<p>FYI, the recent NYU graduates and alums who had issues with NYU’s bureaucracy aren’t NYC SHS alums. Some aren’t even from the NYC area and were caught unawares about how the NYU undergrad advising/bureaucracy is such you really need to be proactive and stay on top of everything. </p>
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<p>That’s because NYU GSAS and professional schools are run quite differently and in contrast to their undergrad counterparts…are actually much more responsive to the care of their grad students.</p>
<p>A reason why many NYU undergrad alums and those who have both undergrad/grad degrees from NYU tell their kids/kids’ friends, NYU is much better for grad/professional school than for undergrad.</p>
<p>Incidentally, you’re reminding me of several immigrant parents who assumed their experience with American professional grad/professional programs is applicable when advising their kids on undergrad life. </p>
<p>Not the case. Undergrad and grad schools are separate worlds to a large extent…and different grad departments/professional schools are worlds unto themselves.</p>
<p>Must be the latter because this family is from Ohio. Apparently her S in his second year and loving it. His mom and I were discussing - at this concert so somewhat briefly - how relieved she was that NYC wasn’t the scary place she envisioned when they went to visit NYU after he got the offer, how it felt like a neighborhood. </p>
<p>I’m going to guess he had very high stats, and probably more.</p>
<p>^^ Re snafus and what happened to whom. The point here is to help and guide OP. She has enough to learn and the first step is following Sybbie’s advice. Do her that favor.</p>
<p>Rode the train on Friday with a current NYU student who recently switched from the School of Education to Arts and Sciences. She described administrators who bent over backwards (in both schools) to make sure that her credits, advising, class standing, and course trajectory would be unaffected by the switch. The only bobble- an incomplete from last semester for which she had already finished the final paper but the professor hadn’t submitted the grade yet- was taken care of within days.</p>
<p>NYU is a huge university and I have no doubt that on occasion, a transcript gets misplaced or a credit is put in the Gen Ed box and not the Required for Major box. I also have no doubt that they have no more screw ups than any other university of their size, and see ample evidence that the advising, instruction, and billing is about as user friendly as it could be, given the enormous number of students and course offerings.</p>
<p>This is a relevant decision criteria for a kid who is already being boxed in on all sides? Give me a break. If it’s NYU or Hostos, or NYU or BMCC (both of whom have been known to lose a transcript or mess up a bill on occasion) and the financial aid works out, do you really want this young woman using your “snafu” comment as a way to talk herself into a community college??? Or talk herself out of an NYU education?</p>
<p>OP- every college has its administrative side, and you will find a way to navigate and advocate on your own behalf. That’s also part of your education. Do not take NYU off your list right now because you are worried that your adviser isn’t good with follow through. It won’t be harsh- and you won’t find them flaky.</p>
<p>Almost every parent here has some academic paperwork snafu horror story. NYU is by no means the only place where those kinds of things occur. The OP needs to know that things can happen anywhere that she might study.</p>
<p>Not relevant to the discussion. Financial aid officers will ask the questions when it comes to awarding aid. Schools will ask for the documentation for EOP/HEOP. Op should not have to spill the financial details of her life on the boards.</p>
<p>Would your dad be okay if you went to an all-girl school (i.e., a women’s college)? I know girls with a very traditional dad who got him to accept their going away for college as long as the college was not co-ed. Look into these then check out the Muslim Student association, even contact them about it to get strong arguments to defend the schools you pick. You could even go as far as to say you’ll only attend a non-coed school because you don’t want unhealthy boy influences to distract you from your studies. (Once again, it’s not what I think, but it’s an argument that’s been used successfully before).
University of Tulsa is very strong for Muslim students and even has a full mosque on campus - that may be another place for you to look into.
See if your mom can advocate for you.
In any case, request the brochures for universities outside the city that may be acceptable to them. The brochures are free and it’ll make you think of places where you can apply. If you’re competitive for Trinity or U Richmond there should be many schools that would be happy to have you.
