I am beyond grateful for my acceptance into NYU Stern, but my main concern is whether the cost of attending would be worth it. NYU is now hitting around $91k a year, and it will probably only go up from there. I also received no financial aid, and I think the likelihood of getting merit aid is very low for NYU. On the other hand, A&M in-state COA is around $31k a year. I also got National Merit finalist and would put A&M as my first choice college, which would give me around $40k for 4 years I think. It’s definitely a huge difference, so I’m wondering if the connections and opportunities related to Stern are worth it? I would likely choose a concentration in Computing and Data Science. How easy would it be to get an internship to potentially offset the costs?
they are both very different, one is business, another engineering. The difference would probably be about 70k per year as well, so if you aren’t deadset on business, I think you can save 280k by going to a solid school with the option of getting an mba or something later on.
NYU is too expensive. Not worth it. Go to A&M instead.
With the National Merit money the difference is about $70K/yr. No internship for a few summer months will pay anywhere near that kind of money or even a sizeable fraction of it.
@p0kes We’re talking about the upcoming school year, correct? You’re a current high senior?
Two completely different schools AND major choices.
Besides the huge price difference, what is your actual desired major?
If your actual desired major is CS or something similar:
- NYU business computing and data science is likely to be much less technical than you want.
- Texas A&M CS is one of the most competitive majors in secondary admission to major for engineering students (ETAM or entry-to-a-major is the name of the process – see threads about it in the Texas A&M section). If you attend Texas A&M and your college GPA is looking to be below 3.75 in your second year, you may want to prepare transfer applications for CS at other universities in case you are not admitted to CS during secondary admission.
tysm! i feel like an mba is definitely smth i would consider pursuing
yes the upcoming school year. a&m only does general engineering for freshman year so i would be undeclared. i will definitely be trying for CS though
thanks for the info! my desired major i applied to for most schools with is CS, but i did stern for NYU since its a top program. as i’m not guaranteed CS for a&m, what other universities would be i be able to transfer into? i feel like if i dont get CS at a&m, trying to transfer into schools like UT Austin for CS would be impossible.
not yet 
i was thinking about waiting until april 1st because all of my decisions and my appeal to UT CS would be out by then
@p0kes you’re outta luck for dorms at A&M…so that might help your decision. Dorms are full w/ Wait List, might be June or July before you might get a bed…strong possibility you won’t get a bed at at. Wait List started end of February. There is plenty of off campus housing, but it definitely isn’t the same as living on campus as a freshman.
Never pays to wait for ANYTHING at A&M.
Dorm selection is based on time stamp housing deposit is paid, and those with earliest acceptance started paying in September.
Unless you have new, compelling information, UT won’t reverse your appeal.
Save your money and go to A&M.
No dorm + extreme difficulty in getting major at A&M v. super high cost at NYU…
Do you have any other choice, one that’d be a bit less expensive than NYU but would still admit you to your major (or at least wouldn’t have this extremely high barrier for acceptance - a 3.7 in college is nothing like in HS)?
What about, say, UT Dallas?
Can you afford NYU without parental loans?
This may actually be a plus for TAMU over NYU. The Aggie network is huge and impactful. The Aggie Ring means a lot to other Aggies.
what… that is definitely new information for me. do you know if the university honors housing is the same? i was also admitted into brown engineering honors, but i don’t know if they have a separate housing situation. there’s the engineering village @ the commons but i think you need to have a declared engineering major to be eligible.
yes! i actually did get into UTD for CS. if i put UTD as my first choice school for national merit instead of a&m, i think it’s fully paid tuition + $4k stipend per semester. do you think UTD would be a better choice over a&m since the major is guaranteed?
Woah @p0kes you’re all over the place, not giving us all the info.
You got into Eng Honors & University Honors (UH)? That makes a big difference.
UH requires freshman to live in Lechner or McFadden, UH dorms.
There IS specific Eng Honors housing in The Engineering Village/Commons, BUT you’ve almost certainly missed the boat for that, since you haven’t paid Housing deposit yet, and I think there was a deadline to apply for the Eng Village.
-remember that all freshman start out Gen Eng, so none have declared a specific major-
What’s the deadline to accept UH?
I see ZERO need to do 2 honors programs at A&M (UH isn’t that well thought of, certainly nothing like UT Plan II).
Here’s what I would suggest-
Accept UH-confirming you can pay Housing deposit and be guaranteed a bed.
IF that’s possible, also accept Brown Honors. Do both programs for freshman year, dump UH as soon as freshman year is over, continue with Eng Honors.
If you are NM, got into UH and Brown Eng Honors, I think you’ll be fine to get CompSci.
Yes, guaranteed major + guaranteed housing would be better than no housing*& high uncertainty on major, especially if it means free tuition and 4K stipend - UTD is well-known for CS and I assume you got into the Honors College too (so, more perks).
The big difference of course is that UTD is urban and if you want big sports you’re out of luck.
*If Honors Housing is still part of the deal at TAMU it changes things a bit but all in all a guaranteed major at a respected university trumps in my opinion the risk of not being able to study CS at all at TAMU. If you don’t have housing, then I would definitely pick UTD.
So really the choices are
- UTD with Honors, free tuition and stipend, guaranteed CS major, top CS reputation
- TAMU, no housing (*), no guaranteed major, good sports, excellent reputation/alumni network, affordable
- NYU Stern, double business/tech major, excellent reputation, Stern network, high cost
Any other choices?
(*)?
Yes. Low cost college with no barriers to your preferred major seems like the obvious choice. Better than having to compete for a 3.75 college GPA at Texas A&M or pay $$$$ for NYU in a much less technical business-based major.