NYU - Is it only a dream for me?

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>Hey everyone. Currently I am a rising senior with high hopes for my future. Its my dream to attend NYU Stern for my undergraduate, however, I need advice and constructive criticism from (preferably) people who are educated in college admissions.
I'm going to go ahead and thank those of you who will be willing to read my statistics (I'm quite the rambler):</p>

<p>-I am a minority.
-I live in North Carolina.
-I will be applying for financial aid.</p>

<p>*FRESHMAN YEAR:
My freshman year I attended an EXTREMELY small charter school. I was tied for rank 1 the entire year, and I took the following courses and received the corresponding grades in them:
-Honors Geometry:A
-Honors Earth Environmental Science: A
-Honors World History: A
-Honors English I: B (I know, pathetic. I didn't take the class seriously and I obviously deserved the low grade which I received)
-Spanish I: A
-Health/PE: A
-Freshman Seminar: A
Because I attended a charter school, when I transferred to my current public school, all my credits didn't successfully transfer. I was also enrolled in an Arts class, and that credit did not come through for some odd reason.
Extra curricular wise, my school didn't offer much at all. However, I joined two out of the three available clubs to join (Math Club and Environmental Club - I joined Math Club because I was forced to by my parents). The other club offered was SGA. I also swam for a Swim Team my freshman year, and I participated in something called FOGANA, an organization for South Asian youth to perform and compete in traditional dance competitions. It was my fourth and final year in the program.</p>

<p>*SOPHOMORE YEAR
I transferred into a regular public school my sophomore year. I thank my lucky stars that I made this decision because I believe if I had stayed in that charter school I would have no chance of getting into any college. My curriculum and grades were as follows:
-Sports Medicine I: A
-Marketing: A
-Honors English II: A
-Honors Civics and Economics: A
-Honors Algebra II: A
-Honors Biology: A
-Spanish II: A
-Honors Engineering and Design: A
My grades were significantly better my sophomore year and I also got to participate in more extra curriculars. My sophomore year was also the year I found my "calling" in high school. I was involved in Multicultural Society, Interact, Spanish Club, and most importantly, DECA. With DECA, I became a district finalist and placed fourth at state competitions in the Technical Sales Event.
During the summer of my sophomore year I also volunteered at a childrens library and earned roughly 70 hours of community service, and during the school year I had gained approx. 15 hours through Interact.</p>

<p>*JUNIOR YEAR
My junior year is definitely the year that I believed I became unique as a potential college applicant through my work with DECA. The following were my grades and classes:
-Honors US History: A
-AP US History: A (At my school, to take APUSH, you have to take Honors US as well)
-AP Government: A
-AP English III: A
-Marketing Advance Studies: A
-Honors Chemistry: B
-Honors Spanish III: A
-Honors Pre-Calculus: A
I wasn't able to keep straight A's this year, but I really struggled (to pay attention lol) in chemistry, and I had to pay for it in my grades.
Although my grades weren't outstanding my junior year, I really shined through with my extra curriculars. This year I stayed active in Spanish Honors Society, Multicultural Society, Interact, Key Club, and of course, DECA. I was elected as DECA President for my school. As President, I increased membership from 150 to 218, making our chapter the second largest in the state. I also became a district finalist, and at State Competition I placed First in International Business and Second in Technical Sales. I was also awarded for receiving a top test score in Tech Sales. I was also elected as one of North Carolina DECA's six state officers, serving approximately 46,000 marketing students. I also got the chance to compete at International DECA Competition, and I placed Fifth in International Business. I also collected a large number of community service hours through DECA during my junior year.
And I also just completed a internship with Fox News Charlotte, a local TV Station. </p>

<p>I plan to pour my heart out into my essays and have them revised by as many people as possible. I will also get a very very good recommendation from my Marketing Teacher.</p>

<p>I believe my extra curricular work and grades and classes are alright, however, my SAT score is a tragedy compared to what most people who apply to Stern have.</p>

<p>My cumulative SAT is a 1950 =/ (CR:640, M:650, & W:660). Its my second try, and I didn't want to have to take it a third time, but I will be retrying it again in October in hopes of at least breaking the 2000 mark. I know my SAT is bad, so if someone could tell me where I need to aim specifically to improve in, that would be awesome.</p>

<p>I also do not know my weighted and unweighted GPA, but I will go to my school tomorrow and ask for it and edit this post.</p>

<p>And the following is my schedule for my senior year:
-AP Calculus AB
-AP Earth Science
-AP Psychology
-AP English IV
-AP Spanish V (My teacher suggested I skip Spanish Four, I dont know if that would look good in an application or not)
-Honors Physics
-Honors Strategic Marketing
-Visual Arts I (I'm only taking Visual Arts because an art credit is required in order to become eligible in some school system honor or something)</p>

<p>CONGRATULATIONS AND THANK YOU if you actually read all of this hullabaloo. I really appreciate it. Again, I appreciate ANY ANY ANY advice and constructive criticism I can receive about getting into NYU Stern.
I will also be applying to NC State, UNC Chapel Hill, Cornell (Just for kicks and giggles), UMich, and MAYBE Georgetown &/or Emory.</p>

