<p>My dream has always been to go to NYU and at first my mom was really supportive, but lately we have been getting into it about costs. My mom definitely can't afford $50,000 a year but will help out as much as she can, probably about $5,000 a year. I was prepared to take out loans and I know I can get a few scholarships to help. My mom's idea is to start off small but all she wants is for me to stay in-state. She will co-sign loans for instate, even for the college that is in-state and cost just as much as NYU. I don't really understand. My sister was supposed to go to college but dropped out before even starting and she had a full ride. I'm not sure if this is what my mother thinks I am going to do but I know I won't. Anyway, are there loans I can take out on my own or other financial services? I have other colleges in mind but most range to over $30,000 a year.</p>
<p>Don’t go to NYU or any other college which requires you to take out massive debt. It really can ruin your life and the lives of your family members if they co-sign your loans.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-11-09/news/debt-and-debtor/”>http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-11-09/news/debt-and-debtor/</a></p>
<p>It’s not worth 200k. Vandy was my dream but it was going to cost me ~120k, and after I was accepted I realized it wasn’t a dream anymore. Don’t do that to yourself</p>
<p>Any time you co-sign on a loan, you’re equally in debt, so if your mom doesn’t want to sign, that’s perfectly understandable. But the fact she’s willing to sign for an in-state school tells me she’s trying to exert control over where you go, and she wants you close. Unfortunately, some parents do this and there’s not a lot you can do about it except hope that time wears her down. Is it New York in general that she objects too, or distant schools period? Sometimes many parents hate the idea of their kid going to New York, despite the fact that it’s radically different from the bad old days in the '70s and early '80s. Find out which schools she will or will not accept, then work from there. If it’s in-state or nothing, that one thing, if it’s New York she objects to, that’s a different problem.</p>
<p>Also, I’m taking it you haven’t actually been accepted to NYU yet, so you may be having an argument that is unnecessary. First thing to do is see what sort of money you’d be talking about. As many on CC will tell you, NYU isn’t known to be generous, but it might be worth finding out on their EFC what amount you’re looking at. Then you need to get in.</p>
<p>The “parents plus” loan has an interest rate around 7.5% and the interest is calculated from the day the loan is made. So, for 4 years, if you/your parents do not pay back any of these loans, you will owe the bank about $300K on a $200K loan. That loan cannot be dismissed by bankruptcy.</p>
<p>So, do not take out a loan like that and your mom is right by refusing.</p>
<p>
No. You as a student are limited to $5.5K in loans as a freshman. Go the financial aid forum and read the pinned threads at the top.</p>
<p>What in-state U. costs as much as NYU?</p>
<p>@MrMom62 she refuses for anything out of state and @oldmom4896 Tulane costs just a few thousand less per year and that’s the one she’s pushing for me to apply to </p>
<p>FYI, most people on CC will assume you mean a public university when you say “in state.”</p>
<p>Let’s be honest, if your mom will pay for Tulane but not NYU, that’s not exactly a death sentence. Yes, it’s sort of a jerky thing to do, but of all the things parents have done to kids on CC, this doesn’t even crack the top 1000.</p>
<p>You need to find out her objections to NYU. But honestly, Tulane tends to be more generous with aid, you might be better off there by a substantial amount. And maybe there’s a compromise school you can talk her into. Boston U, Emory, Miami? First, get her let you apply to several candidate schools, but you’ll apply to Tulane if you also get to apply to NYU. And you need to get into any of them before you have a real problem.</p>
<p>If your mom can only afford $5,000 per year with the rest paid in loans she’d be unwise to send you to Tulane or NYU unless you are able to get a really substantial scholarship or quality for big financial aid. Sit with her and run the net price calculators for all the schools you are considering so you have a realistic picture of what you are both getting into.</p>
<p>Your mom is being very, very smart. You need to work with your mom to run net price calculators for the schools you are interested in. But note that if your parents are divorced, have a small business, or have rental real estate, they may overstate the aid you would get. Have her run it for Tulane, she will probably see quickly that it also is not affordable. Your best bet for affordability is probably you in-state public universities.</p>
<p>There’s another factor that I don’t think has been addressed. Students frequently cannot look beyond one “dream school.” There are several thousand schools in America. Surely one of them is as good or better as a fit for you and your family. Don’t let your focus on NYU blind you to the options available to you. Ever had a friend you thought you wanted to get closer to because doing that would make your life so much better? How did that turn out for you? </p>
<p>Life is not a dream; life is what you do. Do it at the school that best fits you and what your family can afford. Someone around here likes to say, “don’t have a dream school; have a dream life.” I like to say in my more pessimistic, ancient, folk-wisdom voice: be careful what you wish for; you just might get it.</p>
<p>Look around. Tulane has excellent financial aid that they distribute among hundreds of students, from full tuition to scholarships from 15-30K. Give yourself a chance to get to know what’s out there.</p>
<p>Maybe your mom has read this thread on FB:</p>
<p><a href=“NYU Debt Stories”>NYU Debt Stories;
<p>What are your stats? Can you qualify for merit aid at Tulane? Maybe that’s why she’s pushing you there (NYU is stingy with merit aid). As an aside, why is NYU your dream school? Seems like a peculiar dream school.</p>
<p>PurpleTitan, you haven’t been around long. TONS of students think NYU is their dream school because of the location. They don’t realize that NYU is stingy with need AND merit based aid.</p>
<p>NYU is a fairly unique school so its not hard to see why it would be some student’s dream school.</p>
<p>It’s not really that unique - no more unique than any other school. It becomes so many students’ dream school because of its location and perceived accessibility in comparison to the other New York bigwig, Columbia. But there are many other large urban research universities similar to NYU.</p>
<p>@intparent:</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess I’m too old to understand that (not old enough to remember that NYU was a commuter school for rich kids who got rejected by CUNY, though I read that that was what it was in the '70’s).</p>
<p>My thought on NYC is, if you’re good enough and want NYC, get in to Columbia or Cooper Union. Columbia has the brand and network and Cooper Union gives you a great education for cheap. If you’re not, CUNY’s cheaper. Or just move to NYC and try to make it. That’d be an education in and of itself.</p>