The CUNY schools are small in NYC. That’s a pretty large city.
I think your friend is giving you misinformation. Perhaps he got a full tuition award via one of the initiatives in NY state…Excelsior, STEM scholarship for example.
@sybbie719 what SUNY schools would offer a full free ride? Would Stony Brook?
@blakel14 you need to open your mind to affordable options. Your $170,000 family income…is that before or after taxes? Does it include any contributions to tax deferred retirement plans (those get added back in as income for financial aid purposes).
The only thing your high cost of living will get you is a little bit of consideration because of your taxes. Someone else can explain.
But cost of living is not a consideration when need based financial aid is calculated.
What are your stats? If you are a junior, have you taken the ACT or SAT yet? What were your scores? Did you get a high enough PSAT score to be considered for national merit status? What is your current GPA?
There are net price calculators on every college website. You might want to run these…are your parents divorced? Self employed? Own a business? Own real estate outside of your primary residence? If NO to all…the NPC will give you an estimated net cost. I say estimated because the actual financial aid offer gives the actual net cost. Plus, the NPCs are currently set up for students starting in fall 2020.
What can your parents pay annually? If you don’t know…you need to find out. That is your college budget.
If you income precludes need based aid…you need to hunt for merit awards that do not consider income. Colleges have these. You need to find out what you would get for your stats, and where.
Be open minded, very open minded. Especially if finances are a significant consideration.
There are tons of SUNY schools all over the state. Some in cities and some in the more rural areas. It would be worth it to look into some of these as they are so modestly priced for instate students.