Chardo- the point you make about debt could be made about every other college in America. I have friends who are saddling themselves with debt up to their eyeballs for Villanova-- even though many people believe it’s a pretty but academically overrated college for kids who couldn’t get into Georgetown. I have friends who were born and educated in Europe who are saddling themselves with debt to pay full freight for their kids to attend GW-- I believe that GW has a much stronger reputation in other parts of the world than it does in the US. People who borrow a ton for Colby, Muhlenberg, SMU, Adelphi even though their own state flagships are higher rated and half the price.
People who saddle themselves with debt either do so with their eyes wide open, or with a lot of cognitive dissonance ringing in their ears.
@ThankYouforHelp - my kid has never had more than 25 in an academic class at NYU… frequently under 20 (though her freshman english class had large and small groups- the large group probably had 50+ in it, but it only met 4x in the semester for guest speakers). Her theater classes are generally at 12-15. She is getting VERY personal attention, has had several profs more than once etc. I would say her classes have been more like a private than a public institution. There are just a LOT of departments (which makes them more like a large public in that respect. Frankly, it’s the best of both worlds- a HUGE number of choices, and TONS of personal interaction with professors.
And again, the “you don’t even get a real campus” thing is in the eye of the beholder. It’s not on everyone’s list. My kid was super drawn to urban campuses… quads, ivy and trees were just not her thing
Despite the fact UW-Madison’s admitted pool overlapped somewhat with NYU’s GPA-wise, UW-Madison was considered respectable academic choice at my public magnet as it is an elite public U in its own right. Anyone who implied the two institutions were academic peers back when I attended HS in the mid-late '90s at my NYC public magnet would cause most of us to wonder what funky drugs was s/he smoking.
One major difference was UW-Madison required higher SATs than NYU CAS so many HS classmates who matriculated at NYU CAS did so because they were rejected by UW-Madison because their SATs were too low.
Not everyone wants NYU, because of the location. Some want it despite it’s location (no real campus). My experience as a grad student was that it was a very personalized experience. The classes were small, the professors were good, I felt like I was treated like a valued customer and they were very accomodating in terms of externships that I did. It’s expensive, but so are other schools. I was deciding between Columbia and NYU for grad school and I went with NYU, because despite being a young, mostly independant adult, Columbia wanted to see my parents financial info if I wanted FA. NYU only needed my tax forms. Everyone has an opinion, but it really isn’t some overpriced crappy school. It’s actually very good.
@ThankYouforHelp :
“The difference between UWisconsin and NYU is that at UWisconsin you are paying reduced public school tuition for a large public school experience, large classes etc.”
Only if you are a WI/MN resident. I knew someone who went there. Lots of rich East Coast kids there too, according to him.
“Despite the fact UW-Madison’s admitted pool overlapped somewhat with NYU’s GPA-wise, UW-Madison was considered respectable academic choice at my public magnet as it is an elite public U in its own right. Anyone who implied the two institutions were academic peers back when I attended HS in the mid-late '90s at my NYC public magnet would cause most of us to wonder what funky drugs was s/he smoking.”
Times change.
@cobrat, I know you love living in the past (and while I have a weakness for feathered bangs myself), but it really really isn’t the '90’s any more. Hasn’t been for close to 2 decades now, in fact.
There’s a ginormous difference between the quality of the academic experience, benefiting from NYU’s academic strengths, and level of attention one would get at NYU(Or Columbia for that matter) as a grad student vs undergrad.
And the quality gap between undergrad vs grad experiences(with the possible exception of Tisch or Stern) still exists to this day according to several younger friends who are recent graduates(last 3 years or so) and attended grad/professional schools there.
If someone I was advising MUST attend NYU at some point, I’d overwhelmingly recommend they follow the example of several HS classmates who turned down their admission offers to NYU-Stern undergrad for free-rides at Baruch and later attend NYU-Stern or other elite business schools like Columbia, Wharton, HBS, etc for their MBAs or other applicable academic/professional grad schools.
.@cobrat Baruch isn’t in the same league as NYU Stern for undergrad business. Seriously? Not everyone decides to go on to get an MBA. The NYU undergrad degree is more marketable than Baruch’s. If you went to Stuy, you would be surprised how many specialized HS kids go to NYU these days. Times have changed.
Considering over 1/3 of my graduating public magnet HS class were admitted to NYU-CAS with most falling somewhere in the lower-middle to bottom of our graduating class of a bit under 700…that meant a lot of my HS classmates did end up attending NYU-CAS. The ones I knew either came from well-off families who could afford to pay the high tuition/costs without issue or were financially foolhardy.
Many in the latter group were still paying off their undergrad loans even after working in high paying finance/corporate jobs for 10+ years. In contrast, the classmates who turned down NYU-Stern for Baruch and yours truly…any debt incurred during undergrad had been paid off in full so long ago it was a distant memory for us at that point…and those Baruch undergrad/elite MBA classmates were further ahead in their respective business/finance/ibanking careers partially because of those MBAs.