The only way you can bypass their edict is by winning a full ride scholarship somewhere - it will be based purely on your merit, not on their income. However for everything else you need your father’s cooperation. So it’s better if you can get him onboard with some schools such as women’s colleges (say “an all-girls school” and explain that you want to attend a private school for the quality of education and the people you’ll meet. Your father may be concerned about who you’ll meet and his perception of a private school v. public may help. Note that I’m not saying the stereotype of public v. private is true, just that you can play with it.)</p>
<p>I really think you should take a practice ACT or two over the summer and an ACT test in the fall. You might do much, much better. Some students do.</p>
<p>You have some terrific options in NYC; you’ve been given some great advice on ways to navigate financial aid and your family’s economic constraints. You may find your parents much more amenable to a discussion about leaving NYC once they see you are taking them seriously and are exploring every possible option close to home. Your brother may become an ally once he realizes that you are not rebelling for rebellion’s sake, but are honestly trying to find the best academic fit at a price your family can afford while respecting your parent’s values.</p>
<p>You can take all your aggravation at your home situation and take the energy and put it toward studying for another round of SAT’s (or try the ACT) which will surely give you more options, both admissions-wise and financially.</p>
<p>My dad would be okay with me attending an all girls school, however, I’m still unsure if hes willing to let me go out of the city even if it’s a private all girls school. In that scenario, my best assumption would be that it would depend on the school’s financial aid package they provide me.</p>
<p>Considering your current stats and situation, here’s some recommendations summed from this thread:</p>
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<li><p>Check into seeing if you’re eligible for programs to get application and other fee waivers. </p></li>
<li><p>Follow advice about looking into Women’s Colleges or religious colleges you and your family may be comfortable with. This may be a workable solution provided your parents can be convinced to come on board and you want to attend those colleges. </p></li>
<li><p>Examine your NYC options while being mindful of your family’s financial situation. CUNYs and some NYC based SUNYs are your best financial bets in this case if Columbia/Barnard turn out to be admission longshots…as they are for nearly everyone. </p></li>
<li><p>Look into Sybbie’s suggestion of applying/enrolling at NYU and other NYC private colleges as an HEOP student. If it’s free so long as you’re a commuter, that’s a great deal even with the bureaucratic/advising snafus. </p></li>
<li><p>Study and retake SATs and see if you can substantially boost your scores. If you succeed, you may get more options due to eligibility for merit aid from private colleges…especially NYU. </p></li>
<li><p>Be very wary/mindful of incurring substantial debt…especially with colleges known for miserly FA policies like NYU. If you aren’t eligible for HEOP and you don’t get a full-ride merit, reconsider NYU as even a half-ride merit will mean you’ll incur substantial debt which will take you/your family years to pay off. </p></li>
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<p>You don’t want to end up a poster child of massive student debt like an NYU undergrad alum in a NYTimes story some years back…or several recent NYU undergrad alum friends of mine who are in debt to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars including compounding interest.</p>
<p>OP–If you are serious about being a physician, you should be aware of the Early Assurance Programs at Hunter College (a CUNY) with both Mt. Sinai and University of Rochester.</p>
<p>sadiaudinn, there are not hard and fast cut-offs for scores. Barnard’s middle 50% SAT scores are
SAT Critical Reading: 630 / 730
SAT Math: 620 / 710
SAT Writing: 650 / 760
That means a quarter of the class has at least some of their scores in the 500s or low 600s. Barnard is a reach, but it’s not impossible.</p>
<p>Could it be a semi-merit-based need-based financial aid award for what they consider to be an especially desirable student?</p>
<p>If the student is studying engineering, then he would be attending PINYU (Polytechnic Institute of New York University, or NYU Poly), not NYU-proper. PINYU appears to have much better need-based financial aid than NYU-proper, though someone considering PINYU may want to ask the schools how financial aid will work after the merger between the two schools is complete.</p>
<p>Going to a school on a full ride merit scholarship (non-need-based) could reduce the risk of parents forcing the student to stop attending college by refusing to give financial aid information in future years in battles for control. However, merit scholarships may have high college GPAs to keep, so that is a different risk to consider.</p>
<p>Full-ride merit scholarships at NYU are awarded without regard to financial need. It’s based mainly on one’s academic stats. </p>
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<p>NYU-Poly hasn’t completely merged their admissions and FA processes with NYU. They’re still maintaining separate undergrad/grad admissions websites like:</p>
and it’ll make you think of places where you can apply. If you’re competitive for Trinity or U Richmond there should be many schools that would be happy to have you.