Better yet, email the counselor today so it’s in their queue. Many read emails during the weekend, or early before school. Then go in person ASAP on Monday. You are running out of time before winter break.
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NYU (and many other schools) meet full need but are need aware. That means that, if you DO get in, they will meet full need. But of course they will only admit the number of students needing scholarships they can afford. This increases the difficulty of acceptance for students needing financial aid. So definitely apply, but recognize that schools like this are super hard to get into.
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Lots of great advice above. Consider Syracuse University as a target — the school and it CS and Business programs are all ranked top 50-75.
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Syracuse does not meet 100% demonstrated need. How is s/he paying for it?
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Forgive me for saying the obvious, but if you live in NYC, your household income is 60K/yr, and the family is enrolled in social benefit programs, yet your parents have the ability to contribute a substantial amount of money to your college education, perhaps 100K, then something does not add up. Be careful.
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No loss re: Berkeley. You wouldn’t get “poor financial aid” - you’d get none. Even with the max Regents scholarship it would still be over $60K/year.
SUNY schools have excellent CS and good financial support for low-income students. You have vastly better in-state options, both academically and financially, than students in a majority of states. Also, the NY publics (unlike the CA publics) allow you to defer admission for a year if you decide to.
So, don’t freak out. Approach this systematically (think like a programmer!). Get your SUNY/CUNY options nailed down, ASAP. Then, consider what schools you would choose over your in-state choices, and which of these you could genuinely afford if you got in. (This will not include schools like UIUC, UT Austin, GT, etc, so don’t waste time pining for OOS schools that neither meet need nor offer generous merit.)
Bottom line, if you don’t like your options at the end of this year, defer at your favorite SUNY/CUNY, plan a constructive/productive gap year, and take another run at elite schools in the next application cycle. You’re young; if the worst case scenario is taking a year to regroup, that’s really not so bad, even if you just work and save up some money for college. Also, the CS programs at your state schools - especially Stony Brook and Buffalo, but at plenty of the others too - are excellent. You’ll be fine. But get moving on the SUNY app, as you’re already past the recommended priority submission date of 12/1.
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Nothing is a guarantee but worth a try.
I understand your parents want a T20 admission for you as their dream.
But what they have is a very intelligent child who has some deficits in executive function.
First you should put effort into applying to schools that are safeties or where you have high likelihood of free or reduced tuition. Sure, then apply to MIT if it will make your parents happy. Your best bet may be to attempt to transfer to a T20 after a year or two after you develop improved planning skills.
Although being first gen can give you a disadvantage with minimal knowledge and support in the college application process, it seems that your issue is more about lack of attention/planning deficits than lack of information.
You will get into a college. I can say its even likely that you will get into a college with minimal debt to you and your family as well. You just need to be wise with your choices.
You have received lots of good advice here. Good luck!
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I haven’t read the whole thread but think you should 1) limit your schools to 6 or so and 2) at least 4 of them should schools that meet full need for <$60k income. I also think CS is a much better field financially than undergrad business.
MIT, Brown , Princeton, Amherst, Tufts, a SUNY or two. Dartmouth? Hamilton? You might still be able to get merit but I would keep it simple so the stress of doing applications isn’t overwhelming. I like Clark in MA- look up their aid policies.
My son did all his applications in December and graduated from Brown in CS and has done well. He only applied to 4 schools.
If you want help with essays I can PM you. I doubt you need it. You are a pretty desirable candidate I think, for many reasons.
If you’re interested in both CS and business, consider programs where you can do both.
Northeastern meets full need and offers terrific blended majors like this one: Computer Science and Business Administration, BS < Northeastern University Run the Net Price Calculator
Lehigh offers no-loan aid to low-income students, and treats Asian applicants as URM. https://csb.lehigh.edu/ I suspect acceptance would be a slam-dunk for you. Compare how it would look financially for you vs. SUNY.
USC may or may not be affordable (they meet need, in theory - run the NPC for your particular parameters) but could be a great option if the money works. They don’t even have EA/ED so you’re not at any disadvantage time-wise. Computer Science and Business Administration - USC Viterbi | Department of Computer Science
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USC has a few substantial (including full rides) merit scholarships but their application deadline (12/1) has already passed. It also offers automatic merit scholarships for NMSF, but I’m not if they are subject to the same deadline.
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I believe Northeastern includes loans in their package.
Yes, they do (which was why I pointed out Lehigh’s no-loan policy in contrast)… but if it’s a truly good fit and the total amount of aid is sufficient, taking the guaranteed loans might be acceptable to the OP, especially given a lucrative major like CS or CS+business. It depends how the numbers look - you don’t want the guaranteed loans plus a de facto gap between the expected family contribution and what you can actually afford. Still vastly better than an OOS public flagship with a big out-of-pocket.
Yup, just wanted to point out that “meet full need” can include loans.
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UCs do not offer need-based financial aid to non-California residents; your only chance of affordability would be a super-reach large merit scholarship (not very common at UCs).
Have you applied to SUNYs as a NY resident?
Schools that cover 100% of need have already been recommended as safety schools and reach schools. I read that Syracuse generally meets 95% of need and I thought it might cover the last 5% via merit aid for a strong student it really wants — and this candidate might qualify. That’s why I recommended it as a target school, with more “prestige” than some safeties, but higher chance of admission than some reaches.
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Has OP confirmed NMSF status? I don’t see that in the original post, although the SAT superscore suggests that it’s possible…
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Are you a national merit semifinalist?
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Syracuse includes loans. There are some merit awards.
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Beware. The CSS form may reveal something about the family’s income and finances that the simple number 60K/yr in NYC does not. The CSS is an extremely in-depth financial biopsy of your family. Home equity, value of cars, bank account balances, etc. Obviously, if your family’s income is 60K/yr in NYC, yet your parents have substantial money to contribute to your college education (which doesn’t show up on the FAFSA or the CSS), then it’s very likely that there are going to be resources that they have to reveal. If they don’t, and it is detected that they did not, then the entire financial house of cards enabling eligibility for all sorts of benefits and assistance could very well come crashing down, or even worse.
Your parents may have made choices for which you are not responsible. But once you are 18, and you get involved in the financial choices that, from what you’ve related, they have very likely made, you could get drawn into it, and suffer consequences, too - the least of which could be the withdrawal of financial aid midstream, during your education.
You need to have a serious sit down with your parents and ask them to be transparent with you about the family’s finances, how it is that a family with a declared household income well below the poverty threshold for NYC has the ability to contribute anything, let alone 100K, to college tuition. And if there is only one option that allows you to attend college without becoming party to what’s going on financially in the family, then perhaps it would be best to take that one. Nothing wrong with being the superstar in comp sci at the best CUNY program. Tons of opportunities for internships in NYC. You could come out just as well as if you had gone to the most selective private college for undergrad, with financial aid that is precarious because it is based upon information that simply doesn’t seem to add up. Or apply to less selective private schools that are likely to give you a free ride based upon merit.
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