<p>I'm a junior currently and already know exactly where I want to go! I absolutely NEED to be in New York for college. I told my parents this but they told me the atmosphere there was not for learning and they WOULD NOT pay for me to go to school there.</p>
<p>Now I respect my parents, so I understood that something like NYU would probably not be the best choice for education. So I decided I want to go to Columbia. It's still in NYC, but it is an ivy league.</p>
<p>How do I convince my parents to let me go here?</p>
<p>It is likely that your parents suspect that you NEED to go to New York because you want to do things in the city that are not related to college and studying. And they do not want to pay tons of money to send you to an environment where they think you will be distracted from what they are paying for. I sort of see their point… a high school junior who can only find one city in the country they could be happy in at college would be a concern to me as well.</p>
<p>Options you have:
Pay for your own college (ouch). They would have to co-sign loans with you, though.
Apply to a NY college where you are at the top of the applicant pool and you can wrangle some great merit aid. That is not going to be NYU or Columbia, though… again, going it alone financially.
You can ask them if they can make a list of things you could do to prove that you will be able to stay on task in New York with your college studies. This might be futile… but try to approach it in a mature and rational way. And STAY IN THAT MODE even if they are not cooperative. Keep working on it, you have a year until apps are due…
Go to a college that is not too far from NY so you can go visit for an occasional weekend. Not as good, but at least it has SOME NY time in it.
Pick another bustling city and go there instead. Boston is a great city with a lot of college students. DC also. They are not NY, but honestly, you have 60 years of living (or so) left after leaving college. You can go live in NY when you are done with college if you want to.</p>
<p>WHY do you NEED to be in New York? Until one knows that, one can not begin to help you convince your parents.</p>
<p>I, personally, can not think of a reason why one NEEDS to go to school in New York. You are going to a school first and a city second. And one should choose their colleges in that order of preference. But maybe you have a good reason. Share it with us.</p>
<p>I kept telling my family that at least one of my kids NEEDS to go to college in Paris so that I can attend move in days, parent weekends, etc. Didn’t happen :(</p>
<p>Tell them that te opportunities there are too good to pass up. I’m an art history major and dream of working in a museum so NYC would present me with a lot of internship and hands on opportunities. Find something like that and stress the importance of how it would benefit your future…your parent want you to be successful so there’s no way they’ll say no right? :)</p>
<p>No matter what your proposed major there is never a NEED to be at a certain college or in a certain city. There is plenty of life outside of NYC and good reasons for any parent to disagree with a child who categorically states there is only one option.</p>
<p>If there is a legitimate academic reason to be in New York, note that the CUNYs and SUNYs are much less expensive at list price (even for out-of-state students) than places like NYU and Columbia.</p>
<p>I am the sort of parent who would not need convincing. I think New York would be interesting, exciting, and to offer many job opportunities after college. (It is just so expensive to live there and i can never figure out how young people just starting out do it.). If you were my child and wanted to go to New York, you would have my support.</p>
<p>I think a bigger hurdle could be the admissions committee at Columbia. Do you have super amazing grades, test scores, extracurricular activities? Even if you do, it is still somewhat random who, among many equally amazing students, gets accepted. I think you need to make a list longer than one with just one school in it. If your parents are really set against New York, you might have to save it for grad school. Or go to school somewhere that you can take a bus or train there occasionally.</p>
<p>Yes, NJ or CT. Also, did you know there are buses from Boston only $15 one way? It is a 3+ hour ride though from Boston, and I’ve heard those buses go crazy fast sometimes!</p>
<p>you do not NEED to go to school in NYC! you need to go to school to get an education! your parents are correct. move to NYC if you still feel the “need” after you graduate! your priorities seem backwards.</p>
<p>Unless your “need” is based on the availability of internships during the school year in a type of business that is found primarily in New York City, you probably can’t convince them. </p>
<p>I suggest considering other cities that share some of the features that appeal to you about New York. Boston? Chicago? Washington, DC? Philadelphia? Los Angeles? There are excellent schools in or near all of those cities. Make up a list of schools you want to apply to (remember to include reaches, matches, and safeties) and include several schools in those places. And after you’ve done all this research and impressed your parents with your maturity, you might ask whether you could add Columbia to the list. The worst they can say is no.</p>
<p>By the way, before thinking more seriously about Columbia, take a really good look at its Web site, especially the part that describes the academic program. There’s a Core Curriculum that some people love and others detest. If it doesn’t appeal to you, you don’t want to be at Columbia. But if you happen to be female, Barnard, which has a more conventional curriculum, could be an interesting option.</p>
<p>I just wanted to tell you to consider Drew. It is a nice LAC with very good merit aid that might be the right distance away from Manhattan that you could think of it as a pretty easy train trip into town and your parents could look at a map and say, oh, okay, New Jersey. Unless you <em>need</em> to be in NYC.</p>
<p>If you need to be in NYC, don’t overlook Fordham. It’s a great school. It offers merit aid.</p>
<p>Who is paying for your college?</p>
<p>How is your high school’s Naviance record for Columbia?</p>
<p>OP, I don’t believe your parents will stop you from going anywhere. I think they’d let you attend any college you get accepted in.
