This is my first post so yea…so has anyone heard of someone paying for most or all of their basic 4-year college education through outside scholarships… or maybe even specifically NYU? Because NYU is a really good school with a really bad rep for bad fin aid.It also happens to be one of my dream schools.
Very difficult unless you have a major outside scholarship. Are you perhaps in the running for Miss America?
I have a young friend who won some big money, one of the bigger well known scholarships. But he worked hard to win that and few do. A real dream school should include affordability.
@twoinanddone When I said “outside” I meant scholarship money not given by the school. So chill I’m not running for miss America.
@lookingforward Thank you.I’m currently finishing my freshman year of high school and don’t know much about having safety and dream schools. I just don’t know what qualities to look at yet.But affordability is something I’m definitely going to look at a lot more now. Thanks for the heads up! 
Miss America is an outside scholarship. There are many types of outside scholarships, some for talents or special interests, some for academics, but most are not very large. Is it possible to gather enough money to fund $75k per year? Yes. Is it common or likely? No.
Typically, the best pkgs come directly from the school.
@sam2k19 - is the dream to go to NYU, or is the dream to live in NYC? The reason I ask is because you are correct, NYU is one of the most expensive colleges and has a horrible track record of giving any kind of assistance. Assuming your parents were on board, sure you and they could take out loans to pay for it, but the problem is with that amount of debt, you wouldn’t be able to live on your own after college, you’d have to move back in, and live there for probably 10 years or more to pay off the debt.
Instead, take this path - continue reading here on CC (this forum is awesome, lots of helpful, knowledgeable people). Talk openly and honestly about money with your folks (can be awkward, do it anyway)
Do well in school and on standardized (ACT/SAT, AP) tests, find some activities you love and do them with passion and commitment. This will form you into a great person with a lot to offer, and a lot of terrific memories to boot When you can, get a job and earn some money, save a good portion of it, but spend some of it to go visit NYC, Boston, DC, Philly or other places you find appealing.
Flash forward a couple years and you’ll have a solid list of affordable and wonderful schools to apply to,an understanding of various areas around the country and you can start applying to build your dream life. Once you graduate, you can find a job and live where you choose to, rather than where you have to
Best of luck to you!
PS
To answer your original question - we’ve done the outside scholarship hunt - it is a real crapshoot and I wouldn’t use it as a plan to afford school.
Could it happen? Sure. Is it realistic? Absolutely not. It’s not even realistic to expect a small percentage in outside scholarships. There is one student here that is very vocal about her huge success-ONE.
Don’t fully understand your snippy response . . . @twoinanddone understood what you meant, and was correct that winning the Miss America competition would result in a substantial scholarship award. Sadly, the $50k award wouldn’t be enough to fund even a single year at NYU.
@twoinanddone was also correct that it would be darned near impossible to fund a four-year education with outside scholarships. Consider the following:
(1) Four-year awards are few and far between, and the competition for those awards is rigorous.
(2) Most other awards are much smaller and are for one] year only - so even if you were fortunate enough to cover your first year, you’d likely be out of luck for your remaining years.
Are there exceptions? Of course. One in a million students is able to fund his or her entire education with outside scholarships, and there is also the rare scholarship that covers more than four years. Is it something to count on? No.
Finally, virtually all of the really generous awards are restricted to students with demonstrated financial need.
So, first question - what’s your family’s financial situation? Next, what year are you in school right now? What’s your GPA? And, if you’ve already taken the ACT or SAT, what’s your score?
We can help you figure out what schools might be affordable to you, if you want us to. Meanwhile, @twoinanddone deserves an apology.
OP’s finishing 9th grade. Far too soon to even know where he has a shot for an admit.
Run the Net Price Calculators for whatever colleges. Talk to your parents about what they can afford.
And if you would like to be a poster who gets support from knowledgeable adults over the next few years, I’m sorry, but I agree the comment to twoinanddone was unnecessary.
NYU costs over $70,000 a year to attend. I can’t imagine any outside scholarship that will cover the full cost of attendance at that school.
I’ll ask…why NYU?
ETA…if affordability is an issue, NYU is probably not a good choice.
@thumper1 @NJRoadie My dream is to go to NYU because they have a really good film/theatre program at Tisch.I also don’t feel like I would really like a traditional campus since NYU doesn’t have your traditional college campus like most state schools.And I’m a city kid who loves the city .I live in Chicago which means I have lots of options when it comes down to going to college here in the city (Northwestern,U Chicago,U of I,Colombia ,etc).I also really like Emerson College in Boston which has a similar concept to how things work at NYU.I go to a college prep school so we’re always going on college field trips every now and then. So far I have visited MSU,MU & NW. But the thing is I really don’t want to stay here. And my parents don’t really want me to get a college education and are not even willing to pay a dime to help me pay for it in the future. I literally had to beg them to attend high school.They don’t feel like I need an education as a female unless I’m going to be a doctor. So might just knock NYU off the list.Thank You for answering!
@twoinanddone Sorry for the snappy answer.I misinterpreted your answer & I didn’t know miss America had a Scholarship.
There are good film programs at other schools, for example Temple from what I hear.
This year they awarded full tuition for 3.8 GPA (core classes) and ACT 32. Of course that might change by the time yiu graduate.
But just do some research into good programs when the time comes to apply to colleges.
There are many ways to reach your goals, and more than one college to study film.
USC has a better film school than NYU and they are more generous with aid, both need based and merit.
What about Chapman?
Most outside scholarships are only for the first year, which is why many people recommend school-based merit or financial aid.
Focus on your studies and your extracurricular activities and strive to do well on your standardized testing. With high enough SAT or ACT scores, there are some schools (not NYU, I’m afraid) that might offer either full tuition or a full ride.
For the record, there is one outside scholarship that provides a full ride to ANY four year institution; it is offered to juniors, who apply in the spring of their junior year: The Coolidge Scholarship. Needless to say, it is very competitive. In this, its inaugural year, they offered 2 scholarships and had over 2,300 applicants.
And many fine film programs are graduate level.
@LoveTheBard thank you for answering! But I know for a fact that I need to fill out the FAFSA to get any kind of financial aid from a University but I don’t think my parents would put their info in the FAFSA.They don’t really want anything to do with my education so paying for college is all on me.