@YoungOne4
First, congratulations to your S…and you too (it’s a stressful and long process on us parents too)! Don’t be hard on yourself for letting him apply as you just have no idea what the financial aid will be unless you try. We let our D apply to several schools (not NYU) knowing the outcome and FA were anyone’s guess. We were not able to use the NPC’s and it really wasn’t a ‘known’ for us going in, could have gone either way.
We got very lucky, and I say “lucky” because even though we feel the merit and or FA was earned where she got it, it wasn’t a certain outcome and we wouldn’t know until the results came back.
Our D didn’t get aid in some places we thought were a good bet and hit the jackpot in places we thought were going to be difficult to afford so you never know until you try. I have heard that NYU is notorious in the FA department for the “are you out of your mind” ‘awards’. I hope he falls in love with his other choices and knows that this year was just a mess in both the admissions and FA departments. Good Luck to you both