I’m sorry for saying duh. That was rude.
If you’re exploring the CUNY option, here is one tool that’s useful.
CUNY is its own system so sometimes it’s hard to figure out which campus offers what disciplines. This programs search page can help–
http://www2.cuny.edu/admissions/undergraduate/explore/programs/
Here is a page with a general overview of the system for undergraduates.
http://www2.cuny.edu/admissions/undergraduate/explore/
Here is Hunter College’s list of internship opportunities.
http://www.hunter.cuny.edu/art/special-programs/internships
Hunter College is a hop skip and a jump away from the Met.
@dustyfeathers no problem. I was going to say it’s a private school and therefore, duh, it charges private school prices. 8-} (not following your other comment either about big state school, no football team).
I do agree with your other comments about the city itself and CUNY.
@momnyu Also, the price tag is more like $288K minus $96K, total 192K. (inc books/supplies, transport & incidentals)
Also, I wanted to point out that it doesn’t necessarily cost more to study abroad. This is true at NYU as well as many other colleges/unis.
Has he made the ED deposit? If so, he is supposed to immediately withdraw all other apps. You can’t wait around and see if he has better offers. NYU is notorious for poor FA. If you can’t afford it, turn them down and move on.
"We were sold a lie we sold to him. We told him work hard and make school your career and you can write your ticket to any school you want. "
Sorry, sounds like you’re entirely blaming the college. You let him have a “dream” school before even being accepted. He now needs to face reality, no blaming, just some big kid rational thinking.
Tens of thousands of kids are out there working hard. And building resilience, making savvy decisions.
Ps. Many smaller cities are perfect for gaining museum experience. You work your way up to an opp like the Met. I hope you realize.
Even if the Met gave him an internship, the hire path starts out if town.
@Fishnlines29 Sorry for being cryptic. I thought the analogy would be clear. NYU offers a huge school with lots of resources, and research of a Big State School, but charges higher prices than most cushy privates. You get very little of the cushy private stuff, though. You get precious little of the tight community, tutorials with profs – or if you do at all, then it’s at the same level of a huge state school. Again, that’s fine if you’re paying in-state tuition and want a big football team, like many big state schools offer. The team at Big State U at least offers some camaraderie and cohesion in the huge community. NYU has none of that. No football to bring excitement and huge crowds together. No central community that I’ve ever discerned. Very little individualized attention (unless you attend certain small programs like Gallatin.)
In essence it’s a Big State School at two or three times the price, and you don’t even get football.
Does that make sense?
@lookingforward I’m not understanding your comment that “even if the Met gave him an internship, the hire path starts out of town.”
Why doesn’t the hire path start in town? Do NYC kids born and raised go out to Indiana or Kansas to start their careers and return home? Most start in NYC and go from there. The more direct hire path IMO is from inside of NYC, where you can make the connections you need.
Unless you mean that OP’s son will eventually work outside of NYC anyway so give that up immediately . . . ?
The Met and other museums also regularly give internships . . . . it happens. The tone is, forgive me if I’m not reading it correctly, that it’s so out of the question for him or anyone to get a Met internship. It’s not. People get internships there all of the time. Besides, this is an aspirational city. People come here to aspire to do Something and to be Something with a capital S. Why can’t he do that too?
It’s a challenge. The streets are hard. It feels often unforgiving–until you find your niche. The OP may experiencing some of that now . . . .? But there’s opportunity. And with strategic thinking and determination people can and do prevail.
The path to a hire as a curator, (see OP’s comment,) at a place like the Met, includes relevant, equal experiences in other museums. Of course they offer internships. And exceptions are possible. But without knowing this student’s qualifications, I’d never say 225k in loans is worth it because NYC is his pinnacle career goal.
The folks I know who did work with the Met (and nope, i don’t know everyone who ever did,) gained their critical experience and climbed the ladder in other areas. Then were hired for their track record and expertise.
Remember, this started about massive loans. Her son can spend summers interning in NYC for much, much less.
A prime place for someone who wants to work at the Met as a career goal is not in the city at all, it’s Williams.
It doesn’t have to be major debt or free ride of an undesirable nature (although the estimation may be skewed as to “undersirable”).It’s a false dichotomy. There are lots of colleges in the environment he wants, known for their art history/museum studies majors, in the city or not, and with either good merit or good financial aid. That being said, a good college (LAC or university) is better than a third-tier college for Art History. There’s a world of difference between Art History at GeorgiaSouthern or Bloomsburg or CSU San Marcos, and Art History at Oberlin, Wellesley, Georgetown, etc.
- not just in classes and content, but also connections and opportunities. ( I won’t touch Williams in the examples
)
NYU is FAR from the be-all/end-all. There are many other possibilities and all likely to cost far less than NYU. They wouldn’t be free rides, but they’d be better values than NYU.
OP’s son STILL has a chance at his dream of living in a big metropolis - not at NYU, but there are plenty of colleges in the city or near the city or in cities or with liberal towns and stellar museum studies still accepting applications.
Because he’s hurting and you don’t want to create new false hopes, before you mention a college to your son, run the NPC yourself. If the college is financially possible, say “ey there’s College X, good for your goals, in the environment you want, and we could afford it if you got in”.
(NYU’s is a horrible, horrible NPC that doesn’t reflect what a “real” NPC looks like. Have your tax returns or W2’s ready for the “real” NPC’s.)
What about Skidmore? Not too far from the city, academically rigorous, good art contacts, meets need (unlike NYU), probably slightly easier admit for a boy.
