<p>I'm a junior. I want to apply early to at least one school (my top-choice school), and I think NYU may be it. (I haven't actually visited the school yet, although I will visit soon.) My question is: should I apply early to NYU? What are the benefits of doing ED? I know that you're either accepted or rejected (not deferred) by mid-December, and that accepted students get priority housing. Anything else? How does financial aid factor in? If I apply for financial aid....well doesn't the FAFSA not get filled out until January? So when will I know if I received the aid I need in December? Any info is greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Oh, and I’d be applying to CAS.</p>
<p>The way financial aid works for ED is</p>
<p>You fill out an estimated financial aid papers with your info from the year before and send it to NYU with your application. Then if you are accepted NYU sends you your estimated financial aid packet. </p>
<p>You then fill out the real FAFSA in January and NYU sends you your final financial aid packet in april.(Should be about the same as long as there wasn’t any drastic changes in your income)</p>
<p>As for ED, I would say if money isn’t an issue and you know it is your #1 choice - go for it.</p>
<p>We need stats</p>
<p>I think if you really think NYU is your top choice then you should do ED because your chances DO increase. I also would like to see your stats though because while ED may increase your chances you still have to be bloody good to get in.</p>
<p>Only do this if you are CERTAIN that money wouldn’t be an issue. I know some kids who did ED and literally got zero money.</p>
<p>Oh snap. Zero money ED?!?! Did they qualify for financial aid? Did NYU not meet their need, or was NYU’s EFC for them a lot higher than their EFC from finaid.org? Also, NYU’s financial aid is a combination merit/need, right? Okay then:</p>
<p>School Type: private, 100% of seniors go straight to college, <1 hour away from NYC
GPA: 98.2 weighted
SAT: 2060 (re-taking)
SAT II: 640 Bio in frosh year. Currently waiting on May SAT II scores (if I do better on these, will the bad bio score have less weight?)
Class Rank: Top 10% of 570 (school doesn’t rank)…one of 10 students who got a merit scholarship frosh year
Course load: one of 3 students who took the absolute most challenging courses available, which, oddly enough, means only three AP (but like 15 honors) classes by the end of junior year.
APs: 3 on Euro soph year (yeah…not my thing…), hoping for the best with last week’s calc/us tests. All APs senior year.</p>
<p>ECs: not terrible/decent maybe?
– I hold two “officer/leadership” positions at school, which is kind of a big deal considering the school’s so big (it IS huge for a private school)
–sports frosh/soph years, not anymore though
–now I have a part-time job
–Girl Scout Gold Award
–if you had to quantify it, 200+ hours of community service
–various other clubs, but as I said, only two actual leadership positions</p>
<p>…I know my stats aren’t that impressive, and I’m trying to improve them. As of right now, this is what I have.</p>
<p>I got lucky with my financial aid in that it tied the amount I got from Johns Hopkins (NYU’s need aid isn’t that great but if you have the grades, their merit aid is good. JHU’s financial aid is one of the best in the country and is <em>as far as I know</em> mostly need based). But yeah, their need wasn’t met at all. But hey, NYU is a pretty expensive school and people know (or should know) what they are getting themselves into.</p>
<p>I would say if you can get your SAT’s up a little you will have a shot. Your GPA is great though.</p>
<p>I forgot to mention-- Just so I don’t make NYU look like the evil stepmother of financial aid, I know kids who got zero financial aid from other private colleges as well.</p>
<p>Your financial aid package would be more or less the same whether or not you apply ED. They were really generous to me so ED definitely doesn’t drastically change your financial aid package. Its just not you shouldn’t apply ED if you can’t afford it cause if your financial aid package turns out bad, you’re still required to attend.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info so far!</p>
<p>As far as I know, NYU doesn’t meet full need…but, in your experience, does it come close? Also, by “meeting need,” does that mean all (or almost all) student loans?</p>
<p>One other question: if I apply ED, can they still put me in LSP instead of CAS?</p>
<p>^I don’t think they put students in LSP for ED. I think it’s either acceptance to CAS or flat out rejection. I’m not sure though…</p>
<p>That’s not true, I know tons of ED kids in LSP.</p>
<p>Just a note: you MUST visit NYU before applying. This is a school like no other, and not everyone feels comfortable here. Make sure you come, take a tour, get to know the area, talk to students. </p>
<p>As for financial aid, prepare to take out a hefty amount of student loans. I had one of the best (if not the best) scholarships CAS had to offer AND work-study, and I still had to take out private loans. It’s a very expensive education to fund, but obviously for many people it is well worth it.</p>
<p>As for your stats, get your SAT score up, especially math and verbal. If you take enough SAT IIs, you can choose not to submit the Bio one, though it’s honestly not a bad score (for perspective, I got a 680 on U.S. History, which I thought was terrible, then ended up graduating with Honors in History from CAS). Your GPA is fine, and coming from a private school, your administration will probably have decent communication channels with NYU about how the grading system and AP/honors classes work.</p>
<p>I would not recommend applying ED to NYU for you. Here’s why.