But that really isn’t what you’re asking, is it? What you really mean is- How can I make my parents pay for any college I choose? The answer is- you can’t.
There are things that I can recommend though, that will help persuade them to your way of thinking.</p>
<p>First, stop saying you “need” to attend there. Unless there is some huge medical or other emergency, then you WANT to attend there. Saying you “need” to attend there is so juvenile, they may even doubt you are ready for college. Remember- 8 year olds say they “need” the latest toy.
Next, find sound reasons why the colleges you prefer would be far superior -for you- than other colleges would be.
Next, unless you intend to pay your own way, do all you can to reduce the cost. Seek scholarships, grants, get a job and start saving, etc. Now. Today.</p>
<p>Remember that unlike before you’re 18, anything they do for you at 18 is a gift. No longer is food, clothes, shelter, education, laundry or anything else required of them. SO, put yourself in the position that they WANT to help you more with gifts.
At 18 you are legally an adult and legally can do what you please. But understand they are also over 18 and can do as they please. They don’t have to give you the gift of higher education, so I repeat- put yourself in the position that they want to help you.</p>
<p>Last, don’t wait to start helping them with costs. Start planning now, and start doing something now. Show them you are ready to make solid decisions, and not just fly off on a whim.</p>
<p>After my son and husband visited NYU my husband commented that NYU would be a great place to do a semester abroad! New York City is VERY different. However, there are several colleges that DO allow you to do a semester abroad in… New York city. This might be a good compromise for you to consider. And remember, college students have very little money. And New York demands a great deal of it.</p>
<p>Actually, if you plan to major in the performing arts, for example, NYC has no peer. That said, it doesn’t sound as this is the reason behind OP’s “need.”</p>
<p>I don’t get why some people are so down on the idea of going to school in New York. I agree, there are no details about the “need” to be in New York in the original post, but as I see it, you only live once. New York is an exciting place. I don’t see why it is any more “distracting” than any other college location. In fact, I think that there are lots of really interesting things to do there. I think if you go to college in the middle of a corn field, the main form of entertainment can be parties and drinking. In New York there is a lot to do! Museums! Neighborhoods! Ellis Island!! Brooklyn!! It is an education in and of itself. New York plays such a big role in our culture and history – think of all the books, films, and TV series based there. As a parent, I see NO PROBLEM with New York other than the fact that it is an EXPENSIVE place to live. The lights will inspire you, it will make you feel brand new…</p>
<p>(Hey Seahorsesrock – I saw your post come up after I posted mine ;-)</p>
<p>LBowie, I think people are reacting to the “NEED” to be in NYC mentality. One needs a college that will provide one with good education, in a major of one’s calling, hopefully for the right price. One may prefer to be in an Urban environment, rather than rural, and further one may prefer to be in NYC. But not to care which college you are going to, just as long as its in NYC sounds somewhat ill informed.</p>
<p>BTW, if the OP is a girl and cant live without being in NY, she should really check out Barnard.</p>
<p>I agree with others who have said you will do a better job convincing your parents about NYC if you tone it down a bit. Tell them you would love to go to school in NYC and why, but don’t say you “need” to, because – well, you don’t need to, you just really want to. Needing something and wanting it are not the same thing. </p>
<p>Having said all that, I do think going to college in NYC can be a wonderful experience.</p>