I’m a junior in high school who lives in coastal Texas. My family is middle class and wants me to go to UT Austin. I’m assuming that this is because of cost, but I have had my heart set on NYU for years. They also want me to apply to University of Miami (family there), so it’s unsure if it’s really about cost. My mom said she’s following me wherever I go to college. I also have family in NYC. Im not sure what to do because they’re very discouraging about me going to NYU. I feel like I would be giving up my dreams by going to UT. I know I may be jumping the gun, since I haven’t applied yet, but if I get into NYU that will be my choice most likely. I thought about telling them that they can pay the amount they are able to, I’ll fill out the FAFSA and CSS, and I can take out loans for the rest. I want to go to NYU for journalism, and location for college is a priority. I feel like maybe I just wouldn’t be happy at UT. Any suggestions or wisdom?
Why don’t you ask them why they don’t care for NYU?
Don’t get hung up on one school. A dream is something that can be converted into a fruitful contribution later. We dream about being doctors, lawyers, analysts, etc. A college is merely a brand name tool used to achieve a dream. It’s no more a dream than owning a Chevy.
Remember, your parents are paying for your school. A lot of kids don’t get that privilege. NYU is a very expensive school, and if my kid was accepted there, I probably wouldn’t pay for it either when there so many great in-state options available. I’m pretty certain that it’ll end up being the same money issue with Miami also. If they say they want you to go to UT, then go there and be happy. You really don’t have much of a choice 
You need to have a discussion about how much your parents can/will pay each year for college. You yourself can’t take out more than $5500 first year, $6500 second year, and I think $7500 for the last two years. Anything above those amounts and you will need someone to cosign a loan.
NYU is very expensive and is known to be stingy with aid. Run the Net Price Calculator and see if it’s even remotely affordable.
UT Austin is rated higher for their journalism program than NYU – research the program, go visit the school and then see if you have the grades and numbers to get in! NYU is great, but expensive and as others have said, rarely gives good aid. Also NYC is very expensive to live in!
You and your parents need to have the money talk, and run the net price calculators of possible colleges. For example:
http://www.collegeforalltexans.com/apps/CollegeMoney/
https://npc.collegeboard.org/student/app/miami
https://www.nyu.edu/financial.aid/misc/npc/
NYU has a reputation of being expensive with bad financial aid, so do not be surprised if it is too expensive.
I agree…this is about money. UT Austin is a great school for instate Texans. NYU is not affordable and not known for merit scholarships. Run the NPCs and see how much your family would be expected to pay.
https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/08/the-expensive-romance-of-nyu/278904/
Also, NYU has a very poor Net Price Calculator, which doesn’t consider assets at all, and makes no distinctions for any family income above $100,000. (In other words, families with $105,000 income and no assets get the same results as those with $200,000 income and $300,000 assets.) My theory is that their NPC is intentionally bad so people will assume (correctly) their aid will be poor, but not really know for sure.
I think you will find that NYU’s estimated cost will be $10,000-$20,000 more a year than your family is likely to be able to pay. For example, the NPC has a family of 4 making $95,000 paying about $33,000 in direct costs to the school. As mentioned, you can borrow a total of $27,000 over four years yourself, but you can’t borrow $80,000 without an adult co-signing the loans.
On the other hand, some people do get reasonable financial packages from NYU. If you can convince your parents that you understand you can only go if it’s within a reasonable cost, maybe they will let you apply. Asking them to be ultimately responsible for you paying back $80,000 (or more) of debt for NYU is not likely to work.
Kudos to you for thinking about what you want to do for college, and beyond. It sounds like you have a major in mind (trust me lots of kids don’t!), which can help you pick a program that best suits you academically and financially. I would encourage you to have a heart to heart with your parents about their expectations, and concerns. Before you do that, it would be best for you to start sorting out your own feelings. What about NYU is so attractive to you? What parts of the academic program do you find enticing? What are your motivations for wanting to go to NYC instead of Austin? Is it a need to escape your home state (a normal feeling in HS)? THen, use what you have learned about yourself to start researching alternative programs. You can’t just apply to UT Austin and NY. Unless you are a guaranteed admit to UT, you will want to cast a broader net. Come up with some schools that meet the criteria you have identified through self reflection and research. Present the whole list to your parents. Do this in increments. it doesn’t have to be one long, hours long discussion. You have plenty of time before you will need to act on your thoughts. Hopefully, by the time you apply, you will have an idea about your wants/needs, and the fiscal reality.