- ED is best for kids who have a school that they just absolutely love and can’t live without. If you haven’t even been there and live only an hour away from New York, it doesn’t sound as if you’re quite in the desperate-to-go category. In any case, going to college right in NYC is something a student could either love intensely or hate intensely. Its not tuhe usual college experience. You might want to think about that longer.
- If you read College Confidential a lot, you’ll see that many students feel that NYU is particularly stingy with the financial aid. It’s not that other schools will necessarily be more generous, but schools have been known to stretch for students they really want. If you get in ED, they have no incentive to stretch.
- Part of the fun (or torture!) of April is weighing the best of the different offers you get. You might get a great package from pretty-good school A, or a lousy package from dream school B, and you have the choice of what you do. If you have any concerns about financial aid, you might want to take a harder look at different kinds of colleges that offer different kinds of scholarships. For instance, University of Richmond is a really gorgeous college at NYU level that gives a certain group of people full rides. </p>
<p>In short, I think you should just wait and see what happens. Make sure you apply to a variety of schools. Personally I think you have a very strong chance of getting into NYU anyway, so I don’t think you have to get into it ED.</p>
<p>nyux2 (heh) is right. you NEED to visit NYU. it’s not like any other school. some people think they’ll love it until they get here, and then are immediately turned off by something (area, lack of campus, noise, SOMETHING). </p>
<p>i would hold off making any decisions to do ED until you set foot on the campus.</p>
<p>“If you get in ED, they have no incentive to stretch.” I don’t think this is true. You can still petition for more aid after you get in, if your aid isn’t enough.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your help everyone!</p>
<p>I am familiar with the area around NYU. My mom works in the Village, and I’ve seen it before–the buildings with the purple flags. I haven’t gone on a tour yet, although I do have a tour scheduled in a few weeks, so I’ll definitely be visiting then. I guess I’m really anxious for this tour, because I’m <em>hoping</em> I’ll love it. NYU has the best applied math program…in the country. I know as much about it as anyone can by visiting the website, reading the mail they send, USNWR, and word-of-mouth. </p>
<p>And of course, reading your replies leaves me with yet more questions:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>nyu<em>times</em>two said that if I do well on other sAT IIs, I can choose not to submit Bio. But I thought NYU’s policy was: send all scores anyway, and they’ll only look at the highest? I feel like if I did it, I may as well submit it, even if it’s not my best, because…well, why not? Will it hurt me?</p></li>
<li><p>Student loans: they’d obviously be in my name. Is this what most of NYU’s finaid packages are–student loans? And if so, would they be <em>only</em> in my name, or would I need a cosigner? What kinds of loans (besides the Stafford, which gives me little in comparison to the cost of NYU) can I get without a cosigner?</p></li>
<li><p>Endicott: The reason I haven’t yet visited NYU is that, honestly, I’m busy. School and everything is a lot of work. I’ve had my tour scheduled for a long time, and this was the time I planned to visit. It’s as simple as that. Furthermore, if I got in ED, it would eliminate the stress of senior year because I’d know where I’m going. As I said so bluntly, I’m busy, so having college decisions over and done with halfway through senior year would be amazing for me. Does this make sense? Do you think these are good reasons to apply ED?</p></li>
<li><p>LSP is not an option for me. If that’s all they’ll give me, can I back out of it even if it’s ED?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>When you come do the tour, try to keep an open mind. I know it’s difficult, but if you’re looking to love it, you’ll delude yourself into doing so, which wouldn’t be good for you in the long run.</p>
<p>If that’s NYU’s policy, then I stand corrected. I applied to college in 2002, so things may have changed. Like I said, I don’t think it’s a particularly low score, and if you can off-set it with higher scores, then perfect. I don’t think it’ll hurt you, but if that’s your highest score across all SAT IIs, that might be problematic.</p>
<p>You can get most private loans without a co-signer, but I wouldn’t recommend it. A co-signer will help bring down your interest rates, which means you won’t incur quite as much debt.</p>
<p>I don’t really think any kid should apply to any school ED unless she really, really loves it. I think a lot of kids who get into school ED are relieved in winter, but very disappointed in the springtime, when everyone else is getting their fat envelopes/thin envelopes and having all kinds of exciting choices to make. Yes, it cuts down on the drama, which is good. But it also cuts down on the drama, which is kind of bad, too. </p>
<p>You would have a very hard time getting any loans beyond the Stafford. Not only that, it would be very unwise to take out more than is allowed by the Stafford. $27,000 of debt for four years is already very burdensome. If you are in that kind of financial situation, I strongly suggest that you look into having some financial safety schools. They can either include good public universities or lower tier private schools that would give you merit aid. SUNYs are reasonable, even out of state–Binghamton and Geneseo are the hot ones. TCNJ is a great school with small classes. Etc.</p>