<p>Help please from NYU students and newly accepted students:</p>
<p>My nephew, a late academic bloomer, got his PSAT scores recently (he is a junior) and got 61 Critical Reading; 61 Writing; 59 Math. He has taken AP World History and AP US History as well as AP psych. His GPA is 3.4 range.</p>
<p>His parents aren’t really involved in the college search and would prefer that he go to a jc in California where he lives. His dream: NYU.</p>
<p>How realistic is it with his stats?</p>
<p>How financially feasible? Mom and Dad are divorced–Dad just filed personal bankruptcy and Mom makes maybe $40K year.</p>
<p>I would like to help him but am unsure if it is even realistic.</p>
<p>It’s hard to tell. Right now, his GPA is too low. NYU has an avg. GPA of 3.7. It’s gonna take a lot of work to raise his GPA.</p>
<p>Also, his PSAT scores are low. However, the PSAT and SAT have many differences. I took the PSAT and got a 1820 when I was a junior. When I took the SAT as a junior and senior, I got a 2050. Just tell him to keep on practicing.</p>
<p>Make sure he gets involved in clubs and during the summer break, make him start his essay.</p>
<p>Economically it may be a stretch. It’s about 50k a year tuition, and financial aid is never as large as it needs to be. As the poster above me said, the scores could put him at a disadvantage as well. If he keeps working at it and trying his best, however, I’m sure it will shine through, and perhaps he could get some scholarships.</p>
<p>Thank you both for the info, especially the encouragement, which I will pass on to my nephew. He is very motivated by the fact that he did well (considering) on his PSAT. </p>
<p>Also, can you comment on the rigor there? I am worried that if I encourage him to reach for NYU and he does get in that he will be able to be successful there. Since it is his dream school, he can’t see anything but the dream of getting in, not the difficulty of keeping up with the work.</p>
<p>Just for reference, how is the financial aid? Is it need blind? My own son goes to a very expensive LAC in California but receives outstanding FA so our overall cost is minimal. Is it the housing that is so expensive at NYU? Is on campus housing available all four years?</p>
<p>Mom of a current NYU student here. You should consider financial aspect before encouraging your nephew to apply to a school like NYU. 2010-2011 tuition is $56k, it goes up every year. If he chooses the lowest meal plan and a cheapest triple, he may shave off a couple of thousands, but it won’t make much impact here.
His current stats won’t get him merit money if he gets admitted, but even top students that get the best scholarships, don’t receive full COA. NYU has need blind admissions, but DOES NOT guarantee full need.
Your nephew will be offered subsidized and unsubsidized student loans, federal work-study, may be even small university grant ($4-5K), and huge parent PLUS loans.
These require a parent to co-sign. With father in bankruptcy and mother making $40k/year, they will be hard pressed to find a lender. But even if they do, how will these be paid off? He is looking at $200K plus debt after 4 years of undergrad!
He should get his undergrad as cheaply as possible, if keeps doing well, may be he can come to NYC for grad school.</p>
<p>Hey! I took the SAT as a junior and also got 1820 (620 reading, 620 math, 580 writing, 9 essay). I see that you got an AWESOME score later on. Do you have any good tips to increase score by 200 points or so. I REALLY REALLY want to go to NYU so I think it around 2000 (or 1300 for R+M) would be essential. Please reply back. :-)</p>
<p>If money is an issue, sorry to say, RUN from NYU, their FA is considered to be one of the worst in the country. They do not meet need. They spend their money on the top 2-3% of the class and even that is not full need. Please research these threads on students who could not go because of the aid and whose stats were high and they don’t care if you are poor, they may even only offer you loans. I don’t want to burst your bubble but this is reality. I would encourage your nephew to work hard, look for a range of schools, reach, financial safeties and those offering good merit aid. He can apply to NYU, but do not put all your eggs in one basket.</p>