Is 5 counties and 4 languages good enough for NYU?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Okay, the reason for me to ask this is I want to know if there is a chance for me to get into NYU with scholarship because I really cannot afford to pay the full tuition. I want to major in a business related field and then get into ibanking, and later on, into hedge fund.</p>

<p>First of all, I am Nepalese and I've lived in Nepal, Australia, Thailand, South Korea, and I am currently living in California. I am Fluent in Nepalese, English, Korean, and Hindi. I've been attending international schools and a couple of legit Korean schools(that's why I had to learn Korean). I am currently attending a school that ranks in the top 5 STEM schools. Also, I am a permanent resident of California, I do have a green card.</p>

<p>I've done community services in Nepal, Korea, and the U.S. I've also done an internship at a cell phone parts supplier company in Korea. I was in the varsity basketball team my junior year. BTW, I was a junior for 3 quarters and then I left Korea (in an international school), went back to Nepal, did some volunteer work and then after a month or so came to the U.S. However, my credits for the second semester of my junior year did not count at all and I had to repeat my junior year to get enough credits to graduate. Anyway, I'm also planning to join the varsity soccer team at my school. My GPA is about 3.8 and I've taken only one AP class so far (APUSH). I'm planning to take AP Amer. Gov. and Econ, AP Stats, and any other AP class that would boost my GPA in my senior year (starting this August). I got 2020 the first time I took SAT and I'm planning to take another one on October. </p>

<p>So, to kind of summarize it, I'm a Nepalese citizen who has lived in 5 different countries and can speak 4 languages fluently, I've done volunteer work in some of those countries (Korea, Nepal, U.S), and I've done internship in Korea as well. I want to get into NYU because I want to have a career in ibanking. My question is, will my background give me any advantage? Will it standout? What should my SAT score be for me to get a full ride to NYU? And if there is anything I've got to do, please do give me some advice. My GPA is not that great, but, I was just wondering if my EC would help.</p>

<p>Thank you for your time.</p>

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<p>NYU business student here.</p>

<p>If you want to get into ibanking I’m guessing you’re shooting for NYU Stern. Your EC and Korean internship certainly help, and you have an impressive multinational background, but I’m not sure if your GPA and SAT are high enough to warrant a full ride. Keep in mind that NYU is one of the stingiest when it comes to financial aid.</p>

<p>Retaking the SAT is a good idea. 2020 is solid but not strong for Stern. In terms of application strength, if you can get it up by around 100 points you’ll be more stable and around 200 more would do wonders. I can’t necessarily say the same about merit-based scholarships. Taking a few more AP classes might have been helpful but if you can explain the situation as to why your junior year credits didn’t transfer, it might be helpful.</p>

<p>Also keep in mind your family’s income affects how much you receive as well.
What’s your threshold for minimum financial aid?</p>

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<p>Is the 3.8 weighted or unweighted?</p>

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<p>I would be more than happy if I get at least half tuition and my GPA is 3.8/ 4.0. In case I don’t get any scholarship, is there still a way to pay for college. I’ve heard about student loans and all, but is there any requirement for that?</p>

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<p>As a freshman, the only loans you can take out are federal loans, just $5500/year. In addition to this, you may also get some work-study aid, but other than that you can’t really borrow any more money without a co-signer, which is widely considered a pretty poor idea. What can your parents contribute (if anything)? NYU is not known for their generous financial aid, although your background will definitely make you an interesting applicant. If you are eligible for in-state tuition rates in CA, that may be a more solid bet for financial aid. </p>

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<p>@jaydimez‌ </p>

<p>PLUS Loans are available to you. It covers up to the cost of the tuition and while it would be wise to avoid loans as much as possible, if you have to take out loans, a PLUS loan is a better idea than private loans because it’s government-backed and has a lower interest rate. It’s assigned to your parents/guardian’s name, not you, if I’m not mistaken.</p>

<p>Apply for financial aid in any way you can. FAFSA will be your best friend. It got me a 40% ride even though my GPA was pretty terrible. </p>

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<p>How much would the PLUS loan cover? My parents will help me out if I can’t find a way, but $200,000 is a big amount and I don’t want them to spend most of their earnings on me since that is what they have been doing my whole life. In case I don’t get enough money for college, I’m considering of going to a state university. Is it true that undergraduate is more about the GPA and grad school is what really matters when it comes to getting a job? I really want to get into ibanking and my ambition is to work at a stable financial institute. Hopefully after that I would be able to start my own hedge fund institute. Since you’re a business student at NYU @someguyincollege‌ does attending a prestigious college matter if I want to achieve that?</p>

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<p>I believe the PLUS loan is designed to cover up to however much your tuition is supposed to be. For example, if your tuition was $30,000 per year and you received:
-Scholarship of $10,000
-Pell Grant of $2,000
-Work study of $3,000
-Subsidized loan of $2,000
-Unsubsidized loan of $2,000</p>

<p>Then the PLUS loan would be $11,000 which covers the rest of the tuition. In theory it can be unlimited, but obviously it’s money you’ll have to pay back plus interest so it’s best to minimize debt.
I’m no financial aid expert so you should consult the financial aid office and FAFSA for that.</p>

