NYU financial aid appeal- worth a try?

Paying for College
1

<p>So first I'll start by saying what every other student will say, NYU is my dream school. I was accepted to the Tisch School of the Arts as a Theater Arts major for the fall 2010 freshman class. I burst into tears when I got my acceptance and I've been dead-set on going since that moment.
I was also accepted to University of San Diego, CalPoly San Luis Obispo, and Cal State Fullerton. None of these schools have a comparable theater arts program, and their location in California is stuck in the California bubble I've been desperate to escape from for a while. They are not the schools for me.
That being said, I received a remarkable financial aid package considering NYU's reputation for meeting little-to-none of a family's need-based aid. I received about $30,000 in both merit and need-based scholarships and grants for 2010 school year but with the total cost coming to about $60,000 (they claim), my family would have to cover the rest. With my father already being in debt and my mother out of work for medical reasons, this is simply an impossibility and my father refuses to allow me to accept my offer of admission.</p>

<p>I'd like to know your opinion on whether I can and/or should attempt to appeal to the office of financial aid at NYU to acquaint them with my special circumstances (assuming they are special) with the hope that they'll offer me something more. If no, what else could help my situation? Your thoughts?<br>
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated :)</p>

2

<p>I’ve always heard that even after appeal the most a person has gotten was around 2-4k. Give it a try though, really. That’s what I heard before sending my appeal to UR, and they ended up giving me about 12k more per year.</p>

3

<p>Its definitely worth a try!! Focus on your “need” if appropriate. The cost of approx. $60K minus your EFC = “need”. If your EFC was $10k for example…your need would be $50K, but they only met $30K…a shortfall of $20K. Ask for clarification; perhaps they made a “mistake”, etc…further, your “special” circumstances as you described should be communicated to them in a letter, plus a proactive phone call to them asking for help ASAP!!!</p>

<p>No harm, no foul… </p>

<p>Unfortunately, NYU is NOT one of the best schools for meeting total need…proper planning may have found other schools for you that met more need in your potential situation…</p>

4

<p>Ture about NYU not meeting need. Make the appeal but make sure you have a backup. Look at your other acceptances as well.</p>

5

<p>I received about $30,000 in both merit and need-based scholarships and grants for 2010 school year but with the total cost coming to about $60,000 (they claim), my family would have to cover the rest. With my father already being in debt and my mother out of work for medical reasons, this is simply an impossibility and my father refuses to allow me to accept my offer of admission.</p>

<p>Your parents are being realistic. They know that the costs go up every year. For this last year, the COA was $54k. For your freshman year, the COA would probably be $56. Each year will be more. By the time you’re a senior, it will be over $60k.</p>

<p>It is unrealistic to expect your parents to take on more debt when they’re already in debt. </p>

<p>And, realistically, they probably wouldn’t even qualify. They might qualify for the first year, and then get turned down for your soph year and then you’d have to come home anyway.</p>

<p>You can ask NYU for more aid, but like others said, only expect a couple of thousand more - which won’t be the help that you would need. </p>

<p>You need to start considering what is your best #2 choice. Your statement that you have to escape the Calif bubble is a bit funny. You act like your other choices are in the middle of some Midwest cornfield. You’re in California, for goodness sake.</p>

<p>What do your aid packages from CSUF, USD and Cal Poly look like?</p>

6

<ol>
<li> You should appeal.</li>
<li> It isn’t going to help. NYU will at most throw $1000-$2000 your way – they have set policies, and they never do more than slightly sweeten the pot with an appeal. They do no promise to meet full need – instead they practice an enrollment management system where they basically figure out what they are willing to give you and pretty much stick to it.</li>
</ol>

<p>So why did I tell you to appeal? Because you will feel better having taken that step. There is nothing to lose, and if you don’t appeal then you will never know. </p>

<p>And as to the choice of schools – if your parents are paying, then they have final call on this, whether or not you like the schools that they can afford. Given what you’ve said about them, its not like they are sitting on a pile of money and being greedy – it really would be a financial hardship for them.</p>

<p>It’s also going to be a financial hardship on you and destroy whatever hopes you have of a career in theater if you graduate with a ton of debt. You are looking at the kind of career where employment is sporadic and you need a lot of flexibility. You don’t want to spend the next ten years after you graduate sitting behind a desk in an office because that’s the only way you can earn the salary you need to pay off your debt.</p>

7

<p>*You are looking at the kind of career where employment is sporadic and you need a lot of flexibility. You don’t want to spend the next ten years after you graduate sitting behind a desk in an office because that’s the only way you can earn the salary you need to pay off your debt. *</p>

<p>Yes, imagine the irony. Insisting on going to NYU for theater and racking up a bunch of debt, only to graduate and have to take an office job to pay off the debt (with no time to go to auditions, etc).</p>

<p>The cost of approx. $60K minus your EFC = “need”. If your EFC was $10k for example…your need would be $50K, but they only met $30K…a shortfall of $20K. Ask for clarification; perhaps they made a “mistake”</p>

<p>1) EFC is a FEDERAL number; it means NOTHING to schools except to determine federal aid (which is small).</p>

