Who would give better Fin. Aid: USC, Berkeley (OOS), or NYU?

Paying for College
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<p>I don't live in CA. If I was accepted to UC Berkeley, USC, and NYU, which do you think would give better need-based aid and/or result in the less expensive education for me overall? Especially with the least loans.</p>

<p>Now, Cal is cheaper, so it doesn't need to give as much aid to match NYU, etc. I'm just asking: at the bottom line, which do you think would be the most affordable of the 3?</p>

<p>Since nothing is certain until the school sends the package, base this only on whatever you want. Any advice / info would be useful.</p>

<p>Income = $20,000/year. No assets except for our car worth about $1,500. Not a minority or an athlete, only looking for need-based aid.</p>

<p>BTW, does Cal even give aid to OOS students? I would assume with the budget cuts and all...</p>

<p>Thanks</p>

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<p>UCB:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/764736-ca-state-schools-not-giving-scholarships-out-state-students.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/764736-ca-state-schools-not-giving-scholarships-out-state-students.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>NYU: does not give 100% of determined need.
USC: gives 100% of determined need.</p>

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<p>USC meets need, the others don’t. You would probably get nothing from Berkeley unless you were an off the charts applicant and then a few thousand. NYU may give you something, but again, anything significant would take you being top of their pool.</p>

<p>And while USC meets need, it’s not a super generous, no loan school.</p>

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<p>USC’s average indebtedness is $27,692 upon graduation, while NYU’s is $34,850 according to the college board. UC Berkley’s is $14,291, but that doesn’t count because it includes in state students. I don’t know about USC, but I understand that NYU has great financial aid for the very top applicants, ok financial aid for some students, and leaves bottom applicants “high and dry.” </p>

<p>Basically, you can’t depend on these schools to meet your need. </p>

<p>If your family’s income is 20k and you are <24, or you are >24 and your income is 20k there are some schools that specifically pledge to make college affordable to low income students: [Project</a> on Student Debt: Financial Aid Pledges](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php]Project”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php)</p>

<p>You could also check out questbridge: [QuestBridge</a> Home Page](<a href=“http://www.questbridge.org/]QuestBridge”>http://www.questbridge.org/)</p>

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<p>Assuming the fam income is 20k and you’re a dependent…</p>

<p>USC, hands down. No contest on this one. </p>

<p>Unless of course you get an out-lier award from one of the other two, which can happen. Likely?.. no.</p>

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<p>USC will be the best of those, I expect, but as others have said, you may still get gapped. UC schools don’t give much OOS to begin with. The UC/CSU systems are in a budget crisis right now, so there’s pretty much no aid for OOS students.</p>

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<p>Thanks everyone. I’m convinced that I won’t be applying to any UC schools.</p>

<p>USC and NYU sound like they could potentially give me enough, even though it isn’t guaranteed. I still don’t want to apply to both, though, so any data that could sway me in either direction with regards to aid would be useful. I’m trying to pick only one of the two for my own reasons.</p>

<p>I’m also thinking that I should have added UVa into this mix. If you have comments on them as well, I would love to hear</p>

<p>EDIT: as I re-read your posts, USC seems better. They guarantee to meet my aid. And hmom5 said that I would need to be at the top of NYU’s applicant pool to have my need covered… my 2100 SAT and GPA 3.6/4.1 probably don’t count. So I’m leaning heavily towards USC. Any comments still warmly welcome. NYU seems like a cool school but I don’t want to apply anywhere if I know I can’t afford or I would have to go heavily into debt. Also, I’m guessing that the cost of living would be extremely high for NYU, even if I got a good package</p>

<p>As you can see, right now I’m just looking for top undergrad business schools that I could afford (and obviously, that I would attend)</p>

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<p>USC, no competition. The average debt is very misleading as it does not include the Parent Plus loans that are a routine part of NYU’s packages.</p>

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<p>thank you guys for your help. I don’t see myself applying to either NYU or Berkeley.</p>

<p>I am still thinking about UVA. I’m trying to figure out if it’s a “fit”, but that’s irrelevant for this thread. Any word on financial aid with that school would be helpful, especially in a USC vs UVA fashion. Thanks again</p>

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<p>I hope you have some other schools that can meet your financial needs on your list…just in case.</p>

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<p>Are you a NY resident? If so, you might find NYU to be a bit more affordable than the average indicates due to the TAP program (top award is around $5,000 which I think you would be eligible for). Also, if you qualify for HEOP, I believe your costs would be much lower. HEOP is not exclusively for minorities.</p>

<p>[Opportunity</a> Program Home](<a href=“http://www.nyu.edu/op/heop_eligibility.html]Opportunity”>http://www.nyu.edu/op/heop_eligibility.html)</p>

<p>You might send a PM to sueinphilly re NYU - I believe her son received a decent FA package from them.</p>

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<p>^ hey thank you for the information but I am not a NY resident</p>

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<p>I would remove UC-Berkeley from the list.</p>

<p>I’am one who have interest in USC and NYU, and would like to apply to if not both, at least one of them. NYU is a great school, though I also hear they are not well with financial aid, I much rather apply to the school though and if accepted see what I get offered. USC is also a great school, I’m not sure how they are with FA ( I think well) but perhaps give out large loans. I actually have partially already started my application for USC and NYU a few weeks ago. </p>

<p>I find UVA and UNC-CH to be great schools, one who qualifies for need base financial aid ( like myself) is likely ( if accepted) to recieve great financial aid, though acceptance rate is very low for out of staters ( I would assume). More schools to mention such as, Columbia, Cornell, Stanford, etc… also are great with financial aid, but extremely hard to get accepted.</p>