<p>Here’s an optimistic statistic though: almost nobody pays the full $200k price tag. Financial aid per student varies hugely depending on household income and academic merit, but I’ve yet to meet a single person paying that much money out of their pocket.</p>

<p>Regarding undergrad and grad school: undergrad GPA is definitely important for grad school. I’m guessing you’d want an MBA since you mentioned ibanking. Your GPA and GMAT/GRE scores are probably the two most important indicators of admission. When it comes to jobs, undergrad GPA is important for your first job but afterwards people don’t seem to mind it too much. Now, mind you, there are ways to mitigate a weak GPA with things like networking or previous internships (preferably at big name firms, but they usually require high GPA’s so it’s a full circle), so undergrad GPA isn’t a be-all-end-all indicator provided it’s above around 3.2.</p>

<p>Finally, prestige does help for both jobs and grad school admissions, but not as much as GPA. Prestigious schools do have an upper hand because firms recruit actively in those places, but a state school doesn’t necessarily bar you from entering the ibanking world. Again, networking and experience will be your best friends. The similar logic applies to grad school admission.</p>

<p>Long story short, of course a high GPA and a prestigious school will open more doors for you but it doesn’t mean the end of the world if you don’t have that.</p>

<p>By the way I’m in management consulting, not finance. Shoot me a message sometime and I’ll talk to my finance friends for more in-depth details in breaking into ibanking.</p>

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<p>@someguyincollege‌ Thank you for the information, it was really helpful. I’m certainly glad that people don’t actually pay the full $200k price tag. Education is expensive!</p>

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<p>I Country and 1 language is good enough for NYU.
I am not sure why people are so driven by another successful applicants experience. Every applicant has a different experience and the school knows that.
You might have experience 100 counties and 10 languages and still get denied by NYU or any US college for that matter.
Its your overall application that matters - your GPA, Test scores, recommendation, essays, EC etc.</p>

<p>Now the big elephant in the room is “affordability”. Can you afford NYU?
NYU does not promise to meet any admitted students demonstrated financial need, so they can get away with giving you very little scholarship or $0.00, due to the outpouring numbers of self-funded applicants that flood to NYU. In reality they probably have 2x their class size ready to pay full total COA in their applicant pool. It is NYU, and it is in New York City, so you do the math.
So, do your research carefully and start looking into other affordable schools f you are planning on a certain amount of scholarship to fund your education.
Best of luck to you.</p>

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<p>If you need more than 40k from NYU, don’t bother applying.</p>

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<p>@ccco2018‌ What affordable universities are there in California that have a good business program and a higher chance to get into ibanking? </p>

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<p>USC, Berkeley.UCLA, Santa Clara University etc. Even Scripps and the Claremont schools might be a great choice as they have one of the best placements to prestigious business and other professional schools, if grad school is on your plan.
I will say if NYU is really your first choice, apply, but just start applying for external scholarships that you may qualify for, or other funding options from your f as they will likely not offer that much aid if you are accepted…
Best of luck to you.</p>

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<p>“Is it true that undergraduate is more about the GPA and grad school is what really matters when it comes to getting a job?”</p>

<p>Alright, well you really shouldn’t focus all of your plans on graduate school, especially before you’ve even started College. Just felt the need to say that…</p>

<p>With that said, yes, grad school obviously matters far and away more than undergrad when applying for jobs after graduation. So much so that many price-conscious students are often willing to forgo their most competitive acceptances (and likely most expensive) for a comparable undergrad that will offer ‘more room to breathe,’ so-to-speak, financially and GPA-wise. Although, there is the caveat employers hiring from business masters programs care a bit more at first than say those hiring from recent Law School or a Doctorate program (for obvious reasons). But not so much to be a serious concern.</p>

<p>However, judging by the scope and tone of your questions, it sounds like you might just be at the beginning of your college search process, and should really try to get a better handle on the realities of the situation before setting your sights on such an expensive school. NYU doesn’t give out full-rides unless applicants have ivy-level qualifications, ensuring they could receive a full-ride at almost any other comparable (or better) institution.</p>

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<p>@ccco2018‌ would Occidental College be a good choice as well? I’ve heard that it has a good business program and the financial aid seems to be good, although I am not very sure. </p>

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<p>Yes occidental would be a great option, but usually most students there back their plans from occidental with a prestigious graduate school as well. They too like the Claremont schools have a good placement to grad school.</p>

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<p>@ccco2018‌ That sounds great, thank you for the info. </p>

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<p>Hi - your background is quite interesting. There are very few students abroad who apply from Nepal so you will definitely stand out. However your SAT scores are weak and need to be higher.</p>

<p>Just living abroad and doing a little community service won’t be the end game however. You need to show how your ethnic background will help improve diversity at your future college. The community service sounds interesting, but I think you need to expand it a bit more. Have you done any traditional Nepali dance, art, music? Can you highlight this in the app? Colleges want to brag about their diversity, and if you can clearly express how you will bring Nepali culture to your future college, this will help.</p>

<p>Best of luck</p>