I need some help figuring out how to pay for college.
My mother just got a new job that is paying her about 200k, plus about 50k for paying off the 300k of loans from medical school (my mother grew up in complete poverty, just ended up with a lot of loans and a LOT of interest), and my father makes around 80k per year. I am painfully aware that this is a lot of money, and it makes it seem like paying for college will be absolutely no problem.
However, my mom is prioritizing getting rid of debt over my college costs, because she thinks I’m going to be able to earn enough scholarships to cover a pretty big chunk of the cost. I SINCERELY doubt that, though, and I’m overwhelmed with the very real possibility that I might not ever be able to attend my top choice (NYU) because of the crazy-high cost and tiny amount of scholarships offered.
I have a 2120 SAT super score (740 M, 730 W, 650 CR)
3.96 GPA out of 4.0 (UW)
I have high hopes for being a National Merit Semifinalist
Rigorous course load (all honors and AP in classes that are offered at those levels)
lots of ECs (Model UN, QuizBowl, Debate Team, Civil Rights Team, Student Council, Spanish Club)
I want to go into political science.
Do I have any chance of getting financial aid? And if I don’t apply for financial aid (because from what I understand, that significantly lowers my chance of being accepted), can I still be offered merit scholarships or something?
I’m really panicking. I’m going to try to get a job this week, but I don’t know if I’ll get it and I’m so wound up I can’t think.
That will be tough at NYU. No FA I’d guess-at all. Scholarships are limited there, so you can’t count on that.
NYU is super expensive. What makes you love it? Maybe folks here can help you find something similar where you can get scholarships. For instance, if you love urban, how about Temple?
The program? Maybe Syracuse?
A job will not get you nearly enough to pay for NYU, tho kudos for trying. Your mom is telling you to look at schools with merit I think. NYU is highly unlikely to be one of them.
I’ve done NYU- it’s not a “dream school”. You can do better for your situation:)
You need to ask your parents for a realistic budget in terms of total cost of attendance. Thinking that you will get lots of scholarship $$ means what exactly? That they will provide you $15,000/yr, $25,000/yr, $35,000/yr??? There are 100s of schools out there with a wide range of costs. You need to figure out what your actual budget is.
Schools that do not offer merit scholarships and only need based aid are most likely going to cost you the COA posted on their websites. That means that top schools will most likely be in the $60,000+/yr range. If your parents are not willing to pay for those costs, you are going to have to be like numerous other students…you are going to have stop looking at rankings and look at schools you can afford.
Your SAT score at this point (most only look at CR+M, so your score is 1390) is just below the threshold for qualifying for full tuition at most lower ranked schools which offer full tuition scholarships. The ballpark range for those scholarships is 1400-1450, depending on the school. (There are a few which do give awards for a 1390)
If you are a NMF, the list of schools offering large merit scholarships gets larger. But, again, the schools offering the largest awards are typically lower ranked schools.
With your parents income, you have very slim chance of getting need-based FA. Merit-based FA is very hard to get, and often requires you to go to a lower-tier school.
Your family should have a realist budget for your college. With that kind income, It should not be a super hard thing.
Hey! I was in a similar situation as you. Ended up choosing Northeastern with full tuition (net cost ~10k/year), but I had some net cost <1k/year options.
Some schools to look at:
Northeastern University
Clark University
Fordham University
Bard College
SUNY Stonybrook
Temple University
Boston University (Reach for scholarships)
University of Southern California (Reach for scholarships)
State schools!
You definitely need to get a budget from your parents of what they will contribute You have the stats to get some decent merit aid, just maybe not at your top choice school. And how much merit aid you will need friends in what they will pay.
Here’s a thought - if NYU is your dream school, you would probably be happy enough at George Washington U, particularly if you want to study poli sci. While DC is not NYC, it is a great college town and would actually provide you with better internship opps than NYU.
FYI
Focus on the column showing non-need based aid (i.e. merit aid) and the adjacent column showing the % of students that receive it (it doesn’t help u if a school only gives merit aid to the 1% of students that walk on water). There are separate lists for private universities & LACs. There’s also a list for affordable public colleges. http://www.kiplinger.com/tool/college/T014-S001-kiplinger-s-best-values-in-private-colleges/
Run the NPC at a few colleges and show your mother. Since you are a full payer it doesn’t sound like you will be able to go to NYU so if you are a Sr. it is long past time to have processed that and got over it. Your job can help with incidental ‘personal expenses’ but you need to find out what your mom will contribute to your tuition/fee/room/board and start from there. What state are you in?
OP, you are smart to be having the money conversation with your parents now. You have a lot of time to come up with a good list of schools that would offer merit for your stats.
My advice would be to get rid of the notion of a “dream school.” There are a number of schools that can get you to where you want to be. Figure out what it is that you like about the top choice schools that you can’t afford, and look for similar attributes at schools that will give you merit aid. You can find those schools in the links that have already been posted. Focusing on schools you can’t afford is wasted energy, and borrowing to try to afford one will quickly turn your dream into a nightmare. FWIW, most kids are too rich for financial aid and too poor for top tier tuition, so you’re in good company.
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However, my mom is prioritizing getting rid of debt over my college costs, because she thinks I’m going to be able to earn enough scholarships to cover a pretty big chunk of the cost. I SINCERELY doubt that
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Tell your mom that NYU is very stingy with aid and with merit. Your stats aren’t high enough for merit, and you have no “financial need”.
In the meantime, you’ll need to come up with a list of schools that will give you merit for your stats.