities. These include the Scholars Lecture Series, cultural events in the city, social events, and community service projects. Scholars also register for a Freshman Honors Seminar. During the January intersession, freshman scholars travel with faculty mentors to Villa La Pietra in Florence, Italy. Sophomore scholars also participate in a study abroad spring break, choosing a destination that most closely relates to their academic or personal interests. During their junior or senior year, scholars spend an entire semester (or year) studying at one of NYUs programs or exchanges abroad. In their junior and senior years, they also enroll in the honors track of their chosen major. In addition, Presidential Honors Scholars are committed to volunteering and serving in the community.</p>
<p>Scholars admitted as freshmen directly from high school receive financial assistance in the form of a scholarship. Membership in the Scholars Program is renewable annually, depending on the quality of the scholars academic records and his or her level of participation in the program. All scholars are expected to be full-time students and maintain a grade point average of at least 3.5. Students who are not designated as Presidential Honors Scholars for the freshman year are invited to apply for membership at the end of the spring semester.</p>
<p>Trustees Scholars</p>
<p>A program of Trustees Scholarships was established in 1983 in order to recognize the exceptional promise of new freshman and transfer students who meet special academic criteria: outstanding high school/college grade point averages and SAT scores. Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG). These federally funded grants are awarded to undergraduates whose financial need is substantial. All FAFSA filers who qualify are automatically considered for this grant. However, funds for this program are very limited.</p>
<p>Phi Theta Kappa Scholarship Program</p>
<p>This program, established in 1984, honors members of the national honor society for two-year colleges. It provides minimum scholarships of $2,500 for students entering New York University as juniors after completing degree programs at two-year colleges. Transfer students with grade point averages of at least 3.8 are eligible..</p>
<p>Thank you!</p>