<p>NYU has been my dream school for over four years. I know that it might be overrated or cliche (since practically everyone wants to go there) but I am in love with the city as well as the school. The thing is I don't know if my stats are high enough, and I definitely can't pay for NYU without financial aid. So is it even worth it for me to visit or apply? </p>
<p>GPA: (88/89 %) 3.4
I took nearly all honors/aps all throughout highschool. The reason my GPA is sort of low is that freshman/sophomore year I didn't care about school as much; junior year i had a 3.6 gpa. I'm hoping NYU sees the upward slope?
APs: USH (4 on exam) English (5 on exam) Stats, Spanish, English (Taking these this year)
SATs: 2100 (700 reading, 610 math, 790 writing, 12 essay)
Extra: Habitat for Humanity, Mentoring (2 separate programs, all 4 years of highschool), Hospital Volunteering (40 hours), Full time job (20-40 hours/week), Spanish Club, History Club, School Newspaper (4 years, this year I'm copy editor), Swimming (2 years JV), Rowing (2 years JV/V)</p>
<p>Basically, I'm asking for my chances and if I should even bother because of my financial situation.</p>
<p>Apply, but really, really don’t count on getting enough aid to attend. Aid there goes to the top of their pool, so to get need met in most cases you would need to be a student ivies would fight for. And even then the loans would be more than most would be comfortable with.</p>
<p>It is so unfortunate that this is the dream school for so many because it is truly a school for the wealthy.</p>
<p>Don’t get attached and become like so many who borrow like crazy because they “need” NYU. A recent NYT article quoted a jobless recent grad saying she wanted to give the degree back, she had no idea the trouble she would be in with the loans.</p>
<p>I must grudgingly admit that Redroses is correct in this instance. :)</p>
<p>NYU’s FA is notoriously bad. Your stats make it highly unlikely that your FA would be satisfactory, and a load of debt is not something you want to have on your back as you leave college. You can apply if you want, but it’ll be even more heartbreaking for you if you get accepted but can’t attend because of money. I would look at schools where you can get better offers and go from there.</p>
<p>Again, I ask if you are a URM. If you are, they would be more inclined to dish some cash for you. Furthermore, have you considered applying for their HEOP/EOP program? (I forgot which one it was called; I think HEOP). If you have a great need, you can get accepted and count on a full ride.</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat as you. Just remember that even though your package might be laced with loans, there’s other ways to finance your education besides them. Research scholarships in your area and on the national level, apply to enough of them and you’re bound to get money from somewhere. </p>
<p>But like the others are saying, don’t go if you can’t get enough funds. NYU is my absolute dream school, but I’m hovering around 0 EFC and if I don’t get at least half of my tuition in non-loan financial aid, NYU will not be an option for me. Its kind of depressing, especially if you get in, but its better than being stuck with 100,000 or more in loans after it’s done.</p>
<p>Even if you get in, you probably wouldn’t get a decent amount of $. The only people who get substantial amounts of money are those headed to Harvard, Yale, Princeton anyways.</p>
<p>Everyone is not bound to “get money from somewhere.” That is dangerous and completely incorrect thinking. Even among top students most are fortunate if they find a few hundred dollars in outside scholarships. Also, most scholarships are just for one year.</p>
<p>I’m not saying rely on that thinking, its just an option. Yes its true that your not likely to get your whole or even half of your tuition covered in outside scholarships. But it seems like many people think that there’s only aid in what the school gives you and in some cases that can be true. However, there are tons of places to find funds and if you keep at through all four years, your bound to get some kind of fundage from outside, little or big, four year or one year. There are four year scholarships out there. For example, many of the military bases in my area offer four year scholarships to military dependents ranging from $1000 to $15000. True they’re only offered to a handful of these dependents, but they’re out there and it never hurts to try instead of giving up entire hope on a school because of poor financial aid. I’m not saying I, the OP, or anyone else should depend on it or think that its the best logic. I’m merely saying its out there as additional funding.</p>
<p>It does not sound like NYU is a reasonable fit for you. You will not get as much FA as you need and taking out major debt for NYU is a big mistake. You need to Fall Out of love with NYU. It’s unrequited.</p>