This is so helpful, thank you. Out of curiosity, do you think that I would be well off going to a community college in NYC, stay with my aunt in Brooklyn, and then transfer to NYU after I do my basics?
@Erin’s Dad - Sure, the sticker prices are close, but University of Miami covers more of a student’s EFC. On average, UMiami covers 96% of a student’s financial need; NYU only meets 67% on average (numbers taken from the College Board).
@texas2idk -…no, not really. I mean, in an absolute sense there’s nothing wrong with going to community college and planning to transfer later. NYU also has [several articulation agreements](Partnerships & Articulation Agreements) with New York community colleges.
But if you’re a high-achieving student from Texas who can get into and get in-state tuition + financial aid at UT-Austin - which is an excellent flagship university - why would you pay OOS tuition for NYS community colleges? You also get your best financial aid package as a freshman applicant, not a transfer student - and NYU is not well-known for good financial aid.
Out of curiosity, why do you have your heart set on NYU?
I think at this point it has more to do with me telling myself at a young age (before I had any knowledge of the financial implications) that I would try my hardest to go there and completely avoid spending m time in Texas. And while I admit that seems drastic now that I’m older, part of me is afraid that after I get out of college, I’ll get offered a decent job in Austin, and I’ll never get to live where I really want to live. I guess it sounds silly, but it would sting a little to give up on something I’ve been thinking of since I was eight.
@texas2idk NYC isn’t going to be what you think it is.
@texas2idk Why don’t you just do one or two summer programs at NYU https://www.nyu.edu/admissions/visiting-students/academics/summer.html
There are several better journalism schools where you are likely to get more experience. If you are interested in being a political reporter, you might do better at a school located in or near a state capital. You might learn more about sports writing at a school with better sports than NYU. Video or on-air reporting? Look for the opportunities.
I have to ask, have you actually been to NYU?
I have been there, I’ve done a self-guided tour and I’m going on another group tour this summer.
“it would sting a little to give up on something I’ve been thinking of since I was eight. "
well it might MORE than just 'sting” a little if your parents have to go in debt and fork over HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of $$ , and jeopardize their retirement, just so you can go to your “dream” school.
to be blunt- Just because it has been a “dream” doesn’t mean its possible.
its time to wake up.
read what Julliet wrote.
DON’T apply to ANY college that your family CAN’T afford to send you to.
there are kids who would KILL to be able to go to Austin.
You dont know how lucky you really are…
First step is for you and your parents to run the net price calculators of each college (see reply #5 for the links) so that you and they know what is financially realistic.
If NYU is too expensive, better to give up the dream now than in April of your senior year if you get admitted and find out then that is too expensive.
Please be kind. This is a student reaching out for advice. His original post indicated that he doesn’t know if the objection with NYU is over cost because his family is also promoting MIami. It time to have a heart to heart as a family and make a realistic plan for applications in the Fall.
We don’t know if his mom knows UMiami’s cost…and she may think he can commute from a relative’s home. We have no idea what this parent knows about cost or financial aid. Mom may think that the student would get a free ride to UMiami. They may not even know that it’s a private school.
BTW…do you already know that you’ll get into UTexas? Is your rank high enough?
Please sit down with both of your parents and find out how much they’ll pay each year. If they won’t talk about nyu, then ask them how much they’ll pay each year for UMIami.
You said you’re from coastal Texas. Have you visited Austin in general or UT in particular? Austin is a great city and my friends who live there tell me it’s very different from the rest of Texas.
If you go to UT and NYC is still your dream, you can go right after college or take jobs that allow you to get there eventually. There is no rule that says you must spend your entire adult life where you go to college or where you have your first job. Columbia has an excellent graduate school of journalism. Maybe going to UT will make that affordable.
I’m sympathetic to the idea of a dream school. Sometimes a place just hits you right and seems like the perfect place for you and people telling you not to have a dream school aren’t really helping. But there’s no guarantee you’ll get in, so even if you parents were willing and able to send you, you’d still need to think about why you like it so much and come up with a list of reaches, matches and safeties you’d also be happy with and be prepared for the possibility of not getting in to NYU.
I think you’ve gotten a lot of good advice here, but I will point out something you didn’t ask about. Your mother wanting to follow you to college has alarm bells ringing like crazy for me. Are your parents immigrants from a place where this is common? It’s practically unheard of in this country. (Living at home is common enough, but a parent or parents following a kid to school is not.) If you have to pick a hill to die on, I’d pick that one. Better on your own at UT than living with mommy in NYC. I promise.
“I can take out loans for the rest.”
“I want to go to NYU for journalism”
If you are going to major in journalism, then DO NOT take out loans unless you absolutely have to. Paying more and taking out loans to go to a “dream school” is probably going to turn into a nightmare.
I have heard good things about UT Austin. You have quite a few very good in-state options in Texas.
Why do you think that UT Austin means you will be in Austin forever? People from UT get jobs in NYC every single year. If that is where you wnt to go after finishing college, then you can focus your job search there.
You worry that you’ll get offered a job in TX after graduating UT and you’ll never leave.
However, if you go to NYU, your parents will be set back hundreds of thousands of dollars. After graduating you very well may not be able to afford to stay.
I’d look at a goal of working in NYC is better than being a poor student there. You’ll have a much better time living there with a job and independence.
Make your dream “working in NYC”.
Look into schools of journalism (some were already listed).
If your mom wants to follow you to college, make SURE to choose a college that requires freshmen to live on campus or letter, all four years.
What are your stats? Have you thought about Fordham? If you’re a girl, Barnard ?
For UT are you top 7%? Apply for political science and add a journalism minor. Get internships out of state as much as you can. Study abroad. Do an exchange to DC.
Advice from @MYOS1634 is perfect.
My son had a dream school/location. It was too expensive. We told him to go the affordable college that gave him the best chance to live his dream after college. He did (and loved his school) and now lives and works in dream city. He has no debt and is thrilled.
Graduating with low or no debt, a strong college program, internships, summer programs, etc. all will help you set yourself up to live your dream for far longer than 4 years.
Get information from your parents on an actual amount of money they can spend… if you don’t want to stay in Texas then research other good journalism schools and look for summer internships in NYC… journalism doesn’t pay well and you want 0 debt if that is your major. Staying in state is likely your cheapest route but that depends on grades and test scores. When you ave that come back and people here will give you some suggestions
When she was in high school, our daughter wanted to go to an OOS school.
She thought that paying $60k per year shouldn’t hurt our pocketbook. We told her that it was a crazy amount of money to spend when we could get better rates at our publics.
We told her that she needed to work, to begin to save up for her college expenses. She got a summer job. When she received her first paycheck, she realized how hard it would be to save up $60k. The math finally dawned on her, like a ton of bricks, of how much money that really was. She made $4k that summer, and that was with her regular hours and hustling for tips. Senior year she was the one looking at costs; we didn’t have to say a word.
Maybe you also need to gain some perspective and help with your expenses. NYU is $72k per year. That’s more salary than some people earn in a year. No one is going to loan an 18 year old that amount of money. You may want to find a job.
You want to transfer from a CC (you still would have to pay OOS fees at that college because you are NOT a resident of NYS) and go to NYU at full cost. Who is going to pay? Transfers don’t get squat.
You know that you need to repay loans, right?