2

<p>I also forgot to mention I am in the top 5% of my class, and my rank should have improved since final grades for junior year just went in. I was a junior marshall (which is the top 30 students based on all your grades up to first semester junior year) and my rank was at 19/480-something. Hopefully it dropped down to something in the low teens.</p>

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<p>NYU doesn’t promise to meet the full financial need of students. I know people who have had to turn down NYU due to getting tens of thousands of dollars less in scholarships than their financial need required.</p>

<p>Getting into NYU is the least of your worries. I believe you have a chance of getting in. The problem would be paying for it.</p>

<p>Fine to dream of going there, but don’t pin all of your hopes on going there. Fortunately, you live in a state with some of the best colleges – including public ones – in the country, so you should be able to find some nice affordable match and safety schools.</p>

4

<p>Thanks Northstarmom, and I completely understand about the financial aid reasoning. I have no plans on taking out any student loans, so if I am not offered enough aid I will definitely be attending UNC (although I despise the school, it has a top notch business school and if I get in and am unable to attend any out of states, that will be my first in state option).</p>

<p>Admission wise, does fluency in other languages help? I am fluent in Gujarati, semi-fluent in Hindi and can moderately read and write in both. I am also intermediate in Spanish.</p>

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<p>you should also check out Vanderbilt. They DO promise to meet full financial aid.</p>

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<p>Vanderbilt sounds like a fantastic school, however my scores are waaaaay too low and I also would prefer to go into a school with a solid undergraduate business program. I dont think Vandy has an undergrad business school… does it?</p>

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<p>als;djf I’m also a member of National Honors Society.
I keep remembering things I forgot to write in my original post.</p>

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<p>[Masters</a> in Accounting : Master of Accountancy](<a href=“http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/Programs/macc/index.cfm]Masters”>http://www.owen.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbilt/Programs/macc/index.cfm)</p>

<p>They don’t offer an undergraduate degree in business, but they do offer a master’s program, which is what I assume most people want anyway? I dunno that’s not my area of expertise.</p>

<p>Again. Vanderbilt is perfect when it comes to financial aid. Then again, you’ll stay have to pay SOMETHING. Especially travel expenses, books, room and board, food, etc.</p>

<p>There is a very large chance that you’ll have to take out student loans. Even if you end up going UNC. Even if you have tuition paid for, there’s always something else that needs to be taken care of. You need to make sure you’re realistic about the money you’ll be spending on your education.</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/935923-mired-debt-education-worth.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/935923-mired-debt-education-worth.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Make sure you took a look at that discussion, too. NYU is a fantastic school - but make sure you can pay for it first.</p>

<p>And don’t down your SAT scores! That was exactly my score that I sent to Vandy. They accepted me. And I definitely had a ton of B’s in high school. :slight_smile: You don’t have to be perfect.</p>

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<p>Thanks rupee2, I’ll definitely have to put more thought into it.</p>

<p>But could you give a little more insight on what my chances for NYU are, if you have any knowledge about the admissions?
I know that even if I got in, because of the financial aid reasons I may not be able to attend, but even receiving acceptance to my dream school would be enough for me.</p>

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<p>Didnt read the original post :wink: but someone mentioned Vanderbilt and business so I thought Id share my 2 cents. They dont have a undergrad b school like NYU or UNC, but they get the same recruiters as the other schools. You can major in econ and minor in either corporate strategy, finance, or leadership; most people that would have been business majors at other schools decide to do this (myself included).</p>

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<p>i think itll be easy for you to get in. With ur grades u should get in…
Beware though NYU is full of hippy liberals and its not for everyone(my cousin went there)
NY isnt the only great city that have colleges</p>

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<p>Thanks for the input, and I appreciate everything about Vanderbilt so far, and I hope this doesnt come off as rude, but I would much rather get some advice on getting into NYU :/</p>

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<p>Thanks redskins1993, hopefully youre right haha.
And I wont mind the liberals part, but lets not get into a political debate lol ;)</p>

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<p>I also failed to mention that I work a part time job at a coffee shop, and work typically 3-4 days a week, ranging anywhere from 6-10 hours a day.</p>

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<p>Sorry that I can’t help you with your “chancing.” I mean, you have as good of a shot as anyone else applying with your statistics. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Thanks.
I also attended a summer program at UNC called Project Uplift where I got to stay at UNC for three days for free and tour the campus and learn the inside scoop on the schools admissions.</p>

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<p>NYU gives horrible aid, I see that that was mentioned before but I think it is worth repeating. Really bad, since you dont plan on taking loans, that may not be an option.</p>

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<p>I’m aware of this, but I’ll never know how much aid i’d receive unless I give it my all and apply. As much as I’d love to attend nyu, I’d be okay with not attending if I can’t afford it. Right now, for nyu, my chief concern is acceptance.</p>

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<p>From what I’ve heard, you will have no problem getting into NYU. I find your extracurriculars impressive and you are virtually a straight A student. Also, I heard that because so many people from my school treat NYU as a safety, the students who show that it is their dream school will have a much higher chance than those who are only applying to it as a safely.</p>

20

<p>Thank you! But the thing I’m scared about is that the kids accepted into Stern usually have 2100+ and all that jazz.</p>