<p>I am horrible at commas, colons, and semi colons..can someone please revise the sentence below so that it is grammatically correct. I would really appreciate it!</p>
<p>The risk, losing seventy dollars submitting an essay I wrote on a whim the day it was due: versus, the opportunity of a life time, attending NYU and receiving an unrivaled learning experience, inside and outside of the classroom.</p>
It would be helpful to include some context where this sentence fits in, as it is a little hard to understand exactly what you are trying to convey. What you have here is more of a fragment than a sentence.
I added a few words to make the sentence grammatically correct, but I’m not sure if it changes the meaning in context to the rest of your writing:
I had to choose between the risk of losing seventy dollars submitting an essay written on a whim the day it was due, or the opportunity of a lifetime; attending NYU and receiving an unrivaled learning experience, both inside and outside of the classroom.
Hope this is helpful 
Sorry, I just realized an error
replace the word “or” with “and”
…on a whim the day it was due AND the opportunity…
The comma I put there before was also unnecessary
I don’t think “on a whim” is a good phrase to use. It sounds like you decided to apply to NYU with no real consideration. By no means am I saying that’s the case, but I think you should revise the sentence.
This is how I would do it with no context.
The risk – losing seventy dollars by submitting an essay I wrote on a whim the day it was due --versus the opportunity of a lifetime: attending NYU and receiving an unrivaled learning experience, inside and outside of the classroom.