Why NYU? It’s not especially good for journalism and super expensive.
For journalism, look into Nonfiction Writing at Denison, School of JOurnalism at Mizzou, Scripps at Ohio University, Northwestern Medill.
RUN THE NPC on all. See what your parents can afford from income and savings.
You can’t “take out loans for the rest.” You’re limited to about $5500 per year unless your parents are willing to cosign. They may not be willing to put the house up on the block to finance your dream.
We don’t know that this is about cost because the parents also want the OP to apply to UMiami which is private and as expensive as NYU. I think the OP needs to have a heart to heart talk with the parents and understand their objections to NYU. If it’s money, well that may be a deal breaker. If it’s fear of NY, well that’s a reason totally unrelated to money and has to be dealt with differently.
You also just can’t fill out FAFSA and CSS on your own.
UT Austin is a top, top school. You guys are wasting money because of “Greener Grass Syndrome.” NYU will be expensive with little to no aid and YOU cannot take out loans. Miami will be expensive too. Go to UT and then go to grad school wherever you want and live wherever you want.
I know its frustrating, but when parents are paying the bills, they get to make certain restrictions even if those restrictions don’t seem completely rational. Maybe your parents are afraid of NYC. I’ve seen it before. Maybe they want you on an actual campus rather than a school that is composed of buildings scattered through a city. Maybe they don’t like the political leanings of NYU. You said that your mom intends to follow you to your school. I assume she wants to live near you? She may not want to move to NYC or perhaps understands that the cost of living around NYU is completely out of control.
As others have said, sit down and talk with her and find out what her true concerns are. But in the end, if you have a family that will help pay your college costs, you should count yourself very lucky. Get a great education and in four years, you can go wherever you want.
You need to carefully define what it is that you like about NYU. Being in NYC is not enough. You need to read through the course descriptions in the catalogue on the website, and you need to clearly understan what your potential major there would offer you academically. It wouldn’t hurt to contact the career center at NYU, and get specific information about where graduates from your potential major are finding jobs - not just one went here and one went there, but where all of them landed. You want to be certain that you wil have a job at a livable salary when you graduate.
You also should do that investigation for every college and university you look at before you put it on your application list. Even your safeties. College is expensive. You want to be sure that you are getting a return for your investment.
The tour guide on our NYU tour who was a senior, said that despite all the Law and Order episodes that she watched before she came to New York, she hasn’t come across a single dead body in the 4 years that she’s been there. Not one.
NYC had really high crime during the crime wave era that many parents grew up in (violent crime in the US peaked in the early 1990s at about double the rate of today).
But NYC crime has declined to an even greater extent than it has in most of the US, so that it is now one of the safer large cities in the US.
Yeah, my parents grew up and lived in New York from the 1960s through the 1980s, so when I moved back as a young graduate student in the late 2000s (and to Washington Heights, no less) they were afraid for me. I remember I messed with my mom by calling her up and telling her I was in Times Square for a party around 8 pm and she went apoplectic. She used to work for the transit authority near 42nd St in the early 80s when it was essentially a red light district. It is VERY different now - super touristy.
Anyway, New York is the dream for a lot of high school students, and NYU is often the vehicle of that dream. The thing to remember is that you can always move to New York and you don’t have to do it in college. You can save money on college and move there the second after you graduate, if you want to! New York is actually a lot more fun when you have some money, lol.
Ironically, going to NYU and taking out massive loans may make it more difficult for you to stay in New York after college if you decide you want to. If you have hefty debt to repay, you won’t be able to afford New York’s high cost of living - you may find yourself having to move to a cheaper city (or back in with your parents) so that you can pay off your debt.
Everyone keeps mentioning the cost of NYU which is a very valid consideration, but the cost of Miami U where the OP’s parents want him to apply is only $5K/year less. I don’t think it’s a cost issue.