<p>2) NYU is a CSS school, which means they use their OWN formula for determining need.</p>

<p>3) NYU makes it quite clear on its website that they don’t meet need.</p>

8

<p>"You need to start considering what is your best #2 choice. Your statement that you have to escape the Calif bubble is a bit funny. You act like your other choices are in the middle of some Midwest cornfield. You’re in California, for goodness sake.</p>

<p>What do your aid packages from CSUF, USD and Cal Poly look like?"</p>

<p>If I had a number two, I’d definitely go there. But the schools I got into just don’t compare to NYU. They’re in small, relaxed suburbs. Not the environment that I look for. I guess what I meant by the “California” comment is that chose where I applied based on the environment I’d be putting myself into. I’ll be living there for the next four years (ideally) and I need a tumultous, vibrant, cosmopolitan city to thrive. That’s just who I am.</p>

<p>I didn’t get any financial aid from any other schools. I’d have to pay sticker price, basically, which wouldn’t help at USD much.</p>

9

<p>Unfortunately, you may have to take this as an early lesson in compromising what you want with what you get. Because the fact is, you cannot afford to attend NYU, and an appeal is very unlikely to change that. Don’t destroy your finances before you’re even an adult just because you have your heart set on one particular school.</p>

10

<p>Cal State Fullerton has a very highly regarded theater program. According to their web site, they are considered to be among the top 16 in the nation - and its also on the LA metropolitan area -
see: [CSF</a> Department of Theatre and Dance](<a href=“http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/theatredance/mainframeset3.html]CSF”>http://www.fullerton.edu/arts/theatredance/mainframeset3.html)</p>

11

<p>I really appreciate all of your feedback, it’s helped me understand my father’s viewpoint a lot better. </p>

<p>I’m aware that I’ll adapt to any school, and be happy and successful anywhere I go. I’m just afraid that if I don’t follow my dreams, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I’m perfectly willing to take on the risk and the debt for possibly the next 30 years of my life and I’m willing to work my butt off. Am I being too quixotic in that?</p>

12

<p>Well, you kind of are. Even if you can guarantee an amazing job that will pay the loans off the very first month after you graduate, you still have to qualify for those loans in the first place and I’m not sure that’s even possible. What ends up happening to many students who try to plow full speed ahead is that they get their huge loans for the first and maybe the second year, but then they can’t qualify for years three and four and end up having to go to a cheaper school for their junior and senior year. They graduate with that cheaper school’s degree but with 2 years of debt from the more expensive “Dream School”.</p>

<p>I agree with calmon; I think that you should definitely try and appeal, just for your peace of mind. There’s an off chance that it might work, but please don’t pin your sense of self-worth on it. From the sounds of your latest post, it seems as if you have your head screwed on straight and know what’s going to happen.</p>

13

<p>

You are talking about being $120,000+ in debt by the time your graduate.</p>

<p>Even if you could manage the debt load after graduation, you will not be able to borrow that amount of money without a cosigner, or someone else to borrow it for you. And it doesn’t sound like your parents will qualify.</p>

<p>So what will happen is that you will probably be able to scrape up enough money for the first year… but in year two, it will be impossible to come up with the money. </p>

<p>You will have to drop out. And still have to pay back $25K+ in loans.</p>

<p>What will this do to your dreams?</p>

14

<p>Don’t forget that Kevin Costner graduated from CSUF. </p>

<p>BTW…you can always go to CSUF for a couple of years, and then transfer to a school closer to LA later.</p>

<p>*I’m perfectly willing to take on the risk and the debt for possibly the next 30 years of my life and I’m willing to work my butt off. Am I being too quixotic in that? *</p>

<p>Yes, you’re being very naive. I don’t think you realize how little money most actors make in the early years. There’s a thread awhile back about a doctor with big student loans that kept growing at a ridiculous speed because she couldn’t pay them back in the original 10 years. The debt got to the point that even as a highly paid physician she couldn’t pay them back.</p>

15

<p>If you want the freedom to actually take low-paying jobs with the flexibility that allows you to go to auditions at short notice and perhaps start by getting non-Equity jobs, commercials, and so on, go to CSUF. </p>

<p>If you want the very strong chance that you’ll need to take on a non-theatre career right after graduation because you have huge loans that you need to start paying back, choose NYU. After all, there still is community theater that you could do in the evening.</p>

16

<p>^^^^</p>

<p>Very, very good points. </p>

<p>The ability to have a flexible (probably low-paying) job after grad is necessary to be able to go to auditions.</p>

17

<p>I went through this very same thing last year. I found out that I needed to come up with $16,000 on my own somehow in order to attend NYU for my freshman year because my mom had just lost her home and didn’t qualify for the PLUS loan. So I was all over these boards asking everyone for advice and nearly everyone told me not to go to NYU, to walk away from my dream school and be realistic because it was just too much money. And they’re all saying the same things to you, that you’ll end up +$120,000 in loan debt by graduation… and yep, I most likely will as well. But to me, it’s worth it, to live in NYC, the city I want to make my career in anyway, and go to NYU because it really is an incredible school and everyday I appreciate being there even though it’s costing me everything.</p>

