Im a very “paranoid” and careful person so I can assure you my list has been carefully curated, it was really between USD and NYU, but NYU just keeps coming out on top for me. I’ve had a few conversations with a couple distant relatives who attended a few years ago so I’ve got a steady pros and cons list.
I stand corrected - thank you!
Is your father alive, and (if so), would his income and assets be significant enough to affect financial aid at NYU, Rice, Miami (FL), and USC, and would he cooperate with financial aid forms?
Check the net price calculator at each college’s web site to get an estimate for financial aid. If your father is alive, then include his income and assets in the net price calculator for NYU, Rice, Miami (FL), and USC.
My dad is alive and my parents aren’t divorced but they are separated, he doesn’t contribute any money to our household though and we have minimal contact, even then we’d only be pushing about 50k a year maybe 60 on a very good year.
USD is LaSallian. I’ve never seen a full scholarship to there, but maybe.
One thing you need to be aware of is that San Diego, New York, San Fransisco are all very expensive cities to live in. You may be in a dorm for a year, but when you have to do things in the cities like rent a room, buy things, travel in taxis or Ubers or whatever, it’s expensive. Even if you get a lot in scholarships, you’ll have to have extra money. You might be able to work, and salaries might be higher, but so will the costs to just live.
If you need a full scholarship, you might not be able to be picky. It won’t do you any good to get into NYU or USD or USF is you can’t afford them. A Questbridge school might be your best, most affordable, option.
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Run the Net price calculator on every college with your dad’s info in addition to your mom’s. (You have to do it one by one because each college calculates differently.)
Are they all affordable?
DC would be excellent for your chosen fields because it has tons of museums that are free (with exhibits changing regularly) that are incorporated into classes; in addition, at AU they’ve got a day dedicated to internships so you can apply what you’re learning in a professional context starting sophomore year (freshman year you’re still learning basics but you can easily have a job.)
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OP- do a deeper dive on the Questbridge schools! There are fantastic, academically challenging and supportive schools in the program which will provide you with a top-notch education without leaving you drowning in debt.
I want to emphasize supportive. NYU is a great school. New York is a great city. NOBODY who knows NYU would describe anything about it as supportive… you need to self advocate, manage, be upfront about what you need, and then do it all over again. One of my nieces- I think of her as assertive, others might call her pushy- found everything about the NYU administration (housing, meal plan, registration, exam scheduling when there was a conflict, AP credits, getting copies of her transcript for grad school, getting a mistaken charge to her student account reversed) to be exhausting in the extreme. And this is someone raised in NY who knows how to use her voice to ask “If you can’t make this happen, may I have the phone number of your supervisor?”
In addition to the financial aspects of Questbridge, you’d be signing on to colleges which understand that some students are going to need a little more non-academic support. You need to stay on campus for a few days during a school vacation because you’ve waited to get a cheaper flight home? At some colleges- not a big deal. At huge urban schools like NYU- it can be a big deal. When a dorm closes- it’s closed. When university food service is suspended for a break- you’re eating meals out, in a city where a grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of coffee at a scuzzy diner can cost $15.
It’s great you are targeting NYU. But you should take another look at Questbridge before it’s too late. We can help you figure out which ones are realistic for you… everyone on here has experience with some of the schools in the program.
You sound fantastic. And don’t sell yourself short. Having family responsibilities is a big and mature EC!
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Linking to Questbridge for OP: National College Match | QuestBridge
The deadline is 9/26 so time is short and the app is onerous. The various essays and short answer questions are in this helpful article: How to Write the QuestBridge Essay + Examples 2024
Before applying to QB, OP should run several of the schools’ NPCs with dad’s financial info to gauge affordability.
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Should be “every college that requires both parents’ financial information” (as indicated on its financial aid application web page). This includes NYU, Rice, Miami (FL), and USC.
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Unfortunately his data should be on your FA forms and he will need to sign FAFSA. There is no way around it.
I believe both parents must complete the CSS Profile for schools that require it (notable exceptions are Vandy and UChic), but only the parent providing the most financial support completes the FAFSA.
Perhaps you meant CSS, not FAFSA. 
But they are separated and not legally divorced. Who provide what is not possible to prove.
I am not an expert on this but it maybe very grey area on FAFSA. People can separate and join back. Anyone can claim anything in terms of who pays for what.
I doubt that dad’s earnings can be just totally ignored.
It may also depend on how they are filing taxes.
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Oh, I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out. I thought divorced. Here is what FAFSA says. Thanks for giving me an excuse to look it up as I didn’t know, especially with the new FAFSA rules.
“If your parents are divorced, separated, or never married, and don’t live together, the parent who provided more financial support during the last 12 months is the contributor.”
