Is it worth applying, I heard FINAID was bad? And chance me please!

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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<p>I wanna go to Steinhardt for media, culture and communications. My family doesnt have a lot of money and I hear NYU is notorious for lousy financial aid. Is it worth the cost? And also could I even get in?</p>

<p>My Stats:
SATComposite: 1940
Math: 570
Reading: 670
Writing: 700
(im retaking it, shooting for a 2250)</p>

<p>Rank: 70 out of 510 or so (currently in top 15%, hope to make it 10% during senior year)
GPA 3.80
Weighted GPA 4.20</p>

<p>Schedule for senior year:
AP Statistics
AP Biology
AP English: Literature & Composotion
PE Leaders Gym
Class Piano
AP U.S. Government
AP Spanish
Public Speaking and Communications</p>

<p>US History-3
Psychology-4
English:Lang and Comp- 4
Microeconomics- 4
Macroeconomics- 4</p>

<p>Honors Program
Top 20% Award
AP Scholar with Distinction
Humanitarian and leadership awards
Volleyball 1yr
Junior Class Vice-President
Senior Class President
New Beginnings Leader 2yrs
Philosophy Club (Officer) 2yrs
Student Council 3 yrs
Key Club 1 yr
Student Ambassadors 3 yrs
O Ambassadors 3yrs
National Honor Society 2yrs
CIVITAS (Social Studies Honor Society) 3yrs
Mu Alpha Theta 2yrs
200+ volunteer hours</p>

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<p>also myy ethnicity and gender: black female (african decent) my parents are nigerian and egyptian</p>

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<p>come on guys a little advice, info anything?</p>

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<p>raise the math and ur in easy. the average sat math at nyu is 650-700.</p>

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<p>Thanks. much appreciated:)</p>

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<p>nobody has anything to say on finaid? haha</p>

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<p>Yeah, financial aid as a whole isn’t great, and it’s been covered alot on other posts which is probably why no ones mentioned it. Basically, if you have need, it’s merit based, so it’d be hard to get a lot of money without amazing stats. If your an “average” applicant/admittant for NYU (which, correct me anyone if I’m wrong, but you seem it.) you won’t get much, and if you’re just getting in, you get minimal. I know the money issue is what might keep my parents from letting me attend if I get in, and I can’t blame them. All those loans, and I’m not certain what I want to do, but hopefully it’s something I can quickly pay off if I decide to go. (I figured my opinion would work for you, since your stats are similar to mine) Your personal family finances, plus your expected initial salary should play a role in your decision.</p>

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<p>Ok. And i will definetly check out the other posts. Thank you so much, that was a really in depth answer? :slight_smile: so which other colleges are you applying to? its cool to see someone with the same stats as me.</p>

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<p>I live in New Jersey, so Rutgers and The College of New Jersey I’m applying to also. I’'ve looked at Lehigh, but their tuition is high to and, I like NYU better, but I don’t think I’d be miserable there. Also, since I’m interested in dentistry, Farleigh Dickinson has a 7 year program with UMDNJ, so I’m kind of considering that, but not really. (I can’t get into Rutgers, NYU, or Villanova accelerated programs, so that’s why. But I’d almost rather go the 8 years and get a better education). You?</p>

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<p>If FA is an issue, then yeah, don’t bother.</p>

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<p>@theresaax2 Wow, ambitious. I was thinking of Lehigh and decided that I like NYU better as well. I live in Illinois so I’m also looking at Northwestern (a reach), UIUC, Boston College (maybe gonna do that whl graduate in three years thing. Ill prob have enough AP credits by the end of this year), Cornell is my number 1 choice (also a reach but I’m applying ED), and then theres Marquette.</p>

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<p>If Cornell is your number one choice, raise your SAT score by 100 points. It’s a little last minute for summer studying but I’m confident that this will improve your admissions chances tenfold!</p>

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<p>^ Ok, thanks. I’m taking it again and am sure I can do better in CR and W. Math I need to study for b/c I’m just naturally sucky at it. 1940 was my first time taking it and w/no preparation. So let’s say I get a 740W 710CR and 700M, would I be more competitive for acceptance?:)</p>

