Hi, new poster here
Everyone knows that NYU is incredibly expensive and very bad with aid, but I’ve been seeing that many people do in fact get scholarships, which has given me some hope.
I know scholarships like MLK, CAS, etc exist. I was just wondering what my chances would be for them, particularly the CAS one because I’ve seen students get offered up to 50k with it.
ACT Score: 34 Composite (36 M and 36 E since I know those two are usually most important)
GPA (UW): 4.0
Rank: 4/330 (I’m a junior, so still subject to change)
I don’t know if ECs make a difference but here they are, just in case:
SCHOOL RELATED:
President of NHS
President of Interact Club (similar to a service club)
Director of the Refugee Project within my Interact Club
Part of the County’s Math League
Part of the County’s Mastermind Quiz Bowl
Academic Varsity Letter Recipient
National Merit Semi-Finalist
OUT OF SCHOOL:
Staff writer as The Progressive Teen
Volunteered with the Bernie Sanders campaign
Reading to child refugees at the library and doing HW with them
Refugee project where we resettle families (technically w/ my school but most of it is outside of school)
Intern at the NYS Division of Human Rights (nearly 200 hours)
Self-studying Japanese
I’m hopeful for MLK because my ECs are very geared in that direction and my essay will be focused on my experience of being part of a refugee family and what it means to be an American.
Will my stats (and/or ECs) result in a CAS scholarship? Thanks for any input!
There is nothing to do but apply and see. NYU merit and need based aid is very unpredictable. The school does not guarantee to meet full need…and it doesn’t. The school gives merit aid, it seems, to attract highly desired students.
But the school is over $70,000 a year…so please don’t fall into a “dream school” notion about this college…unless younare prepared to pay a LOT to go there.
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thanks for the reply
i just wanted to get your personal opinion on whether or not i look to be one of those students that they might want to attract with aid
Honestly…I don’t know. You have a nice resume…and good stats. But I’m not an NYU adcom…and I also don’t know what the other applicants will look like a year from now!
@quandcest With what your stats are now, you have good chances to receive at least half tuition; however, most NYU merit aid takes demonstrated need into account. AKA if your family is loaded, you will receive very little scholarship money, since they want to get intelligent students who otherwise would be unable to attend without one. Best of luck!
@quandcest Please read what NYU says about financial aid and merit aid directly on their website. If you are applying to CAS, you should also go to the link about CAS school-specific scholarships.
From what the website says, unless you fall into very specific categories for named scholarships that are either university-wide or CAS specific, the only non-need based scholarship is the MLK scholarship.
For every other scholarship, there is a need component. So it is imperative that you understand what your specific needs are. If you do determine that you have need (based on your EFC, CSS profile, net price calculator), then you will get a variable amount of scholarship money as part of your financial aid package. In general, NYU covers about 68% of your need. So that actual number will vary based on any one student’s financial situation and how much NYU wants you to attend.
If NYU is lukewarm to you, they may grant you less $. If they are in love with your application and REALLY want you to come, they may grant you a specific award like MLK (need or not) or they will grant you a large financial aid package (which includes need-based scholarships) that will meet a large percentage of your specific need.
Please disregard @PAwind98 when they state you have a good chance of at least a half tuition scholarship, because that is NOT how NYU gives out $. It is a combination of merit and need–or in very rare cases, just merit.
Good luck!
@uskoolfish No need to say “disregard” my info, as it is essentially a compressed version of yours. I received 1/2 tuition with comparable stats and I’m middle class. That is why I acknowledged “most NYU merit aid takes demonstrated need into account.” I’m glad you took the time out of your day to more thoroughly answer a question, but there was no need to be so discourteous about my answer.
@PAwind98 @uskoolfish thanks for your answers
My EFC is 0 and the calc tells me my net price would be around $26k (which I think is the lowest the net price will tell you). Does this help with determining the direction of my aid somewhat? I’m hoping that my high stats, good ECs/essay, and low income will help me get good aid so I will be able to attend NYU
i know the MLK one is very rare, but i hope i get that one. even though its much more likely that I will not, i think receiving a CAS scholarship would be wonderful
@quandcest My EFC is 7.5k, so, based off personal experience, I would say you are in a good position to receive scholarship aid. Best of luck on finishing off your Junior year strong! Keep a look out over the summer for Common App Essays and spend some of your free time prepping your application, the year flies by 
@PAwind98 thanks for the advice! just to be clear though, you received about $25k out of the $72k total?
@uskoolfish when you say NYU meets about 68% of aid does it work like this?: since my efc is 0 let’s say i need all of it, so about 72k. if NYU pays for 68%, this is about $49k paid. does this 49k include pell and tap grants that total to about 11k or is it only institutional aid?
@quandcest Just above $31k! My brother 3 years prior received just as much (ended up at CMU), and our financial situation has been the same. Although not full tuition, it certainly makes NYU competitive with my other two public uni options. FYI: income= ~75k both working parents, one self-employed.
@quandcest Meeting 68% of need includes all grants (Pell, TAP, etc.) and all scholarships that do not need to be paid back and are not loans or work study. So on average, it would mean that you would need to come up with approx. $23,000 per year to attend if your efc is 0. Since the net price calculator determined you would need to pay $26,000/ per year, that seems fairly accurate.
But remember that the 68% of need is an average–and so you can be pleasantly surprised by more aid or very disappointed with less. This is where NYU is a hybrid between need and merit. The more they want you, the more they will offer you as long as you have need.
So certainly, it would be worthwhile to apply if NYU is a first choice school, but you should be aware that you will not be able to take out loans on your own for that much money to attend. You would have to get your parents to take out Plus loans for whatever money is above Federal student loans and above what they can pay (despite the 0 EFC.) Do you want to take on the burden of owing that much money as an undergraduate? If your parents cannot afford to pay anything, you could easily be talking about taking loans for over $100K.
With your grades, etc., I would work hard to fall in love with a school that meets full need, since with an EFC of 0 that would equal a full ride.
I would not compare your situation with PAwind98, because you could probably get close to a full ride at public universities due to your low EFC. Seems like he will be paying about $42K a year to NYU–which seems quite a bit higher than the cost of most public universities if an applicant has a low EFC.
@uskoolfish i often hear not to take more loans than your starting salary at your job. i plan to go into pathology, which involves more schooling but pays over $200k a year usually. the other schools im looking at (publics/privates) may be cheaper but they would land me in a city that i dont want to spend the next decade of my school-life in.
im hoping to be surprised with more aid then i guess lol. i saw someones financial aid summary that had like a 45k cas scholarship and then 11k in state grants, leaving him with about 15k a year. i guess all i can do at this point is hope.
do you have any tips for increasing my desirability, per se? i feel my high stats and ECs are already good, but i’m open to suggestions if it means my financial aid could increase measurably
@uskoolfish honestly, if they met around 75% of my need, that would make me happy. paying around 18k (technically 15k excluding workstudy) would be much more reasonable than 26k
@quandcest I would work hard on the variables you can effect, like essays, leadership and community service.
If you want to attend medical school or go for a Phd, you will have a great deal of debt as a grad student. A salary of $200k goes quickly, especially if you would decide to work in a major city.
Are you a New Yorker? Have you considered attending City College or Hunter College for free?
If it’s the NYC experience you seek, I would look into CUNY’s honors programs. And of course you should be shooting for Columbia since they will meet full need.
Good luck!
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@uskoolfish i’m from the state of new york, yes. i haven’t really looked into the public schools in NY because there’s a private in my city that i could go to for a reasonable price and get a much better education than in a public.
and yes, i am shooting for columbia. it’s essentially my first choice and i will be applying ED