Another big city with plenty of art and still within deadlines: Chicago => should get merit at DePaul. Or Minneapolis-SaintPaul => Macalester. Philadelphia is another TERRIFIC city for museums and Haverford has a Jan 15 deadline! Even RIT has a Museum Studies major with lots of internships built in.
With some of the top museums in the nation’s capital, all three big universities there - Georgetown, GWU, American U - offer a Museum Studies concentration for Art History majors. Geoergetown has excellent financial aid and American has good merit aid. BEWARE, GEORGETOWN’S DEADLINE IS TOMORROW!
wrt CUNY’s: It’s too late for Macaulay but not too late for honors program at SUNY Purchase or New Paltz, or Honors programs at City or Hunter.
What about Fordham? If he’s got the stats for NYU Ed and full rides, he should do well with Fordham. Great connections in the city, real campus in the Bronx - or even the new Lincoln Center program if he doesn’t mind not having a campus.
If you look at the top LAC’s, many meet need (run the NPC) and have good art history department. Look at terms like “placement”, “internships”, “graduate schools”, “concentrations”, to determine whether the department is good.
My friend is 72 years old and still working to pay off the parent loans they took for their D to go to NYU. She has not worked one day in the field she studied there. She could have gone to Hunter to be doing the job she is doing.
I didn’t even let my D or S17 apply to Tisch.
I took @Dustyfeathers comment to mean that NYU is a private school that isn’t as economical as a state school but thinks it’s an Ivy.
^ Same @techmom99 after reading on here about the NYU nightmare, it was removed from even the college visit list.
OP, how about Boston?
First off, thank you all for helping us take some of the emotion out of this…death of NYU dream occurred at 6:58 pm when my son hit the decline button. He’s devastated…
Please know we didn’t let him apply irresponsibly. We looked at tuition, we looked at the net price calculator, we applied and shot for a dream believing what we could afford to contribute and possibly allowing him to take on some of the ownership of the dream, that we might be able to see this in year by year picture. And it seemed manageable. When the acceptance and financials came across our eyes were wide open to what an NYU education would cost in reality. NYU gave a pittance of a scholarship and we tried appealing, w no luck. Loans are no way to begin a future and if he’s worked this hard, he should go to a college that celebrates his hard work and talents of staying focused and goal oriented his whole school career.
We will mourn the loss this week. Then we will push forward with the waiting on further acceptance letters and reviewing the ones in front of us. And seeing if he cares to meet any other upcoming deadlines of other NYU learning communities. Sigh.
Adulting sucked today!!!
I’m so sorry. But he will always know he qualified. It was the college’s policies that made this difficult.
And you never know what the hand of fate has in store for him. Here’s to hoping this works out well for him and his future interests.
@momnyu I am sorry your son is disappointed and I know as a parent it has to hurt…I felt bad reading “he’s devastated” so I can only imagine how you are feeling tonight. You made the right decision. Way back in the day when I was in high school, many of my peers were also eager to go to NYU. Having grown up in the city, I know the allure it has on kids. I do not know where you are from but it sounds like your son, very similar to my son, is seeking an urban experience. They are interested in meeting people from various backgrounds and enjoying what being in a city has to offer. Again, I will say you made the right decision.
As a friend of mine whose daughter was accepted to NYU two years ago told his daughter, you could send your son on weekend getaways to NYC (flights, broadway shows, museums, etc) and many other cities that he may want to travel to and get the same experience for no where near the cost of what it would be to attend. He can try to get a summer internship.
There are so many kids who do not finish school at NYU or are having a hard time buying necessities like good because they can’t afford the tuition. They are living in apartments in the boroughs with 5 roommates squeezed into a 3 bedroom apartment because the rent is ridiculous and paying rent is cheaper than living in the dorm. My heart feels for you and your son tonight but I know you made a great decision tonight. I wish your son all the best in choosing his school. Hang in there and know that while he’s disappointed now, you made a good decision by not going into debt when he has other options available to him.
@momnyu Oh, I feel for you, like @paveyourpath, my heart went out to “he’s devastated”. But I bet he will move on quickly since this is no longer an option. Revisit some of the great schools he’s been accepted to and remind him it’s what you do with your time in college, not where you go! Is he waiting on any other decisions? Sounds like he already has wonderful options!
Was this a sounding board to bash NYU? This doesn’t seem real and the “mom” has not supplied any information about her “child” so posters can guide her.
We all know NYU typically does not meet need. So we should not expect that they will. OP, if you want advice, provide us some details of your academic / financial profile. We don’t even know whether this is a domestic or international applicant?
@ClarinetDad16 I think you missed some posts, they turned down ED last night.
I didn’t miss anything - it was an open forum to bash NYU with the bonfire lit by a “mom” who didn’t share any details beyond NYU is cheap and now the world is coming to an end.
Does “she” want advice? Or just bash NYU?
How about McGill. Montreal is very cool, a similar urban experience, and much cheaper. I don’t think the deadline passed. Just show him some pictures of Quebecois girls. Toronto is pretty cool too.
@ClassicRockerDad, I think the OP sincerely came here looking for support in the face of a painful decision for her and her son. Posters shared their thoughts. I think this was one of the more helpful threads on cc.
@momnyu, I’m sorry for your son’s disappointment and the stress this is causing you, and I totally understand it. Offers were turned down by my D two years ago for the same reason. I’m sure your son will do well wherever he lands, and I wish you both the best.