<p>Hi there,
I am applying to NYU unfortunately my mom (single parent) makes about 120k a year so they gives me horrible financial aid (apparently). I have a college fund of less that 30k (tuition per yr at NYU is 40k+). All my mom has agreed to is getting me 300 bucks a month for college. I heard that if you claim you legal and financial independence you can collect a lot of financial aid. Is that possible? Or can I somehow claim my dad as a dependent who makes 0 taxable dollars and operates a business that is in the penny stocks? I have aspirations to go to medical school and if I end up going to NYU my debt will be in the 200k's. That would completely eliminate my chances of going to medical school. I can't afford to pay back 500,000 dollars in student loans. I really don't want to eliminate NYU from my list of possible schools.
Any ideas? Feedback? Input?</p>
<p>Well, you can eliminate it now or eliminate it later. Why in world would you want to put yourself and your family under that kind of financial pressure for NYU?</p>
<p>Don’t go to NYU!</p>
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No, it’s not possible. </p>
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NYU is known for giving horrible financial aid. Even if your Mom had a lower income, it would not mean you would get good financial aidfrom them. Every year there are students on CC with very low EFCs , including some with 0 EFCs, and NYU offers them tens of thousands of dollars in loans.</p>
<p>Go somewhere that will not leave you with $200k in loans.</p>
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Yes. Eliminate NYU from your list of schools. It is not affordable, particularly for a future med school student.</p>
<p>^^^^^ Agree. I remember several years ago a news organization interviewed a guy who was laid off from his job after 1 year…he had $250K in college loans…he went to NYC…I was shocked…not a way to live. And college loans follow you the rest of your life…they don’t go away.</p>
<p>Its a great school! (and they have a good med school). But it does seem more practical to eliminate them rather than keep them. I wish the better end schools didn’t cost so much. I’m having trouble finding a reach school that has less than a 30k a year as well.</p>
<p>Your family makes way too much money to be eligible for need-based aid at just about any school.</p>
<p>If you need financial aid, you need to look at schools that offer merit scholarships for students with your statistics and achievements.</p>
<p>There are schools where you could get need-based aid but they will require more than $3600/yr out of pocket from your mother at her income level.</p>
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<p>Your mom’s income and that you have a college savings fund are what will make your need based aid low. This would be the case at EVERY college (except for a very few that award need based aid to higher earners). This is not unique to NYU. Any school using the FAFSA (as NYU does) or even the Profile will compute a family contribution that is WELL in excess of $300 a month.</p>
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<p>That is your mom’s choice. The computation for the FAFSA will most definitely yield a family contribution well in excess of $300 a month.</p>
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<p>Are you married, over age 24, a ward of the state, an orphan, a veteran, or have a bachelors degree? If not…then the likelihood of you being able to be declared independent from your parents for financial aid purposes is virtually ZERO.</p>
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<p>You want your dad as a dependent? Not likely…unless YOU are providing more than half of his support. Do you have a job whereby you could do that?</p>
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<p>Yep…on this you are right. </p>
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<p>Sorry…but for obvious reasons…NYU should be only ONE of the schools on your list and you should only attend if by some chance you receive a generous MERIT award (as I doubt seriously that you will get a penny of need based aid from them). Find some other schools that you can actually AFFORD to attend either because the costs are such that you can pay them…or because you are guaranteed merit aid based on your stats.</p>
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<p>This was posted by the OP on another thread. OP is looking to transfer to NYU, apparently. OP…it looks like you have already completed at least one year of college…that being the case, how do you come up with $200K for undergrad debt (in my first reading…I thought you were going to be attending NYU for four years…but if you are transferring…that would not be the case). Do you already have undergrad debt from your first year (or two) of college?</p>
<p>Please clarily.</p>
<p>Scienceguy, it’s not that financial aid at NYU is so bad, because a LOT of people on here will tell you they are getting 20K+ per year in scholarships there, most of it need based rather than merit money. The problem is, while that would cover the cost of many U’s, it does not cover even a third at NYU. The COA at NYU is one of the highest in the country. I can’t imagine going into that much debt to attend NYU for undergrad when you have a long road ahead for medical school. We are certainly going into substantial debt for my D’s undergrad at NYU (nowhere near what you might need), but she won’t need grad school for her career plan. Find a school that will give you merit aid or where you college fund will go farther.</p>
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<p>Because NYU has a great med school (business school & Law school), they do very, very little inbreeding. This means going to NYU for undergrad is not going to give you a leg up when it comes to applying to their graduate programs. Save the most money possible for undergrad and use it for grad school (you will need it now that there are no longer subsidized loans for grad/professional school).</p>