<p>But if you don’t want to be tied down my loan debt then it’s probably not the right choice for you. But don’t let all these warnings make you think it’s impossible, because it’s not. I’m doing it, and I have a lot of friends who are paying their own way as well. It’s really difficult, but you just have to way your options and see what is best for <i> you </i> in the long-run. It is your education, and your name in debt so you make the decision. But also keep in mind, if your EFC is low every year, there are chances for student federal loans and grants to increase each year. NYU pretty much stays the same cost… always about $56-60 K, depending on housing and credit load. But each year a little bit more aid because available to you (example: Freshman year you can get Federal Stafford loan at a max of about $4000 if eligible, soph: $5500, jr: $6500…) So there is that.</p>

18

<p>I assume the OP has already made the choice of college by now, but I find heyitzerin’s response to be very bizarre. It is someone in the process of financially drowning himself with 120K in debt calling out “jump in, the water is warm!” without either having a clue of the drowning process right around the corner.</p>

<p>The average 20-something year old has never handled debt repayment even as high as 10K in their life - yet so many seem to think they can handle 120K debt straight out of college. And they don’t even get to live in the debt (like a house mortgage).</p>

<p>I’ve seen college students buckle under a mere 20 - 40K in student loan debt. Our American culture really needs to help 20-somethings better understand what it really means to be 120K in debt, though I am at a loss at how to convey this information.</p>

<p>PLEASE VISIT LOAN CALCULATORS.</p>

<p>120,000 Debt
20 year repayment (generously expanded from 10 year)
Monthly Repayment: $916
Annual Income needed to support this: 73K - 109K a year</p>

<p>Most these kids racking up this kind of college debt haven’t even worked six months at a job netting a measly $916/mo … the numbers are meaningless to them.</p>

19

<p>^^^</p>

<p>I agree. I also found this disturbing…</p>

<p>But to me, it’s worth it, to live in NYC, the city I want to make my career in anyway, and go to NYU because it really is an incredible school and everyday I appreciate being there even though it’s costing me everything.</p>

<p>Right now, this young student hasn’t even begun to feel the effects of this decision…and won’t until after graduation when the big payments are due. The “costing me everything” hasn’t even begun. Right now, he/she’s living on loans - not really feeling the effects of this decision. </p>

<p>So, for this student to be essentially doing as described above…saying to another student…“jump in, the water’s fine” … is just more youthful naivete. </p>

<p>I don’t care what school it is, this kind of debt will be a stranglehold for anyone who isn’t immediately making a high salary and not having to pay high rent, etc.</p>

20

<p>Although OP has probably already chosen I’m posting what I’ve written for other students to consider, should they search backwards.</p>

<p>I’m perfectly willing to take on the risk and the debt for possibly the next 30 years of my life and I’m willing to work my butt off. Am I being too quixotic in that?</p>

<p>That’s because you don’t know what debt feels like yet and you don’t understand what debt means.</p>

<p>Let’s assume that your financial aid stays the same and the COA at NYU stays the same for the next four years (which isn’t going to happen, but let’s pretend.) You’ve got a gap of $30,000. $30,000 is my entire salary for a year. Do you understand what that means? That’s all the money I use to pay rent, eat, play, whatever for an ENTIRE YEAR. As an actor, until you make it big you will be lucky if you make that. (I’m a graduate student.)</p>

<p>You’re quadrupling that, borrowing $120,000 to go to NYU. If you borrow $120,000 at 6.8% interest and take 30 years to pay it back (and 30 years means you will be 52 when you finish paying it - you’ll be just 13 years from retirement and just finishing paying your student loans. Likely if you have any children they will be grown or nearly grown and it will be time to start paying for THEIR college educations, just as you make your last payments), you’ll be paying $782 a month. Every month, for 30 years. I’m going to tell you right now, with a $30,000 salary there’s no <em>way</em> you’ll be able to afford that even if you live at home. Even if you do relatively well and you make $50,000 a year as an actress in the city after taxes you’d still be struggling.</p>

<p>I’d say that one of the best decisions I made was turning down a high-powered top university that I would’ve had to pay around $30,000 out of pocket to take a full scholarship at a great, but not top top, college. I had a great time, I still got into a fantastic Ivy League university for graduate school, I’ve got great prospects for after college and I’ve only got around $21K in TOTAL debt (grad + undergrad).</p>

<p>It sounds “worth it” to you know because you’re on the front end of it. $120,000 is an abstract number, it doesn’t mean anything to you. It won’t mean anything to you until you’re out and working and you realize how MUCH money that it is to pay back when you don’t have hopes of making anything close to that for quite some time after you graduate. You have your entire lifetime to move to NYC and live here - it’s a great city but you do NOT have to go to college here to live here. Many, many many people move here after they finish college and have a fantastic time as a young professional, a starving artist, a community theater actress, whatever. And honestly, it’s a lot more fun after you’re a bit older and out of college and have the time and age on you to really make it your oyster.</p>