<p>I agree that NYC is a great place to go to college, for internships, museums, etc. Same with London. But if money is an issue at all, NYC and London can be very bad news. Compounded by the fact that your peers there will likely have lots of “mad money” and there will be plenty of places to spend it. Think about how you would handle sticking to your budget if surrounded by people who seem to have no budget and are inviting you along. Maybe it’s no problem – maybe you will have no budget, either. Or maybe you’ll be the one who gets everybody together to ride the subway and eat street food. Just make very sure that the daily cost of living is not going to be an issue before you commit. Be fair and realistic with your parents about this, or you might all live to regret it. </p>
<p>If it’s not realistic, a visiting semester or year at a school in NYC might be a way to manage the cost while still incorporating it into your college experience. Play your cards well professionally, and you may end up living there after graduation, with money for restaurants.</p>
<p>Oh im sorry, I should have elaborated, my dream is to go to columbia’s medical school as well (emphasis on DREAM lol) and I’ve seen the columbia hospital there, it’s the most amazing thing and that’s why I REALLY REALLY want to go, and second is the city, I promise</p>
<p>Seriously, while you may be an outstanding student, Columbia is still a crapshoot. You absolutely need to have plan B…and maybe C and D which would be schools easier to get into. And what about finaid/merit aid?</p>
<p>Maybe you could get a summer job or internship in NYC.</p>
<p>Edit: Just saw your last post. It’s WAY too early to be thinking about medical schools, except to realize you will need money for that as well.</p>
<p>Ok ok everyone is making really good sense. First I’d like to repair the choice of words, I don’t really NEED NYC. I’m not a spoiled child I swear. The thing is, my parents have explained their reasoning, they think I’ll all about the party life of the city, and I’m really not. Another thing is that they completely agree to a college in LA which I assumed was considered a party city too. I just want to understand their mentality a little better by asking other parents. Btw we are very low income, and I have (being very serious) pretty awesome grades. Like top 5%. I know that doesn’t guarantee Columbia, but I’m looking at the hypothetical of IF I got in, why wouldn’t they want to pay for it?</p>
<p>IF you a very low income AND IF you get in, in all likelihood you patents will not have to pay. If you family income below $60K, Columbia just like every other Ivy will give you a full ride, with maybe a few thousand of mandatory student contribution.</p>
<p>There is party life and serious trouble to get into almost everywhere. But you have to be 21 to go to expensive NYC clubs. Maybe I am naive, but isn’t it a lot harder to get or make a fake ID these days than it was 20 or 30 years ago? </p>
<p>While I totally admire your excitement about life, in these posts you do come across as a little bit naive and superficial (not deep) about your desire to go to school in New York City. In your college applications, while enthusiasm is important, you will need to sound a little more grounded and mature. You can be sure the competition for spots at places like Columbia will be like that. You will need to subtly make it clear to the universities to which you are applying, wherever they are, why you are a good match for them, beyond just that it would make your dream come true. What can you offer THEM, in other words? (One of my son’s friends and another classmate are going to Columbia, and they are extremely mature and incredibly smart young people.)</p>
<p>And have you thought about airfare and how often you can afford to come home? You will probably need to have a discussion about that with your parents. Do you live in CA?</p>
<p>Finally, I think it’s a little unusual to go to college and med school at the same university. It’s not unheard of, but usually people go to different places, and that could be an advantage from a med school admissions point of view. (If you want amazing hospitals, you should also consider the Boston area.)</p>
<p>Being brutally honest, being in the top 5% isn’t usually a “good” thing when applying to any Ivy. Being in the top 1% gives you better odds (albeit still low).</p>
<p>I’d have backup schools if I were you. I’d have backup schools even if you were in the top 1% with grades/scores.</p>
<p>Otherwise… at school there are often students who want to apply places their parents aren’t so crazy about (usually due to distance). My recommendation to them is usually to apply anyway (it’s their choice after all), and then see where they are admitted and what the financial package is. Many parents soften up when they see the bottom line $$ if, indeed, the school farther away ends up less expensive. If not, the kids often are practical enough to realize the school is not worth the thousands more in $$ (assuming they have a more affordable option). Some debt from federal loans is fine when you graduate. A huge debt payment upon graduation is a setback most, wisely, realize is not in their best interest (pun intended).</p>
<p>In general, don’t get your heart set on any one place - especially when finances come into play. Apply to a few you’d like, choose one based upon acceptances and financial packages, then go and be happy wherever you end up. No one NEEDS any one place or school (or med school). The vast majority of students who enter undergrad thinking they will go to med school change their mind. I believe the last numbers I saw have between 5 - 10% applying of those who thought they would as freshman. Some drop out due to grades. Others simply find other fields more appealing as they experience them. And… of those 5 - 10% who apply, less than half make it in at this point. Work on a suitable undergrad first, then concern yourself with med school later if you still decide to do it.</p>
<p>Thanks again, LBowie, your posts are actually quite helpful. I don’t mean to sound immature or superficial, but I don’t always speak as I do to college admissions, especially on a forum where I just really want opinion. </p>
<p>I live in VA, so I’m a lot closer to NY than to CA. We pretty much drove there in 3 hours and there’s a bus that takes you back to DC cheap. </p>
<p>I love my parents, and no matter how I come off on my not-extremely-planned forum posts, I just want to understand why.</p>
<p>I think that your parents feel that New York City would be too much of a distraction from your academic work during college. </p>
<p>This may be based on their own experiences with that particular city or those of people they know. If they love New York, they may see why you would love it, too.</p>
<p>Their concern may also be partially based on your enthusiasm for that particular city. Think about it. Isn’t the reason you want to be there that it offers many things that you would be interested in doing and seeing? That may be just the problem. If you too much advantage of what the city has to offer, you might not work hard enough in college.</p>
<p>If your parents are aware of your ambition to become a doctor, that might heighten their concern. Premedical students need exceptionally high grades. The possibility of becoming distracted is even more of a problem for a pre-med than for other students.</p>
<p>A lot of people are scared of New York. Depending on where in Virginia you live, this may be part of the issue–I grew up in a small town in southern Virginia, and people there thought New York was Sodom to Los Angeles’ Gomorrah. Your best strategy is to look at a variety of schools, and to suggest to your parents that a couple of NY schools should stay on the list, “in case you get really good financial aid there.”</p>
<p>Well Hunt, we frequently go to DC, do its not really that, I think that since my mom used to live there she may think its a party city (she tells me she was quite the party animal herself haha!)</p>
<p>You probably need to include some automatic full-ride schools for your safeties. Since you are in Virginia, you may want to see how the (very good) Virginia public universities are with financial aid (check their net price calculators).</p>
<p>Interesting that your parents are not OK with New York but are OK with LA. I would think that the (free!) California sunshine would make it a lot harder to get school work done than the New York weather! At least I would have more of a tendency to go wild in LA than NYC. I would be at the beach all the time. I even was at the beach many afternoons while in grad school in San Francisco (on every non-foggy day – there are actually a lot more than it seems.)</p>