Hi there
I am graduating this year and I would love to study at NYU.
I am Swiss and for the last six years I have been to one of the most competitive schools in Switzerland ( it is a public school but it has the standards of an american private high school).
I will graduate with a gpa of 3.2 which is extremely high for my school and I do have one of the best gpas in my class.
Now I know that Nyu is very selective. But do they consider the background story?
I have had some serious problems in my family. My mother was ill for years and a family member tried to commit suicide and I had to take care of them. When this part was finally over I was diagnosed with an ealy stage of a burnout due to all the stress surrounding me. Despite this my grades were pretty good for my schoolâ standards. So I know what fighting for your dreams means.
Furthermore although my condition was bad ( due to the burnout I wasnât even able to properly walk on some days) I helped my boyfriend to get a hockey contract in the second highest league in Switzerland (btw I want to study sports management). So I already did my first trade this year.
Can someone please help me finding out if I even have a chance to get into NYU? I canât find a proper answer and I hope that someone here can help me 
Ps: i will do the sat and the toefl this fall in order to apply for the early decision.
Apply and give it your best shot but you must consider NYU a real longshot as an international student with your GPA. Be aware that mental health issues can be considered a red flag by some colleges.
If you do get in, NYU is typically not generous with financial aid so you need to be sure the school is affordable as well.
The general advice usually is not to mention mental health issues in your application. Schools are more hesitant to admit those with mental health problems as they worry they could reoccur after you start going there. If there are other issues that affected your performance such as the serious problems in your family, your guidance counselor can describe those in their recommendation.
Sports management at NYU is in SPS (school of professional studies), is that the program you are looking at? SPS is generally for non-traditional students, and has a much higher admit rate than other NYU schools.
What is your budget?
What does that mean? I havenât heard this term yet.(school of professional studies)
Many children here in the US also have depression and anxiety so no, I would not use that on your application.
Can your family afford $80,000 USD a year for tuition?
The financial aspect is not the problem. The main reason why I asled for advice on this forum is because only the best Swiss students are able to go to my type of school (the swiss system is a little different). When I got into it my gpa was around 3.7/3.8. what I wanna say: I know that I am not a vad student, I know what my intelligence is capable of. But I donât have a fotographic memory so I have to study even though it was already a lot easier for me than for others. I know that I could have been better bit I just needed the time to take care of my mother. I want to exlain why my gpa doesnât do me justice. And I want to convince them with the truth. My mom was ill for six years, almost the entire time of high school. Is there no understanding or value to the fact that I took care of her and put my own interests behind to be there for my family? How can I truly concince them that my gpa is only related to this situation? I know I coudlâve done better if the situation had been different.
Yes my family can afford it.
I do not have a guidance counselor. In fact i donât even think that this exists at Swiss schools.
When exactly are you graduating?
Yes you should apply to NYU. No I do not think your background story gives you a higher chance of admission. As others have said, it could decrease your chances as well.
Actually in two weeks. I am doing my finals right now.
So you are taking a gap year and applying to NYU to start in fall of 2022 then?
What will you do this next year to show that NYU should accept you?
First of all I will do the Sat and the toefl. But to be honest I am confident that these will turn out good. Then I am going to move out. I will move in with my boyfriend. We will have an apartment together because due to the hockey contract i got him, he lives 3h away from me now. Then I want to work somewhere and become 100% fluent in French ( i will move to the French part of Switzerland). I just thought after six years of hard studying and dealing with the situation at home it would be best to just work which is something my soul somehow really needs right now. A study break.
And yes I will apply for fall 22.
As you know, your chances of acceptance are quite low. Look at other colleges as well.
What if my sat turns out really well, 1500+?
The acceptance rate this year was 12%. So I would guess that would be your chance. Nobody can tell you if you will be accepted or not. Sure you can try, but also, look at other US colleges if your goal is to study in the US. Your chance at NYU is low.
I agree with the first person who posted on this thread. You can always apply and give it your BEST shot. Thereâs no harm in applying and if youâre passionate about NYU, go for it. I understand where youâre coming from and I truly sympathize, so I want to be honest and agree with some when they say mental health issues are unfortunately deemed as a red flag by colleges in the US. General advice is to never directly state or provide documentation that you have or have suffered from mental health issues because colleges may actually use that as a reason to reject you due to their fear a student may relapse and suffer from these issues again while studying at their college. BUT I would say, do the NYU application to the best of your ability, exercise all of your potential, and demonstrate great interest and capability to excel within the application. There are lots of videos on YouTube and resources online on how to best write the âWhy NYUâ essay for the NYU application which is super important (learn what NYU would like to hear from you) as well as any other essay you may need to write. It is tough to get accepted to school in the US as an international student, and getting into NYU is competitive enough as it is. But I would not say itâs impossible.
As for your GPA and grades that suffered due to heavy family issues, you can briefly write a personal statement/letter that you can provide in addition to your application just generally summarizing and explaining that there were grave family issues that you needed to attend to and face for some time, which contributed to a decline in your grades. However, do not be incredibly specific or mention grim details surrounding suicide or anything like such. This may do your application harm. What you can do is explain that you needed to deal with and face some things but how you grew from it or CAN grow from it and how you can thrive and excel moving forward.
Make them see your personal unique qualities in this explanation as well as in every aspect of your application, and how you can succeed, and WHY (and how) NYU will help you succeed and thrive.
Try to gather all the resources and help you can get when applying to NYU or other schools!
I hope this helps. I wish you the best!
Thank you so much!
Of course, youâre welcome!
This is all incredibly important to you, BUT⊠Your competition will be students who also have difficult circumstances and still managed to get really high GPAs. I am sure your grades are high for your school. Maybe NYU will take that into account, but as others have mentioned, colleges can be wary of students with mental health issues.
I would, frankly, not count on NYU as being the best place, especially if the program you want is in the School of Professional Studies. Youâre not going to be surrounded by young college students at SPS. Apply, by all means, but there are other colleges that might better suit your goals, which could be easier to get into.