<p>Even if you should get HEOP from NYU,there will still be loans in your financial aid package. Housing will not be part of your financial aid package because you are with in commuting distance to the school.</p>
<p>I would consider applying to Cornell, Barnard and even Columbia (you have nothing to lose). Also don’t sleep on the womens colleges (Barnard, Smith, Mount Holyoke & Bryn Mawr) who put their money where their mouth is when it comes to educating low income minority women. </p>
<p>Consider applying for a JP Morgan Smart start scholarship</p>
<p>thank you (gardna) & (sybbie719) because of my financial situation there are many scholarships and grants I’m trying to apply to, especially state related grants & scholarships.</p>
<p>HEOP doesn’t actually reduce tuition as the Cornell land grant schools do…it gives better financial aid funding, which results in a lower net cost! I think you would be expected to take the full Stafford, and probably Perkins, loans at almost any school. That includes the SUNY’s, unless you qualified for EOP or scholarship funding there…you might also check out UB’s Acker Scholar program which offers full tuition and is designed for low income/first gen students but does not have the summer program requirement that EOP/HEOP does.</p>
<p>If NYU is your dream school and you don’t mind being a commuter student (I believe they would give you funding for your metro card), I think that HEOP would be the best way to go. The same would be true with Syracuse, although their FA is usually better than NYU you would need to pay for room and board and I think you may find it unaffordable without HEOP.</p>
You can only apply to one NYU school, and you have to choose your school at the time you apply. That is – you either apply to CAS or Steinhardt, not both. </p>
<p>There are a number of colleges off the elite radar that could be better for international studies. I don’t know how they are for financial aid – that is something you’d have to look into – it probably varies. </p>
<p>As an example, you might want to look at a school like Seton Hall. Or you might want to look at the list of LAC’s that participate in the Watson Fellowship program – that’s a great post-grad opportunity for anyone interested in international travel and work, but only open to students attending specific colleges.</p>
<p>Perhaps Uva is a high reach for you. But it has a great international study program and it gives a lot of FA to oos students. You may want to consider that.</p>
<p>Another thing is the application fee, I am sure you want to apply waivers. It does not make any sense for a $16,000 income family to pay for that much for application alone.</p>
<p>Sorry for any confusion I may have caused about HEOP. They certainly do not get a full ride, although I known people at Cornell that basically get everything covered. A friend (and others) has an EFC of $0. He qualifies for the maximum pell, tap, work study, and a few other grants/scholarships. When everything is taken into account, he only is asked to pay for the summer savings expectation (nothing more). Granted, he would have been helped by Cornell’s new financial aid policy, but that program came into effect after our first year at Cornell and he had the same financial obligations since the beginning. Definitely try to get everything you can get, though. Good luck on the Gates Scholarship and on college applications in general.</p>
<p>“i was also considering UConn, Penn State-University Park, Syracuse & Suny Binghamton do you think i would have better luck with there financial aid?”</p>
<p>I don’t think you’d have better luck with U Conn or Penn State because the only 2 public universities that guarantee to meet the full financial need of out of state students are UNC and UVA. Most public universities lack the funds to meet the full financial need of their in state students.</p>
<p>Always check the financial aid and merit scholarship websites of schools that interest you.</p>
<p>You need to cast a wider net. THe hard truth is that Binghamton may be out of reach for you and Macauley almost certainly is. But there are many excellent schools in the area. I’m not sure how you would feel about this, but Fordham may be a nice choice for you to consider. It has an EA program and can be pretty generous.</p>
<p>First of all, I don’t recommend ANYONE to apply ED who needs a lot of aid and is absolutely not going to be able to meet college costs without it. You take a tremendous risk doing this. IF, your family financial situation is a very simple one, AND IF your parents are willing to sit with the financial aid counselor at a college that meets full need with little or no loans and go over the numbers, getting a good estimate of what to expect, you can cut the risks of applying ED needing money. Even then you cannot compare packages and will never know if you did indeed get the best deal for yourself.</p>
