For many, it’s a combination of effective NYU marketing from the '90s onward and the increasing popularity of attending college in NYC in a “cool” area populated with bars/nightclubs, artistic/cultural/musical venues, fashionable brand and “vintage” clothing stores, restaurants, etc within close walking/public transportation distance.
In fact, for applicants/students who find this appealing…the area NYU is located in has far greater appeal in this area than other NYC area colleges like Columbia as it is right in one of the centers of NYC artistic/musical/fashion/nightlife. Incidentally, this appeal is far stronger for folks from outside NYC/urban areas than for those of us who grew up and lived in NYC.
The effective marketing factor is especially apparent to yours truly considering NYU was still transitioning to what it was now from being more of a commuter school for locals from NYC and nearby suburban areas in the early-mid-'90s when I was attending HS/applying to colleges.
Incidentally, NYU didn’t hold much appeal to most HS classmates not only because it was “too local”, but also because it was already exorbitantly expensive and wasn’t regarded very highly in the academic rep department with the notable exceptions of NYU-Stern or Tisch. The fact NYU CAS alone admitted over 1/3 of my graduating class…mostly those whose approximate academic rank fell somewhere between the lower-middle and bottom meant it didn’t usually attract topflight students.
A reason why NYU extended a limited number of full-tuition merit scholarships for students with elite/Ivy level stats and even then, most of those topflight students would opt for the elite/Ivy option as they’d be eligible for full FA…and won’t have the psychological pressure from the risk of losing the scholarship for failing to maintain a 3.5 cumulative minimum GPA at any point in their academic career.
Disclosure: I grew up around a half mile from the NYU campus and frequently passed in/around the campus during my childhood and teen years.
Similar to application fees for undergrad apps, depending on the PhD program and the student’s financial situation, many have waived application fees upon request on a case-by-case basis.
Several college and HS classmates have benefited from this when applying for undergrad and funded PhD programs. One can also receive waivers for application fees to law schools, including elite ones on the same basis. Same with med schools as several HS classmates had med school application fees waived for them as well. Grad/professional schools are more strict about granting them than undergrad, though.
The factors above is probably why the applicant concerned was taken aback by the answer, especially considering the answer from NYU admins plays right into perceptions that NYU has effectively become an exclusive rich kid’s school.
The anger among some local New Yorkers including older NYU alums(graduated in the mid-'80s and before) who recalled a time when NYU was better about living up to its motto of being “A Private University In The Public Service”…especially to its students.
