@Mwfan1921 I looked at that last night and didn’t see anything that felt better than my current options. I will check again though thanks
@HiToWaMom Rough estimates are $52k total at nyu, $42k total UW, and $11k central for one year, and then transferring to a better school that will still be somewhat pricey since transfer students usually don’t get merit scholarships. I feel like if I won’t spend that much at nyu, then I shouldn’t at UW, especially since it is very appealing to have my mom be able to take a train to see me in the city, as opposed to being away for a while in Seattle (which I have never been to).
@newjerseygirl98 I know. Not that this matters, but students do have access to a lot of museums, events, etc. for free or reduced.
@SJ2727 UW gives very little oos, I got $6k which is on the higher end of what I have ever heard. My $10k at nyu is merit I believe.
@cptofthehouse They would only be borrowing about $30-40k in total which is minimal compared to most, but I obviously don’t feel good about this which is why I am on here. They wouldn’t be losing the house though and plan to sell in a few years anyway and move on with their lives since I am their youngest child (my older brother went to community college). My dad’s job is stable, he is getting a pay raise in December. So is my mom’s, and she has a weird job/clientele situation where she could leave if she wants to, but probably won’t for a few years. My goal wasn’t to get super into specifics and pick it apart dollar by dollar, but I get the point.
I had decided against nyu last weekend because of money, but I know we could make it work which is why there is still a small part of me undecided. Still leaning towards no though even though I want to say yes and many people think I should take the opportunity.
UW would be off campus to save money as well and I am not including food in the budget because I eat cheap vegan staples which will be the same anywhere. I will have to eat wherever, even at home. I don’t care if my estimates are off by $1000-2000, but I know I have been roughly accurate for my lifestyle.
I am not completely clear regarding what UW would cost you in total. Regardless, it looks to me as if UW is not affordable, and NYU is even more seriously not affordable. I think that you either need to start at CCSU, or take a gap year and apply to more affordable options.
Environmental Studies is not Environmental Sciences. While I am not familiar with what NYU has in this area, at some other universities these are very different majors which lead to very different jobs.
Graduating in 3 years seems unlikely to me unless you have a lot of AP credits.
“They can pay about $25 k a year, and I would take the $7000 in standard govt. loans and work-study.”
You should try to stay within this total cost if you possibly can. You should be able to find a very good university with a very good environmental sciences program that would fit this budget. Whether you could find one that is still accepting applications at this point is not so clear to me.
Did you apply to the University of Connecticut? Would you consider attending university in Canada?
To answer the question in the subject in your post: NO, it is not worth it for you to spend > 42K a year tuition at NYU. Your parents dont have the money. THey are being incredibly generous (and foolish) to agree to fund 25K a year AND tap home equity when they have no savings. A liberal arts degree at NYU at 42K a year tuition is a luxury good. Your family cannot afford this luxury item.
Its unfortnuate that you didnt apply to schools which would be more affordable for you and your family. If you have to be in NYC, figure out how to establish NY residency for tuition ( likely you would need to live in NYC for a year and work) and go to CCNY next year. In state tuition is 6.6k a year.
@violetr6 , you misunderstood me. I meant: did you not apply to colleges on some tier between UW/NYU and community college, at the kind of level where your stats would have given you merit?
The suggestion above to take a gap year, or do a year at CC, and then apply to affordable (because they will give you merit) colleges is a good one imo.
“it will be to hold me over for a year before transferring somewhere that I like/ is less expensive, like McGill,”
If you are not a citizen nor permanent resident of either Canada or France, then there are other universities in Canada which might be a bit less expensive than McGill. They are not as famous as McGill, but are still very good.
PM me if you want some suggestions. I do not know whether any are still taking applications – it is of course past the official application deadline for any that I know of.
@DadTwoGirls yes I am interested in hearing your suggestions
@SJ2727 frankly it isn’t significant where else I applied at this point since it is past may 1. I received a large scholarship to Quinnipiac, but knew I would be miserable there. I applied because it was free. Other than that most schools that give money are located in a small town, college bubble, or don’t offer my interests so I knew I couldn’t be happy. UC Santa Cruz accepted me (I never applied or contacted them), but only a $10,000 scholarship which makes it the same price as my current options, and I don’t even like this school. I received little to no money from SFSU and Cal poly slo, despite me being well above the range for SFSU. I really can’t take another gap year, instead I would take classes at ccsu or community college (probably the former) for a year then transfer. Staying here for a year, going through the app process all over again, and waiting all year to possibly reach the same conclusion that I either won’t get in or receive enough money is pretty depressing. I have heard many bad things about cuny, with people saying they are out to get your money like any other school and make getting the right credits difficult, which is an issue as a transfer student. Not to mention that I haven’t found a good environmental program at any of them.
@hackeysack I will refer you to my above comment about the $25k. $2000 a month is very feasible for them, but I shouldn’t even need to justify this. Also I will be re-paying my parents similar to re-paying a loan just without the predatory aspect, so they will not be destitute upon retirement, not to mention that they aren’t retiring anytime soon. I am probably not going through with this, I just feel a great sense of panic about being stuck at an institution I don’t like after having felt stuck for the past decade.
“yes I am interested in hearing your suggestions”
As far as I know, all of the universities in Canada are well past their application deadlines. However, several of them say on their web sites that they will accept applications if there is still space available. As such it would be worth calling admissions at a few today or Monday or Tuesday to ask if they still do have space available for starting in September. Admissions in Canada is largely based on stats and can be in some cases very quick. If you were admitted to both UW and NYU your stats are probably fine for most if not all schools in Canada. Most but not all require the SAT for American students.