<p>NYU does not guarantee to meet need, nor does it most of its students. It also has loans in a number of their aid packages. To apply ED to that school would be a terrible risk if you need a lot of money. If you want to include NYU on your list of schools RD, go right on ahead. That way you won’t be stuck with the commitment if the aid is not palatable to you or your family. Sometimes NYU does come up with generous packages when the school really wants the student. This is not usually the case for New Yorkers who do not add any geographic diversity that the school seeks. The other factor that brings a good aid package is very high SAT scores. Even then, someone who needs aid should not risk applying ED to NYU.</p>
<p>It sounds so easy to just back out of ED if the package is not what you want. It isn’t. It’s a pain in the neck at a bad time of the year. You have to at least discuss why you want out and see if the school cannot come up with something you can afford. It’s towards the end of the semester and things are winding down for Christmas break. This is not something that is easy or painless to do. I’ve seen kids have to do this, and the fallout can be harmful. </p>
<p>Put together a list of schools with varying situations to see where you can get the best package. By all means, include NYU, but also some admissions/financial safeties along with some school where your stats put you way up there among their students so that there is strong motivation to attract you with a good merit/aid package. Look at some schools that are generous with financial aid and do not give out a lot of loans. You need a bunch of options if you need a lot of aid.</p>
<p>I think Loyola Maryland might be a good choice. They are very generous to low-income URMs because they have special grants just for them. </p>
<p>I think this student needs to come up with a good list of schools that will be affordable based on her stats and financial needs.</p>
<p>She should apply to Cornell, Columbia, Barnard, and Mt Holyoke (likely accepted) to see what they might do, but she also needs a reasonable list of match and financial safety schools.</p>
<p>The CUNY/SUNY schools should certainly be on this student’s list. We have an excellent financial support network for those kids who need financial aid for college through our local state schools. Not enough to live at a school, but commuters can do well, especially since NY has reasonable tuitiion. Look for some reach schools that are likely to really want you and are generous with aid and scholarships, where you are a standout and add some of those to your list as well. Then see what pans out.</p>
<p>I recently started to research UVA & although it is a reach it seems like a great school to fit my needs. Many of the schools I mentioned are the schools I’ve been well informed about but I’m definitely willing to look at other schools that will fit my financial need!</p>
<p>Look more into the CUNY schools then the SUNY’s. The CUNY’s are the cheapest and as of late have become more popular to attend because of this. It’s so popular that some of the CC’s and 4 year schools have stopped accepting students. Who would ever imagine CC’s turning away students? Alot of students are leaving the SUNY’s because they are getting expensive. </p>
<p>Community college is also an option as well. If you are worried that you’re pride might get in the way, don’t. I graduated top of my class and I was the valedictorian and ended up at a CC not because I wanted too but because I had an issue with an out of state school and that was my last resort.</p>
<p>Trust me, I go to community college in NYC and I only pay about $700 a semester. I get TAP money and I have a scholarship from NYS. I don’t qualify for fin-aid because my parents make alot of money but imagine how much aid you would get if you went? Along with that aid you may qualify for a $500 book voucher which am about 95% you would get. You may also get work study.</p>
<p>In the end it was the best choice for me because am debt free and my parents can pay right out of pocket.</p>
<p>Check out QuestBridge. You seem like you fit the criteria to apply and they have some amazing partner schools that you can be matched up with. Although QuestBridge isn’t partnered with NYU, they have Columbia and Vasaar under their belts (the only 2 NY schools amongst a host of elite liberal arts colleges and Ivies all over the country). I highly urge you to check out the website and consider joining the 2010-2011 college match, which reams some serious rewards for both finalists and those who are matched early in December. </p>
<p>This program is OUTSTANDING for low-income students who are bright and promising. I’m also low-income and via QB, I was accepted into Stanford, Princeton, Williams and Brown amongst a host of other elite schools and I was given full rides at absolutely every college I applied to. If you’re serious about it though, you have to get started on the application as soon as possible, since the application is usually due by the end of September. </p>
<p>Questbridge.org
check it out and let me know if you have any questions about it.</p>