Hello guys. I have a dilemma. I was recently accepted to NYU class of 2023 and was offered a full ride scholarship. This has been the school I’ve wanted to attend for years and you can only imagine the pure excitement I felt when I was offered not only admission but a full ride merit scholarship to attend. However, unfortunately, my parents did not share the same excitement. I always knew that my parents didn’t want me to go out of state for college, but for some reason, I thought that the reason might have been financial. So when I showed them the scholarship I got, I thought they would reconsider their decision. They did not. I live in Georgia and they keep telling me that I am forbidden to leave out of state. They tell me I must apply to Emory, GaTech, etc. They say that being too far away from them is a terrible decision that I will “surely regret”. And they also claim it is too dangerous for a girl to leave for college by herself and that I can only leave them once I get married. So “I should just forget about this whole NYU thing” It doesn’t help that my parents are foreign (Nigerian), so they believe in micromanaging every aspect of their children’s lives
Honestly, in my heart, I know that NYU is the school for me. However, my parents are refusing to accept this. I was heartbroken when I showed my parents my admissions and scholarship decision and they just shrugged it off, telling me it did not matter because I’m not going. Not to be dramatic but it felt like someone literally punched me in the gut. This whole situation is causing so much stress for me. So guys what do you think I should do? Any advice is appreciated.
Are you 18?
Will you need their help to apply for any need-based components of your aid package next year (such as filing the FAFSA)?
What do you mean by full ride? Are all of your costs covered including tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, materials, health insurance, travel expenses, personal expenses?
Have you spoken with your guidance counselor about this?
NYU is famously stingy with financial aid. If you did get a full ride, they must really want you.
If your parents will not let you go out of state for college, why did they let you apply to NYU in the first place?
By full ride scholarship do you mean tuition, room and board or just tuition? Full ride scholarships to NYU are unheard of…literally. In fact full tuition merit scholarships are rare.
@AmandaSpokenMind
In another thread you wrote “My dad has always been sort of verbally abusive. I come from a nigerian household where children are taught to obey their parents at ALL times no matter what.”
I’m really sorry you are going through this. If you were my daughter I would let you go anywhere in the US for college, if we could afford it.
No real advice here but just remember that we cannot choose our parents and when you have your own family do the right thing and raise them the way YOU want to raise them. Godd luck to you, it will all work out in the end and in 4 years you will have your life back.
It’s too late for UGA, GATech - have you applied already?
What do you want to major in?
What do you think made NYU want you?
How did you get your parents to sign the ED agreement?
Look at your financial aid package and write down your exact items/package because a full ride for NYU is very rare.
Subsequent advice will depend on that information.
Yes for those asking I have a full ride scholarship. NYU offered me 78K dollars. @MYOS1634 @TomSrOfBoston @happymomof1
@Gumbymom they didn’t let me apply I sort of just did so on my own.
@MYOS1634 Yes it is too late to apply to must of these schools. I was accepted into the Stern School of Business and am majoring in finance. And idk why they wanted me so much, probably because I am a black female student with a 1540 SAT score majoring in Finance? shrugs
How much do you value the relationship with your parents? If you are 18 and don’t need their information and signatures for FA, you can technically do what you want.
That said, if you don’t want to damage the relationship with your parents, you can certainly get a great education instate and still have your independence. Be involved at school, join clubs and groups and be too busy to be home on the weekends.
You can also rationally address their fears by showing them the benefits of NYU, where you would be living, how often you’ll be able to come home, etc…
So you applied ED? Didn’t your parents have to sign the ED agreement? Is your “scholarship” actually need based aid, or some kind of merit aid? If it is true merit, you may be able to go without their cooperation. If it is need based aid, they must fill out the financial aid paperwork each year.
Wait. You applied binding ED? How did you get your parents to sign?
Please list the exact elements of your package.
If you applied ED how did you get them to sign? (You can’t apply ED on your own)
@MYOS1634 @momofsenior1 I really would not like to get into the details to how I came up with the ED signature if you don’t mind. Just know I was not supposed to apply, yet here I am.
@intparent My scholarship is fully merit-based. However, I have a question. I am 17 and will be 17 for a couple of weeks during college. Will I still be able to go without their permission?
Um. Sorry, although I am a bit sympathetic to your story, it sounds like you either faked their signature or lied to them about what they were signing. So you have been dishonest with your parents, GC, and college, and now have a binding offer of admissions that you can’t really turn down for legit financial reasons because you got a full merit scholarship. You are in a mess. You could end up with NO admissions at all if colleges find out that you pulled this stunt.
So you either tricked them into signing or faked their signature.
Do list the components of your package.
@intparent @MYOS1634 I did not fake their signatures. Since you guys want the details so much, they agreed to sign them when they were not completely sober. They are fully aware that they signed them now, however, they still disapprove. There was no trickery or fraud happening.
@MYOS1634
I don’t know why it is so important but…
There was no official breakdown, this is what I received, along with the estimated cost of attendance.
Grants and scholarships from your school
$78,280
Federal Pell Grant
0
Grants from your state
0
Other scholarships you can use
0
Ok, if they signed it’s good.
The reason I’m asking for details on your package is to make sure NYU hasn’t tricked you into thinking it’s a full ride, when it’s not. In addition, your options are different depending on what exactly is in your package.