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<p>You figure wrong. There is little difference between top xx colleges with regard to admissions to professional schools.</p>
<p>Your 3.37 gpa will keep you out of med school. (Yes, GE’s count.) Instead of looking to transfer to the Big Apple (“party time”), you need to buckle down and start earning A’s. Without them, you would need to Rock the mcat to even have a shot at med school.</p>
<p>Alternatively, instead of NY – another competitive state for med applicants – transfers to a less competitive state and attempt residency.</p>
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<p>Keep your eye on the prize: medical school. You don’t need to go to a “reach” undergraduate school to get into med school. Find a good, affordable alternative, go there, get a great GPA, make sure you really master the materials in the science courses needed for the MCAT, and you’ll have a great shot at medical school.</p>
<p>it doesn’t matter how many dependents you claim, NYU isn’t likely going to adjust your aid. It just doesn’t give much aid to many students. Most have to pay all or nearly all costs.</p>
<p>You do not want much debt for undergrad…especially if you want to go to med school.</p>
<p>NYU isn’t worth the debt…at all.</p>
<p>What school are you attending now?</p>
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Your 3.37 gpa will keep you out of med school. *</p>
<p>That’s your BIG problem…no matter where you go to school. What is your science GPA? (math, physics, bio, chem).</p>
<p>“You want your dad as a dependent? Not likely…unless YOU are providing more than half of his support. Do you have a job whereby you could do that?”</p>
<p>Sorry I typed that backwards last night. I was saying is there someway that I could claim my dad as my parent there for giving me everything on a need basis. </p>
<p>“his was posted by the OP on another thread. OP is looking to transfer to NYU, apparently. OP…it looks like you have already completed at least one year of college…that being the case, how do you come up with $200K for undergrad debt (in my first reading…I thought you were going to be attending NYU for four years…but if you are transferring…that would not be the case). Do you already have undergrad debt from your first year (or two) of college?”</p>
<p>That would solely just be from living in New York + tuition + school supplies.</p>
<p>I have taken NYU off the list.</p>
<p>"You figure wrong. There is little difference between top xx colleges with regard to admissions to professional schools.</p>
<p>Your 3.37 gpa will keep you out of med school. (Yes, GE’s count.) Instead of looking to transfer to the Big Apple (“party time”), you need to buckle down and start earning A’s. Without them, you would need to Rock the mcat to even have a shot at med school.</p>
<p>Alternatively, instead of NY – another competitive state for med applicants – transfers to a less competitive state and attempt residency."</p>
<p>I am improving my grades, had a great last semester with a 3.8 and having a great summer as well with a 4.0 and a 3.6 last fall. Just had one bad semester because I thought I didn’t care about school, well now I do. Planning to do some research when I transfer which should help a lot with any application. </p>
<p>Also annas dad,
People keep telling me that, they must be right. Luckily Poly-NYU was a backup school incase I get denied from Rutgers NB for microbiology (Not really sure the odds of that anyways lol). Well where ever I end up going I will be trying to get into the honors program at least.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your feedback</p>
<p>You have to claim the parent that you mostly live with for financial aid. And, it does sound like your mom is the one who mostly supports you. </p>
<p>I don’t see how transferring to Rutgers will be much better. If you’re instate for Calif, then Rutgers isn’t likely going to give an OOS transfer much of anything anyway.</p>
<p>Doesn’t Rutgers cost about $40k per year as an OOS student? How would you pay for that?</p>
<p>What UC or Cal state can you commute to?</p>
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<p>You can only do this IF you honestly live with your dad more than 50% of the time. Sounds like that is NOT the case.</p>
<p>How will you pay the OOS cost of attendance at Rutgers?</p>
<p>If you are a CA resident…why aren’t you looking to transfer to a CSU or UC?</p>
<p>NYU uses FAFSA only for financial aid. If you live with your dad more than your mom this year, you can claim your dad as your custodial parent and may get a lower EFC that way.</p>
<p>This does not ensure you more aid, however, since NYU does not guarantee to meet need. Also, depending on how your dad’s business is configured, he may end up wealthier than he or you think on the FAFSA. Better give it a trial run to see.</p>
<p>If you apply to schools that use PROFILE as well, you’ll find that the more generous schools tend to use both parents’ information.</p>
<p>It’s not easy getting a load of money out of the schools. NYU does give out a lot of aid, but it is also very expensive. It’s scary when a $20-30 award per year is about half or less of the costs, but that is the way it is with many of the private schools.</p>
<p>There is no problem in applying to those schools, including NYU as long as you have your bases covered with schools on your list that are affordable, likely to take you and that can meet your needs and you like. Those are the most important schools on your list and the hardest to find.</p>
<p>Can’t I just lie on the form? I never understood financial aid. I have no one helping me with my college education really. Because my mom makes over the cap doesn’t mean she has the money to pay for school. Need-basis makes no sense, I understand its a category but just because my mom makes a lot of money does mean I should suffer for it. I need assistance and a lot of it, that is a need! >.></p>
<p>I actually just got done calculating Rutgers vs.UCs its around the same amount of money give or take a 3 or 4 thousand, which is fine with me. If I’m paying for college I want to be happy with the place I am at. UCs don’t bring that happiness for me.</p>