I was admitted to NYU for my freshman year of college and got 72k in scholarships. I checked with a financial aid counselor before committing, and they said as long as my financial situation stays the same and I stay academically satisfactory, my financial aid would be the same. My freshman year I got a 3.85 gpa, and if anything, my family’s finances have gone down. However, for the 2018-2019 school year, I only got 32k total. I already submitted an appeal form and I’m gonna speak with a counselor.
If I can’t get my scholarships back though, what do I do? Take a year off and transfer to a new school next Fall? Go to community college for the year? Take on the debt? Cry and never come out of my house again?
Regardless of what happens, I would like to stay in New York/transfer to a NY school if I have to.
2018-19 finaid is based on 2016 income. Did something happen that year that would artificially inflate income, such as a parent cashing out a 401(k), which can happen when a person changes jobs? Was a mistake made on your FAFSA? Is your FAFSA EFC the same as it was for freshman year?
Carefully look at your award and see exactly what changed.
Try to figure it out as much as you can before any meeting or hearing.
If you are not able to get your finaid back, you won’t be able to borrow $40,000 for one year and even if you could, it would be a terrible idea. So forget that and start to do some groundwork for the other options you mention.
Did you have a sibling in college who is no longer attending? That could cause a big jump in efc, even if the rest of the finances have not changed much.
NYU will not just randomly reduce your aid. So like others have said, you need to carefully look at what has been submitted to them and how it has changed. It is possible that it is an error, but you have to compare what has previously been submitted and what has been submitted now to understand your financials in order to figure that out. Did you speak to them over the phone?
Did your parents do an IRA or TSA rollover in 2016? If so, and your fafsa was not correctly done to reflect this, your parents income could look a lot higher than it is.
Did you change majors? I don’t know about NYU, but at many universities, including mine, some scholarships are only for certain majors (under-enrolled ones, especially well funded ones with the $ for scholarships, etc).
While your need based aid may be unchanged, did you get any named scholarships?
Are those scholarships guaranteed for 4 years?
What is the break down of your package between last year and this year?
You will not get in-city or in state tuition in New York just because you went to school there last year? Unless your parents have a physical presence in NYS, you will not be eligible for any NYS based aid including the excelsior scholarship (which provides free tuition at SUNY and CUNY schools)
I’d check all of the individual pieces from Freshman year and go back and look at the paperwork. Then I’d see if any of the above suggestions apply. I’d guess it might be a big scholarship that was one year only.
Nope, same major unfortunately. Sis is still in college too. FAFSA was the same as last year, except for the fact that my parents made $3000 less than usual. EFC was about the same (a tiny bit lower actually I think)
I recommend taking your great GPA and transferring to Northwestern, who accepted you last year. Do not get caught up in the NYU hype especially when Northwestern is a better school that Gallatin.
Northwestern meets 100% demonstrated need (where NYU does not). This way you will have the financial stability you need to finish college. You could be in for a really ride awakening in your financial aid package when your sister graduates. Then you will be stuck.
Totally understand that, I am talking about op applying for junior year (2019-2020), if her money gets right for NYU or sophomore year, if Op has to take a leave because she has no way of paying for school. Op could have exploratory conversations with her regional admissions rep at Northwestern to inquire about the transfer process if you were accepted by the school. However, if Op does apply as a transfer, they will look at her original application along with her transfer application. Op would not be the first student that thought the grass would be greener on the other side and Northwestern does take transfer students.
Op needs a 4 year plan on how to pay for college. She is just going in to year 2 and things have already become problematic. If NYU is showing her who they are right now, it is not going to get better once her sister graduates from college and the family’s EFC goes up.
I read all of OP’s prior threads. CC posters overwhelmingly recommended Northwestern over OP’s other options (NYU, USC & Texas).
I find it hard to believe that NYU cut OP’s grants in half without prior notice. I suspect that OP received a one year non-renewable scholarship which equaled the missing funds.
NYU does not give one year non-renewable scholarships to freshman in the guise of 4 year scholarships. Something here does not add up. My D received a one-time non-renewable scholarship junior year and it was very clearly stated as such. She applied for it, was awarded via an email notification, and it later came up on Albert as financial aid.
The first step to take is calling NYU financial aid. They are not hard to reach, and I’ve found them very helpful. It doesn’t make sense that OP has filled out an appeal without speaking to a counselor.
People are quick to assume that NYU is doing something unethical and is going back on a promise of aid. I don’t believe that.
I do have a hard time believing that OP’s financial aid was $72k last year, considering that NYU’s cost of attendance is $69,984 for the 2018/2019 year.
NYU seldom gives full tuition scholarships, let alone full ride scholarships. But a scholarship ABOVE the cost of attendance without subsidized loans and work study? Something doesn’t sound right.