@cobrat- when I graduated from HS (87, so close to 90s) Ohio State was an automatic admit for anyone with an Ohio diploma. The campus was … well, calling it shady would be kind. That was my mental picture of OSU for YEARS. Today, OSU takes less than half of the people who apply, and they have spent a TON of $$ and improved their campus beyond all recognition. If I had kept my impression from 30 years ago, I would be missing what exists TODAY. I feel like you might be stuck in the past when it comes to NYU. You are of course welcome to your opinion.
NYU is not for everyone. For those attracted to what it offers, it can be a great experience. I am the parent of an NYU/Tisch grad (musical theater / drama '09). My daughter loved her experience and the school was an excellent fit for her. Honesty, it was a dream school starting at age 12. The NYC location is not the only or main draw (in my D’s case, NYU was the only NYC school she even applied to and so if it was NYC or bust, she’d have applied to others there).
I also think there is this assumption that everyone who goes to NYU is wealthy. We are not wealthy. In fact, my D qualified for need based aid. She got a significant four year scholarship and NYU cost no more than any other school she got into (and in fact, likely less given the size of the scholarship). Yes, we took out Parent Plus loans, but we did that for our kid who went to an Ivy too. For us, it was worth it. If my D had not gotten the scholarship, we would have had to take out more loans than we already did. Someone posted that some parents think it is not worth taking out loans for a theater degree. I do not feel this way at all. My kid went to college to get an education. What she majored in made no difference to us in terms of financing her education. That said, my kids were expected to support themselves after their final degree’s graduation. My NYU daughter graduated college at age 20 and has fully supported herself in NYC since graduation day, entirely in the fields of music and theater. A great many of her Tisch peers have met with success in the highest levels of the field already too. NYU was an excellent fit for my daughter and the foundation she got there has served her well so far.
Another parent of an NYU grad here. D majored in English in CAS , had terrific internships starting freshman year and had no problem supporting herself after graduation. None of her classes were large, in fact almost all were 25 students or fewer.
Did location play a role? Sure. But she had a HS classmate who applied to California schools because he loves that state, a neighbor’s S went to UMiami because he likes warm weather…why is wanting to be in NYC any different?
I really don’t get the NYU bashing on cc. If you don’t like the school, don’t apply/let your child apply. Why waste your time bashing a school ?
I had a kid who graduated from BU. Like NYU, BU does not guarantee to meet full need…and the school doesn’t.
Both are expensive private universities in major metro east coast cities.
Will say, I do think BU financial aid is a bit more transparent than NYU…but really…that’s the only critique I have of NYU.
Unfortunately, some students can’t afford either of these colleges…and complain about the lack of aid to attend…OR take out huge loans to attend.
I think these schools both offer fine college educations to their students. But like many things…they are not affordable for ALL students, aren’t the right location for ALL students…etc.
My kid LOVED BU…but really, we had the resources to pay the bills.
One major difference is that I still regularly have occasion to visit the campus and even have friends who are/were grad students who TA courses or faculty teaching there. It’s not like the last time I visited NYU’s campus was in the mid-'90s.
And a few who have taught there since the late '80s/early '90s do quietly admit the NYU marketing machine overhypes the institution far more than the reality actually warrants.
@cobrat - I have no knowledge of what NYU was like in the 80s, or the 90s, or anytime really before 2013. (Which is when my kid went to a summer program between junior and senior year, which was instrumental in her desire to go there and our recognition that this was a good place for her to be.) TBH- we were untouched by any NYU marketing… idk how much of that Tisch does. Bottom line- we are happy with the school. Would I like to be paying less- sure, but we feel we are getting value for $$ spent. I think there are lots of people who feel the same
I don’t recall any marketing of NYU to my daughter. She had wanted to go there since she was 12 for the reputation of its theater programs and having known older friends who had gone there. In fact, my D applied to college in her junior year of HS and so wasn’t getting any marketing materials. I believe my D got a great education at NYU and it has served her well so far.
Our Son was accepted to NYU, UNC Chapel hill, BU and University of Miami. He was waitlisted at U Chicago, Princeton, and Columbia. He applied to 14 Universities. He has upper-middle class, older parents and is an only child, so…he is a full pay student. His scores in GPA and SAT/ACT were in the 99th percentile without test prep or College counseling. He attended a good public school in Northwest Florida with 450 seniors this year.
Out of the seniors applying to college from his high school, he is one of 3 going to an Ivy, many are going to University of Florida, one is going to UNC Chapel hill and others are following their dream schools. Prior to being accepted from the waitlist at Princeton, my Son’s pick was between NYU or U of Miami. He really wanted to attend NYU.
After doing the financial numbers on his own and visiting the schools, he chose U of Miami because they offered a 4 year 31K discount/ merit scholarship per yr on tuition. BU and Chapel hill didn’t offer merit scholarships . He decided, that all things being close to equal except the immediate excitement of living in Manhattan that choosing to pay 77k to attend NYU or paying 32 k to attend U of Miami for undergraduate studies of International relations was not a good fiscally responsible choice. We allowed him to chose.
The story ends with him getting a call on May 7th from Princeton telling him he was accepted off the waitlist. Life is full of choices. BTW we love NY❤