I’m a Dickinson college posse finalist and although I’m happy to have come this far, I don’t know if I wanna accept this scholarship. While I do like Dickinson college, I find myself more attracted to colleges in New York like Skidmore, Vassar and NYU. My GPA is a 4.0 my college essay is pretty well done,I have good extracurriculars and although my SAT is only 1140, with Heop for NYU and Skidmore I think I will be fine. Overall I’m pretty sure I can get into those colleges with good financial aid(especially since both my parents are unemployed.) I’m just confused and concerned about what to do. My counselors seem to want me to take Posse but my family doesn’t seem to want me to take it, and I have no idea what I want to do. What would you do in this situation? My deadline in November 7th.
You need to know what financial aid is available to you at the other schools. Run the NPC and see if you are going to get what you think you will get. Does the Posse scholarship cover full tuition? It is an awfully good opportunity to pass up.
You will most likely be full pay at NYU. Can you afford that?
Run your NPC. Does your “good financial aid” include the maximum in loans? What is it going to be like to try to live in NYC when you have two unemployed parents who probably can’t help you out at all? You’ll be ordering the water and the small bowl of soup and filling up on the table bread when going out with your friends to the restaurants etc…
I’d advise my kid to take the Posse in this case.
How long have your parents been in employed?
Were they unemployed all of 2015 and currently still in employed?
If they were working would you have been HEOP eligible
Don’t pass up the Posse Opportunity!
It’s extremely unrealistic to believe that NYU would be affordable.
What do the net price calculators tell you? How much can your parents pay each year for 4 years?
Are these family members who are telling you to turn down Posse going to pay for you to go one of these other more attractive ‘fantasy’ schools?
You’ll likely be kicking yourself later if you turn down Posse for the unaffordable NYU or Skidmore.
What would I do? I would take Posse. What will you do? I have no idea. But unless you post the specific results of what the Net Price Calculators tell you are going to get in aid- the likelihood that you are getting a better offer from NYU is extremely unrealistic. Your package may be filled with Parent plus loans which are a terrible idea if your parents are unemployed. I can’t imagine Skidmore will work out better than Posse- but post your specific numbers and see if we can help you.
If I remember correctly, Posse only covers tuition, not housing.
NYU won’t be affordable. It doesn’t really matter if both your parents are unemployed. That in no way equals no college expenses.
Take Posse. 200%.
Well, first things first: why do you think that your family doesn’t want you to take it?
Vassar, Skidmore and NYU are very different experiences: are you are just liking the idea of “New York” better than "Pennsylvania? (sounds cooler?). At Skidmore your ‘major’ city will be Albany- 3+ hours away from NYC by car, 5 by train and 10 by bus. Skidmore and Vassar are ‘campus-centric’, NYU is not.
The advice to ‘go where they want you’ is worth heeding. I know a recent Dickinson grad who was in a Posse-like scholarship. She credits the support she got from Dickinson for being able to spend terms in Argentina, Spain and DC as well as Carlisle. Dickinson is keenly aware that Carlisle isn’t a destination in it’s own right, and works hard to bring as much of the larger world to Carlisle as it can.
Specifically why don’t your parents want you to take it? What are their concerns?
Your SAT scores are below the 25 for Vassar making it a reach
While you may currently be HEOP eligible because your parents are unemployed.
Keep in mind that HEOP/EOP programs usually do a two year look back in order to attract students who have been historically economically disadvantaged (IIRC, they will look at 2014 and 2015 income).
If your parents have a job loss tis recent, you may not be considered to have a sustained period of being economically disadvantaged.
Keep in mind that HEOP/EOP does not mean free. You will still have loans, you will still have a student contribution. Also remember you must reapply for financial aid every year. Once you are admitted to HEOP, you will always be eligible for services. However, when your parents return to work, your EFC will go up, your package will change and you may find NYU being unaffordable.
Don’t be so quick to discount Dickinson. Even with your family paying Room and Board, it may end up being less expensive than the off chance of you being admitted to NYU.
Ok to be more clear I’ll be more specific. I already live in New York City none of my parents worked in 2015 (or 2014). I have done NPC for Vassar and it states that I’ll be paying about 3,000 out of pocket for Vassar living on campus and I have done NPC for NYU (If I go to NYU I’ll be living with my parents) and it says I will pay about 2,170 out of pocket. My family’s main concern for posse is the Early decision part and either all of my other applications, they have that I am limited and they think Dickinson isn’t reputable enough.
Did you look verrrrry carefully at the NPC results for Vassar and NYU?
Please post here how much of the aid from NYU and from Vassar are Parent Plus Loans and **Student Loans **and Work Study Earnings.
If your parents don’t work, how do they pay family expenses?
OP- how much of the Vassar and NYU packages are comprised of free money? You are mixing apples and oranges- your out of pocket costs are going to be the $2700 balance PLUS all the loans you will need to take out in order to pay your family contribution…
Agree…all of these schools are going to wonder who is paying your day to day living expenses. So be prepared to provide that information.
How would you even be able to pay room and board costs for any of these schools?
Besides, Dickinson is a fine school, and tops depending on the subject you want to study (tops in Environmental Science, Political Science, etc.). Skidmore is not need blind. Vassar is a reach for you–a big reach with that SAT score. NYU is going to saddle you with a terrible loan package. I’m not sure why you and your family think any of them are better than a full ride at Dickinson. They aren’t.
For NYU It says 48026 for total grant aid and for net price after grants it says 2742 when I looked back at it it didn’t include anything dealing with loans. My parents pay for expenses by asking my older brothers and sisters for help with the costs.
Ok…so the cost of attending NYU is over $70,000 a year. This grant looks like it is for tuition only, right? You would be living with your parents. I hope you were able to indicate that you would be a commuter on the net price calculator.