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<p>Definitely, haha. My first time was 1960 without preparation, and without anything my second time I got 2000. I just can’t afford to take a course, which really will just cost me more in the long run if I got to NYU, because if I got my score higher I could get more money. But that’s life. haha I was looking at Cornell, but, unlike you, I don’t wanna go far away from where I live (as you can tell lol). Besides, NYU is my number one choice, except for the little (gigantic) money issue. But umm if I’m gonna be a dentist I can pay off my loans fine, right? (please don’t answer that. lol)</p>

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<p>Hi,
I thought a thread started by Dad’o’2 in the Parents’ Forum to figure out the percentage of merit (non-need)-based financial awards of various colleges is informative. Look at the following section I am pasting:</p>

<p>(Just to recap, I find the number of non-need students getting merit aid divided by the total number of non-need students. This gives an indication of how likely it is for a non-need student to get a merit award at a given school.)</p>

<p>Legend:
School…
non-need kids with awards %;
$ average non-need award
(# non-need awards / # non-need freshman)</p>

<p>Bucknell…6%; $11,126 (30 / 465)
Case Western…71%; $20,329 (189 / 265)
Pitt…18%; $13,504 (294 / 16544)
Maryand…30%; $5,441 (695 / 2298)
Delaware…28%; $6,073 (654 / 2342)
RPI…94%; $14,085 (436 / 464)
WPI…87%; $12,288 (158 / 181)
Rhodes…75%; $13,060 (200 / 265)
Smith…13%; $8,973 (35 / 272)
Dartmouth…1%; $450 (4 / 562)
Brown…0%; $0 (0 / 863)
Princeton…0%; $0 (0/559)
JHU…2%; $27,471 (14/621)</p>

<p>Rochester…73%; $9,620 (388/529)
Lafayette…24%; $12,894 (56/229)
Duke…3%; $36,009 (30/1025) </p>

<p>USC…30%; $13,757 (706/2381)
Vandy…23%; $12,879 (223/982)
Wake…8%; $12,427 (66/815)
UVA…15%; $7,403 (411/2658)</p>

<p>Fordham…47%; $9,259 (489/1032)
Colo College…7%; $10,961 (26/391)
Fairfield…11%; $18,232 (43/401)
Villanova…10%; $8,972 (96/991)
Manhannan…48%; $8,443 (226/466)</p>

<p>Northeastern…72%; $13,970 (876/1224)
American…36%; $16,086 (367/1027)
GW…27%; $22,632 (441/1624)
Brandeis…25%; $17,940 (128/513)</p>

<p>NYU…9%; $7,250 (327/3456)</p>

<p>This reiterates what others have said, about the competitiveness of FA at NYU (9% of non-need students receive merit-based FA). So the point is you have to make yourself stand out in some way, with standard test scores, GPAs, ECs and matches for any of the NYU scholarships (look at NYU’s Scholarships webpage).</p>

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<p>Also, I am aware the OP was referring to some FA based on financial need. Again, just based on feedback here, it would appear that generally NYU does not meet all need and there is a tendency for students to be given bigger loan packages than they might have expected based on need. So, yes, unfortunately, NYU’s reputation for subpar FA appears to be warranted.</p>

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<p>@theresaax2 Haha. Same here the class would be a slight money issue considering my books for senior year were close to 600 dollars. Also, its kinda late for a class. I’m just gonna study until I collapse and hopefully get my scores up. And yeah, I’m ok with going anywhere (as long as its in the state of New York, Illinois, MA or Wisconsin, I kinda refuse to go to any other state haha). I will refrain from answering your worries about paying the money back (which you probably will…in time). Let’s hope we get accepted and they decide to throw in an extra 40k or so. :)</p>

<p>@evolving Thanks so much for the stats! Looks like I’m gonna have to mostly depend on need based aid (and a lot of luck). But I defintly will still try to match my grades to the scholarship standards.</p>