Would you go to NYU on free tuition (not a full ride, you’d still have to pay for housing which is around 16k), or go to an Ivy League or top 10/20 school that you like more but you have to pay everything? Just looking for some opinions!
How much money are your parents willing to pay?
@mamaedefamilia My parents can cover the cost of going to another school full pay for four years. (We don’t qualify for FA and we are willing to pay it). I just want to know if it’s worth it or not.
If money isn’t a major issue approach the selection approach top down. Consider the cost as a tie breaker rather than a primary consideration. NYU may be the best choice for you, especially if you’re looking for an urban college experience. But view the other options holistically (and realistically based on your stats).
I think the key variables are what are you likely to study, would you like going to school in NYC, and which Ivy League school(s) you are talking about.
If you parents can comfortably afford any school, then you have the luxury to choose the best option for you. If money is a concern then consider the merit aid you will get at NYU or any other school. I would apply wherever you want and then see where you get in and what makes sense. Until you know your options, there is no reason to decide.
OK, so are you applying to NYU because you are genuinely interested? Because it’s perhaps a bit easier to get admitted than an Ivy so it’s more of a high match than a reach? Or because the possibility of merit money exists and you want to do right by your parents? If money were off the table, would it still be a top choice for you?
Thanks for all the responses so far! To clarify, I am mentioning free tuition for NYU not because of merit aid chances, but because my dad works at NYU and so I get a tuition discount. My family has a pretty strong connection with NYU, since my dad works there now and my sister went there for her undergraduate college years. I do love the city and I think NYU is a great school, but it just doesn’t have the college vibe or experience I’m looking for. As for what Ivy Leagues, I’m most likely doing Penn ED, and also UChicago EA. As you can see, an urban vibe is important to me, but also a sense of the collegiate experience (which doesn’t seem very NYU, as it lacks a campus and my sister has told me that’s one of her complaints about it). If money were off the table and I didn’t have a connection with NYU, I’m not sure if it would make my list of top college choices, to be honest.
Also, to clarify, my stats aren’t incredible, but I do have great standardized test scores and I believe my ECs are strong. If I get into Penn through ED, I would be ecstatic, but I am posing this question in case I get deferred and need to reconsider my options again.
Given the cost for you at NYU, and the likelihood of admission there as a staff dependent, if your major is well served and you believe you could be happy at NYU, then what you are looking for is a place that you like better than NYU.
So far your list is pretty small. Are there any other places you think you’d like better than NYU, or as much as NYU? If the program for your major is at least as strong as the program at NYU, the overall institutional ranking might not matter much at all. You may have more options than you think.
Run some of the college-matching search engines, and see what comes up when you look for big, urban universities.
I’d choose NYU if you are OK with it. Then maybe go to Penn or UChicago for graduate school. But then again, I’d put off making a choice until results come so you don’t stress about a situation that may seem less significant later. Also, it depends on how much of a difference emotionally it is. If you will do better (GPA and etc. wise) choose Penn and U Chicago. Without a doubt, the education you get is most important and feelings may come into play
It would also depend on which major you plan on applying for. Do you plan on applying for Wharton/Stern?
Good urban vibe schools (good school, nice city)
Penn
Chicago
Harvard
Columbia
Barnard
MIT
Tufts
NYU
McGill
Toronto
Pittsburgh
Carnegie Mellon
Boston University
Tulane
Northeastern University
Georgetown
George Washington University
Temple
Macalester
University of Minnesota
University of Wisconsin
University of Texas
UCLA
UC Berkeley
UWashington
Reed
University of Cincinnati
I know what you mean about the lack of a discrete campus. However, if you get to room & board there instead of commuting from home, it could still be a great experience. Depends on if you grew up in the city or NJ or Long Island, though. 
You could also take advantage of their super study abroad programs or spend a year on one of their campuses overseas to shake things up a bit.
If I had the chance to go to NYU tuition-free, I’d jump all over it. But everybody is different.
@JessicaWang Nope, not Wharton for me! I’m applying to the College of Arts and Sciences at Penn. So, maybe the quality between NYU and Penn isn’t so drastically different there? I’m not sure how much the “Ivy” title means, haha
@mamaedefamilia You make a lot of good points! I grew up in a suburb close to NYC and I feel comfortable in the city. I guess it’s just the feeling of wanting to go somewhere new, I guess. And yes, one of my favorite things about NYU is their study abroad stuff and emphasis on internationalism!
Since money is no object, I would advocate for another college to take you out of your comfort zone - don’t be one of these New Yorkers who’s lived their whole life in the city :). Why not use college to move and discover Philadelphia, Boston, DC, Chicago, Minneapolis-St Paul, Atlanta, New Orleans… or even a rural area?
You’d learn a lot more about yourself if you lived outside of NYC and didn’t go to the college where your father teaches and where your sister went.
If you like study abroad, look into Dickinson.
@shadyconcepts - you say your parents “can” cover the cost of full pay, but will they? Apparently, you have a sibling who has already taken advantage of the NYU tuition remission and that would mean they’d be shelling out a lot more for one kid than another - are they willing to do that?
Our family is also in the position of being “able” to pay full cost to any school, but doing so for us would mean putting retirement on hold and going down to one car, for starters. We’re not willing to make those sacrifices and have given our kids a cap on what we’re willing to pay. If I were you, I’d get a firm commitment from my parents before I went too far down the path of looking at other schools. Maybe you’ve already done that, but I only mention it because you wouldn’t be the first kid on CC to be disappointed to discover that the bank of Mom and Dad has withdrawal limits. 
@halfemptypockets Thanks for your concern! Actually, my dad started working for NYU only last year and I’m the only child who’s eligible for the free tuition (my sister graduated NYU before my dad even started working there!). I have gotten the solid OK from my parents that they can pay all four years of any college, which I am incredibly grateful for. Even though they can pay, however, I’m still worried that choosing another school over NYU would still be wasteful. My parents have pointed out that if I go to NYU, I can use that extra money for grad school, future expenses, retirement, etc. And they do make a good point. So I guess the conflict here is is it worth it to choose another school, albeit a much better school, than NYU even if my parents can pay? Because Penn is an ivy, they would be okay with it, but would any other school be worth it? I’m not sure at this point. But there is that side to me that would really like to get out of NY and explore other areas and schools.
@shadyconcepts FWIW, I am employed in academia in the social sciences. I read graduate school applications annually and I read applications for tenure track jobs periodically. Every academic major is different, but honestly, I don’t differentiate a lot between an applicant from Columbia or NYU or U of Chicago. Or between JHU or Duke or Vanderbilt. They’re all pretty fantastic. Moreover, not all Ivies are the same. I’d be much less willing to pay the upcharge for Dartmouth than Harvard or Princeton, for example.
When you’re in the top 20-30 ranked schools in the country, the gradations are so small. I can’t imagine that any graduate school wouldn’t be impressed with a NYU degree and with a strong GPA and GREs, you’d be golden. I don’t see how much value added Penn would bring. In fact, there are numerous flagship state universities that would propel you into top graduate programs, if that is your ultimate desire.
I suggest that you visit NYU as if you have no prior connection to it. Suspend your disbelief. Go on the tour. See how it feels. Do an overnight visit and/or visit a class. You might be pleasantly surprised. Or you might feel profoundly alienated. Give it an honest chance and see how it fits.
Are your intended or possible major(s) offered and reasonably good at all of the schools in question?