<p>Alright, so I'm a junior in high school, and very serious about college. I'm a native New Yorker, maintain mostly A's in school, score in the ballpark of 2,000+ on my SATs and rank around #183 out of 1050 students in my year (around 3.9ish or 4 weighted, 3.6 unweighted). I'm not top of the class, unfortunately, as I'm awful in math and scrape by with 80's, but I excel at reading, writing and similar subjects, am a National Honor Society member, and have a lot of leadership and community service under my belt. </p>
<p>My two dream schools are Boston University and NYU, and I think it's somewhat feasible for me to make it into the former, although I'm a little intimidated by NYU's super high standards. The problem is, being that I'll be on campus, that these schools are both $57-58,000 a year (an estimate including room, board, tuition, books etc. according to College Board), and my EFC is only $1,000 and change. I live alone with my mother and grandmother. Most of my time is taken up by schoolwork, so even if I could land a job, I wouldn't have much time, which means we're on my mother's income. My father skipped out and has no part in my life, and so he won't be contributing to my educational needs. </p>
<p>With such large financial needs, I'm beginning to doubt that I will ever have a fighting chance at either of these schools, even if I do qualify for them academically-especially with NYU, because while College Board claims BU meets 89% of financial needs, I've heard from nearly everyone that NYU is very stingy with grants. </p>
<p>Of course, I have many back-ups, most of which are SUNY schools that I can more easily afford, but I'm wondering if I should give up hope on these two just yet. BU claims (both on College Board and their own website) that the average financial aid packet that they dole out (both in terms of need-based aid and scholarship awards) amounts to about $30,000. </p>
<p>So, here's the thing. Is there anyone on this site who has applied to/currently attends either of these schools? Was your EFC very low like mine? Is it worth applying to these schools, or is it entirely unlikely that I will be able to receive enough money in financial aid and scholarship money to attend? </p>
<p>Thanks in advance for your help.</p>