Are you saying that your parents are currently not working ( meaning that they have now been out of work for almost 3 years)?
NYU does not meet 100% demonstrated need. They definitely are not a school that does not package loans in their financial aid package
Honestly this whole thing is nerve wracking to me, I have my family saying “Oh your grades are good enough for you to get full ride anywhere” when I know its not that easy. I really like Vassar and Skidmore more than Dickinson but I know that I will probably have to pay for Vassar and Skidmore even with my families low income. My counselor tells me that he thinks posse will be great for me but he says he understands if I turn it down. I just feel like I will look stupid turning down guaranteed full tuition (and highly possibly full ride).
How WILL you pay for these other colleges? How? Your parents have NO income…and your siblings are supporting them. Where is the money going to come from to pay for college costs? You can only take $5500 in loans…and if you really have no income, you would get a $5800 or so Pell Grant. Will $11,000 cover YOUR costs at these schools?
ETA…the net price calculators probably already include the Pell grant.
Ok so from the gist of this thread I’m convinced that the major opinion is “Definitely take the Posse scholarship because if you don’t, your a huge idiot”
Aw.
OP- nobody is telling you that you are an idiot if you don’t take Posse.
I think a bunch of us are telling you that you are likely not using the Net Price Calculator’s correctly (or that you are using them correctly, but not interpreting the results in a way which show the true cost to you and your family). And that therefore- Dickinson is likely to be the best deal of the schools you have mentioned.
If you were to tell us that you are turning down Dickinson to study business at Baruch- and live at home- and that this is a better option for you both financially and academically- then terrific. If you were tell us that you wanted to be a nurse, or major in criminal justice-- and so you were applying to another one of the CUNY’s in order to do that- fantastic.
But to compare Skidmore (likely not affordable), Vassar (you might not get in, and you might not be able to afford it), or NYU (I can’t imagine how it will be affordable, even by living at home) with Dickinson- we’re trying to help you with a reality check.
You’re absolutely right OP. There are 37,000 HSs in the US and most have At Least one 4.0 student in them (my D’s HS had 14). It’s the total package that may get you a good scholarship and your SAT really isn’t that.
While we wouldn’t have used those words I think you have the general idea. 
Good luck at Dickinson.
Please explain…why did you apply for the Posse at Dickinson if you really don’t want to go there?
the NYC Posse Partnership school Luv st has about 14 schools. If you are not interested in Dickinson why did you pick it
I understand if you don’t want to attend Dickinson. Don’t put all of your eggs in the NYU basket. Apply to a wide variety of schools including sone affordable CUNY and SUNY schools
It is hard for parents to see their shining star child with excellent grades and not assume that colleges will see the same- and prestige is seductive.
I am reluctant to play the ‘chancing’ game- there is so much that we don’t (and can’t) know about how you will come across to an AdComm. But there are two parts to this equation: getting in and affording it.
For schools, such as NYU and Skidmore, that are not ‘meets need’ schools and that do offer some merit aid, in general, the stronger you are compared to the rest of the applicant pool, the more likely you are to get a good package. Your GPA is great, but your test scores are not, so you are not the sort of star student that either school is hoping to woo with a better financial aid package. So, you will get aid, but it is unlikely to be the ‘full ride’ your family thinks that you should get, and will almost certainly include significant loans. And: you are not a lock for being admitted to either school. For schools, such as Vassar, that are need-blind and don’t do merit aid you have a different problem: although Vassar sees curriculum rigor and grades as more important than standardized testing, your scores are low enough that you have to see admissions as a reach. So, you could turn down (affordable) Dickinson, and find yourself unlucky at Vassar and/or NYU, and/or taking on big debt for NYU.
As far as reputation: there is simply no way that Skidmore is more ‘reputable’ than Dickinson. USNWR puts them at #38 and #41 for National LACs- not a meaningful difference. As it happens, the test scores of accepted students are higher at Dickinson than Skidmore. Skidmore does have a lower admission rate (and is seen as a ‘safety’ for a lot of students who are applying to colleges like Vassar), but Dickinson has a higher enrollment rate- that is more of the students who are accepted actually attend. Fwiw, the male:female balance at Dickinson is better at Dickinson than at Skidmore. Also, Skidmore may be in NY state, but it is not any closer to home for you than Dickinson is- they are almost exactly the same travel times from NYC.
Obviously, this is your college experience, and your call. Some opinions / questions for you:
Also, I see Vassar is a Posse school, and I would guess it was one of your first choices in the Posse application-- but they did not pick you??? You should take this as a sign. (???)
As far as NYU, google (or search on college confidential) NYU NPC, NYU Financial Aid, etc.
I recommend you watch the movie/documentary “Ivory Tower.” Someone put the whole thing on youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyZwufrro7s Eye opening. Better copies are probably out there.
@“Erin’s Dad”:
“You will most likely be full pay at NYU”
I am at a total loss why you would say that?
Vassal is a partner college for veterans only
Did you consider any of the other partner schools; Vanderbilt, USC,Middlebury? Remember you are a finalist balustrade for Dickinson, it is not a guaranteed admission. The worse case is that if you don’t get accepted at Dickinson, you will be part of their database for the other partner schools.
I think Skidmore HEOP may be a reach for you with your scores. The 2 kids that I have there over the past 3 years ( one freshman and one junior both have higher scores. The junior was ranked number 1 the year she was accepted and the freshman was ranked number 3)
^^^^Oh!!
So does this mean “Ray” can accept the Posse at Dickinson but still apply to the other schools for the time being?
Yes. Ray is not guaranteed admission to Dickinson. Even though Ray is a finalist, the college makes the final decion to admit
However if admitted it is a binding Early decision
@ClarinetDad16 I stated that WELL before the OP mentioned running the NPCs for NYU. NYU is awful for FA. Read the boards, And the OP’s stats are not competitive for their merit aid. I’m still not sure the of the details on the OP’s run with the NPC.
Here is a thread from an NYU student a year ago:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1803273-nyu-financial-aid-appeal-p1.html
The OP initial post that you responded to explained:
“Overall I’m pretty sure I can get into those colleges with good financial aid(especially since both my parents are unemployed.)”
Is NYU “awful” with financial aid?
Certainly not the best. But awful is a little stretch.
They on average meet 70% of need for freshman with an average award of $39,228.
In comparison Penn State meets 58% of need.
Yes, NYU is awful,with need based aid. The issue is they do preferential packaging. A tippy top student can get more need based aid than one who is not so tippy top. This student is not so tippy top…so,there really is no guarantee that he or she will get as much aid as needed for NYU.
@sybbie719 what would the total aid be for this student with $0 income…including Pell, and TAP. The. Add the $5500 Direct Loan to that. Those would be the guarantees.
NYU also awards SEOG but that is done on a first come first serve basis…not. Guaranteed award by any measure or means.
Max Pell 5815
Max Tap 5165
Ok…so max TAP plus max Pell plus max Direct Loan equals about $17,000.
So where would the rest of the cost to attend be guaranteed to come from at a place like NYU?