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What about CSS? OP wants to apply to NYU. I do not believe NYU is a FAFSA school.
CSS requires both, unless they can get a waiver, which isn’t easy.
Colleges using CSS Profile choose whether or not to use the CSS Noncustodial Profile.
https://profile.collegeboard.org/profile/ppi/participatingInstitutions.aspx indicates that NYU, Rice, Miami (FL), and USC require the CSS Noncustodial Profile (second to last column), but not all colleges do.
Getting a waiver depends on the individual college (each college may make its own decision), but should be treated as a “reach”.
Yes. There are some that don’t require the non custodial parent financials, as I noted upthread. 
The majority are less selective schools, but Vandy and UChic are also notably in this group.
Of course, students should always verify with the schools as policies may change from year to year.
I am very sympathetic to your desire to be in New York (or at least another big city) because this is exactly how my S22 felt. NYU was initially at the top of his list, but it ended up being extremely expensive. New York is just so very expensive that unless a school gives you a true full ride (tuition, room, board, books, fees, transportation etc) the costs really add up. This is why I am glad that you have created a good list that includes schools other than NYU.
I do agree with the posters who think you should look into Questbridge one more time. Both Columbia and Barnard (if you are female) are great substitutions for NYU, and if you got in, they would be true full rides. Vassar is not in NYC, but it is a train ride away, so you could do day trips to enjoy the city. Macalester is in Minneapolis/St. Paul, which is a really fun big city, and it is very strong in your areas of interest. Haverford is a quick train ride into Philly (a very cool city) etc.
I would also consider applying to Questbridge because even just being a Questbridge finalist carries prestige! Like I said, my son initially had NYU at the top of his list, but he ended up at Fordham instead. Fordham is a Jesuit school (like University of San Fransisco) and it has been a good substitution. He is at the LIncoln Center campus which is a city campus right in Manhattan, a lot like NYU (it also has a more traditional campus in the Bronx.) Anyway, his roommate last year was a Questbridge finalist, and although Fordham isn’t officially part of Questbridge, it sometimes grants full rides to students who are Questbridge finalists like my son’s roommate.
One other thought: if you do happen to end up at Northern Arizona University for financial reasons, remember that it belongs to National Student Exchange. NSE allows up to 2 semesters of exchange at any of the other ~200 participating schools, paying no more tuition than you are paying already at your home institution. Some fun schools participate, including some which are in or super close to NYC (CUNY Queens, Montclair, Stony Brook.)
1 final final thought is about the possibility of spending a summer or multiple summers in a big city. My sister’s dream was to be in NYC, but for financial reasons she had to attend our state flagship on a full scholarship. So she got a part time job as a barista at Starbucks. Her boss helped her do a temporary transfer to a Starbucks in Manhattan for the summer. She and some of her best friends sublet some student housing for the summer. She worked opening shift so she could be done each day by lunch and enjoy the city. They all had an awesome time.
May all your dreams come true! (even if that means being a little creative to make it happen)
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Oh, and here’s National Student Exchange:
https://nse.org/exchange/colleges-universities/alpha-location/
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A couple of additional schools to consider:
University of Redlands
- in Redlands, CA (San Bernardino county). https://www.redlands.edu/
- a few months ago, the “Your College Bound Kid” podcast did a segment all about this school.
- uses FAFSA for financial aid, not CSS profile
- net price calculator is at Net Price Calculator | University of Redlands.
- if you’re a 1st gen student, you should take a look at CDI First Generation Student Programs | University of Redlands.
- with your stats, you’ll qualify for some excellent auto-merit scholarship money, which would be in addition to stuff like Pell grants.
Centre College:
- www.centre.edu
- small LAC in Danville, KY. Has a LOT of great scholarships for diverse students.
- based on your GPA, you might qualify for the Faculty Scholarship, which would provide $30,000 discount/year on tuition.
- they also have a couple of competitive scholarships which you should seriously consider apply for: Grissom Scholars Program (pays for full tuition, fees, room & board, must apply by 1/15); and the Lincoln Scholars Program (full tuition, fees, room & board, must apply by 12/1.
- they also have a Bonner Program scholarship, which awards $30,000/yr
- PLUS, there’s a “New Horizons Program” focusing on diversity, equity, & inclusion, which awards $30,000/yr. You’d be a great fit for this.
- we toured there this past spring and our tour guide talked about how he was able to do 2 semesters away: 1 in NYC, 1 in Washington, DC. Plus there’s a 3-week term in January which often has opportunities for travel to different places (NYC has often been on the list).
- lack of test scores there is not a big deal.
- small city’s downtown area is very walkable from campus.
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