Hello, I was just wondering whether I should go to NYU or UMD. I’m a low-income student with an EFC of 0.
I got into NYU CAS for CS. The estimated cost for NYU is 18k per year. (This year I’ll have to pay 15k.) Extremely worried about the years to come since the tuition is expected to increase every year.
I got into Letters of Science for UMD, so I’ll have to take the required classes before I can declare as a CS major. I received a scholarship which brought down the cost to 5k per year. I also got into the FIRE program which would allow me to conduct research with the help of faculty members.
NYU is my top choice but, if I do not win any outside scholarships, I will not be able to attend. According to my family, I would have to win at least 5k in outside scholarships.
UMD has bigger classes which is a con for me. Plus, I’m not sure how difficult the gateway courses are to get into Computer Science. I don’t want to end up spending five years in undergrad. Keep in mind, I was admitted under Letters of Sciences for UMD.
Thank you for reading this post! Any advice is appreciated.
Need at least a C- in the Gateway courses and a B-, 2.7 overall to be an internal transfer to UMD CS.
If you’ve been offered an academic scholarship by UMD ( not just need based financial aid) you’ll need almost B+ , a 3.2
average to keep your merit scholarship.
From what I’ve read from students at UMD the gateway courses aren’t that bad and they’re the same exact courses you’d need to pass anyway. As stated above you can also fulfill requirements with AP courses or test out of these gateway courses. Many, even high stat students, are filtered through L&Ss first. UMD has an excellent CS program. If you did well enough to get admitted you should do just fine in the classes there. If NYU is unaffordable without outside scholarships then UMD seems like a great option. I’m sure scholarships tied to NYU would have GPA requirements also.
It looks like NYU is unaffordable. I am assuming most, if not all of your NYU FA package is need based aid. If so, I do not think NYU will stack outside scholarships, should you receive any (and it’s really late for many scholarships, especially to the tune of $5k). Look here, and best to contact them: Scholarships and Grants
Now that NYU meets full need, there must be something in CSS Profile that resulted in them calculating a $15k family contribution. Even though you say your FAFSA EFC is zero, what matters to NYU is the info in CSS. I encourage you to understand what factor(s) explain that difference…typical ones would be divorced parents, parents own a business or real estate that’s not a primary home.
IMO, UMD has a stronger CS program, and NYU isn’t worth the premium unless you like its location and you family can afford it (which doesn’t seem to be the case).
Since money is a big issue I’d also choose UMD. I don’t see where NYU will be affordable. In addition, the expenses of living in NYC would likely be higher than at UMD.
According to the CSS profile, it said my parents can make a contribution of 11k per year. I have no idea how was that calculated. My parents said that maybe it was based on the house that we live in. (Since it has a lot of equity in it.) But my parents were unable to access the equity in the home.
Re: outside scholarships. You need to check NYU policies regarding these and how they affect need based aid. You are required to report all outside scholarships to the college. In most cases, an outside scholarship will reduce your financial need, and therefore reduce your need based aid. Some colleges allow stacking of outside scholarships and their aid up to the cost of attendance. I don’t think NYU allows this stacking.
UMD is a great school at a much more affordable price. It’s a great option.
What does this mean? On the Profile, your parents needed to indicate the current value of your primary residence. Then they needed to indicate any outstanding mortgage balance. Subtract the mortgage balance from the home value and that is your equity. So…the school had that.
Any advice is appreciated.