McGill is very strong at environmental sciences and environmental studies, but I would be surprised if they are still accepting applications. Just up the street is Concordia, which is also worth checking out. If you want a relatively large university in an attractive eastern city with good environmental sciences, you might want to also see whether Dalhousie (in Halifax Nova Scotia) is still accepting applications. We quite liked Dalhousie (aka Dal) when we visited a few years ago. When we looked, the schools in Ontario were mostly a bit more expensive for international students but there are many good ones there (Ontario has 1/3 of the population of Canada). On the west coast, U. Victoria is also strong in environmental sciences, as are UBC and Simon Fraser. UBC would cost more than the other two. Memorial University of Newfoundland is a good school with good environmental sciences and very reasonably priced. I personally am a bit scared of the location just because it is so far north and so far east (if you ignore Baffin Island then it is on the eastern tip of North America – winters are dark and stormy but not exceptionally cold due to the proximity of the Gulf Stream).
If you are willing to look at a small university in a small town, Acadia University in Nova Scotia is very strong at both environmental sciences and environmental studies. These are different programs at Acadia. If you google one, it is possible to accidentally find yourself looking at the other (you might wonder how I know). It is right on the Bay of Fundy in a very attractive small town. Mount Allison and St Francis Xavier are also very good small universities. They are marginally closer if you drive, but quite a bit further from the Halifax airport if you fly (Acadia is close enough to take a slightly expensive cab from the airport if you are stuck). We visited all three (D2 was accepted to all of these) and liked them all a lot. Bishops in Quebec is significantly closer (for both you and us), and is still very good. However, it might be marginally less strong academically compared to the other three. It is less than a 5 hour drive from Hartford (straight north on 91), and is in a very small fully bilingual town right next to a small primarily French city (Sherbrooke, ~160,000 people).
It is too late to get financial aid at any of these. However, some of them will only cost about $25,000 per year in US dollars for the total cost of attendance. Note that all prices will be listed in Canadian dollars, and the exchange rate is very favorable for us Americans right now.
NYU costs$72k/year. If they gave you $10k your net cost is $62k. Your parents can pay $25k. That brings your net cost down to $37k. So your plan is to borrow $148k (plus interest) for NYU? You can attend a SUNY for what your parents can pay plus the federal student loan. You probably wouldn’t even need all of that if you had a job. Why would you want a degree that comes with $160k of debt when you can get one for under $30k?
@DadTwoGirls Thank you so much for the in depth response. I have already contacted McGill weeks ago, and you are right, there is no space which is why I am considering transferring. The bilingual experience is very appealing to me as I took French in school and plan to incorporate a global aspect to environmental science in my studies. Montreal is also only 6 hours away so I could still come back on a long weekend if necessary. I had considered UBC, but felt better about UW. The price difference wasn’t big enough between these 2 schools to make me want to go through the issues of being international, and I preferred Seattle. I will look into the others that you mentioned, and you have made me feel better about Canadian schools overall. For reference I have a 34 ACT and strong grades, and hopefully if I do well next year I could transfer to McGill (the one issue being the cold- I literally have a diagnosed allergy to the cold that induces hives, swelling, redness etc. which means I can’t take advantage of much field work during the very long winters that comprise most of McGill’s school year. At least in nyc the winters are shorter and less harsh). I think I will probably just have to wait and transfer, but I will still check.
@austinmshauri I am not staying in dorms. I have already broken down my cost estimates that you failed to read. There are ways to make nyu more affordable and if you had bothered to read my posts you would have known that. I am not stupid, I can compile an accurate estimate based on my lifestyle. Considering I graduated a year early, saved all of my money, and planned traveling abroad as a solo minor all on my own, and have been around to quite a few places and heard from many adults who have been through many things, I am not just some ignorant 18 year old.
I am going to delete this thread or my account because no one has bothered to answer my actual questions, only giving unsolicited, inaccurate advice about my own financial situation. I will repeat again that there are multiple ways to do things, and following blindly what some bureaucratic office tells you to do or pay is not a good choice. Early graduation, off-campus housing, and outside scholarships are just some of many options. Having a closed-mind is why people end up following the status-quo even if it is not a right fit for them.
@austinmshauri again if you read my posts you would understand why a suny or my state school will mean being limited and miserable in my case. Just because I can get a degree for much less, doesn’t mean it is a good fit and will actually benefit my life. There is more to lie than following the state school path just because it is easiest.
Neither of your school options are worth what you have to borrow to make them happen. Whether you’re borrowing it all from banks or your parents (or both), it still has to be paid back, and that will put so many restrictions on your life after college. You graduated high school in three years- did you accumulate many AP or dual enrollment credits in that time? Graduating from college in three years is much harder; more people need five than can do it in three. Your focused on the big picture of life in college, but you need to expand that to include the big picture of life after college. As little debt as possible is ideal. What constitutes possible is the least you can borrow and graduate/not be completely miserable. If the choice is only UW or NYU because you’re closed off to any other options, and UW is the cheaper of the two, it wins.
NYU isn’t affordable. Period. Your cost of living estimate is too low for NY. I’m from there. You just don’t want to hear what posters are telling you —the truth rather than what you went to hear. You say you are a mature 18 year old but you aren’t acting like it. Your explanations about why no other school will work is juvenile at best.