Hi!! I’m a current junior in HS and I’m trying to see what my chances are with my list. I’m dead set on living in New York or very close to in and my dream school is NYU. I’m open to advice on admissions or anything I could do to improve my chances. I am taking the ACT again, along with the SAT, this month and plan on super scoring. I’m also open to any school suggestions, thank you!
Demographics
US citizen
State/Location of residency: Nevada
Type of high school: Magnet
Other special factors: First-gen
Cost Constraints / Budget
Low Income (under $60,000 per year)
Intended Major(s)
Finance, maybe Economics or Accounting
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.83 Weighted HS GPA: *4.7
Class Rank: 26/354
ACT/SAT Scores:
ACT: 29 (26 M, 28 S, 33 R, 30 E, 8 W)
PSAT: 1320 (640 M, 680 R)
List your HS coursework
English: English 9 H, English 10 H, AP Lang, AP Lit (next year)
Math: Geometry H, Algebra II H, AP Precalc, AP Stats (next year)
Science: Biology H, Chemistry H, AP Physics I
History and social studies: AP Human Geo (5), APUSH, Dual Enrollment PoliSci and Financial Literacy (next year), We The People (next year)
Language other than English: French I, French II H, French III H (next year)
Other academic courses: Cybersecurity I, AP CSP (4), Teaching I, Teaching II, Dual Enrollment Teaching, AP African American Studies, Dual Enrollment Film, AP Micro (next year), Dual Enrollment Ethnic Studies (next year), Dual Enrollment Communications (next year)
Awards
2x College Board National Recognition
Extracurriculars
Meteorology Association - 2 Years, historian, raised $1800+, presented weather forecasts to be broadcasted weekly, spent 30+ hours working on and assisting in the creation of gardens
NHS - 2 Years, earned 80 volunteer hours, participated in 10+ community volunteer events and donation drives
FBLA - 1 Year (rejoining next year), competed at state level, September 2023 Member of the Month
Worked at Waterpark - Worked 240+ hours in food service
Nevada Girls State (going this summer)
We The People (participating senior year)
Schools
Columbia, NYU (ED), Babson (EA), Lehigh, American (EA), Fordham (EA), Baruch, Marymount Manhattan, Pace, UNR (ultimate safety)
I wouldn’t ED to Columbia. It and NYU given your majors are extremely unlikely. Lehigh and Babson would be ‘smarter’ ED choices but are not in NYC - and you need to check the NPCs.
Marymount Manhattan is going to be a part of Northeastern - so not sure how that impacts.
Admissibility wise - Pace and UNR are safe. Maybe add Hofstra, Manhattan, Wagner and Seton Hall. Look at the NPCs.
Fordham is a match.
Since you have Babson, Bentley would be a solid addition. It’s a match.
I would encourage you to take calculus next year instead of stats.
I would pick either the ACT or SAT, not both. A 1320 PSAT projects a 1410 SAT which is higher than an ACT of 29. Did you feel like you preferred the PSAT (SAT) over the ACT?
I concur that Columbia and NYU are high reaches. Here’s NYU’s NPC, let us know if the cost estimate is affordable. Net Price Calculator
Columbia and NYU are unlikely based on your ACT score.
If you ED, be sure that the ED school meets full need for need based financial aid.
If you decide that you want to major in accounting, then almost any properly accredited college or university will give you a shot at the Big 4 accounting firms with a strong college GPA.
Please oh please- no dream school. It’s great that you love NYU and NYC but it is hard to describe to someone who lives outside the region how eye-poppingly expensive living in NYC can be, even for someone who is a frugal champion. Maybe you’ll get enough aid (some kids do) and maybe you won’t. But preparing for a world where a small iced tea and a sandwich from a grimy corner deli costs $14 before tax is hard. Having 5 roommates crammed into a two bedroom apartment (with a temporary wall dividing the living room)…
You may be in love with the NYC on Friends and other TV shows, but economists regularly do analyses showing that Rachel and Monica’s apartment would require an income of $200K per year to afford, not to mention their designer wardrobes and daily coffees ($7 for a cup of coffee- really?)
You are a great student and there are loads of colleges which would love to have you. You can start your “dream” once you graduate from college and have an actual income. For now, you need to focus on affordability.
I get where you’re coming from. I was the same. I lived in Florida and was determined to get out and go to college in NYC. And I ended up at Fordham. My family was also low-ish income. I got a pretty significant merit scholarship from Fordham, along with need-based work study and student loans. I also worked off campus - at one point, I was working three jobs (work study on campus, a retail job in Manhattan in the evenings, and weekend job at the Botanical Gardens near campus). It was HARD. I managed, but being broke in NYC is no joke. I have no regrets about any of this, but I do want to caution you to go into this with your eyes WIDE OPEN. It won’t be easy, even if you get good financial aid.
Good for you! I have a kid who also really wanted to be in NYC, so we ended up researching a lot of options.
My advice:
get your test scores up. You are probably better at the SAT so focus on that.
If you are female, add Barnard to your list. It has all the resources of Columbia with marginally easier admit.
Definitely apply to Fordham, and put a lot of care into the application. They give a limited number of full-tuition scholarships to students with College Board National Recognition. It is still a long shot, but fingers crossed.
Consider National Student Exchange as a back up plan if you don’t get any affordable acceptances. NSE is an exchange program with ~200 participating schools, including some in NYC or close by including CUNY Queens, SUNY Stony Brook (on Long Island) and Montclair State (NJ suburb of NYC.) NSE allows you to exchange to any of the other participating schools paying no more in tuition than what you are paying at the home institution. I am not sure if UNR (regular campus) participates, but UN-LV and UNR-Tahoe do if either of those are possibilities. National Student Exchange - Campuses / Location
Consider a gap year with Americorp’s City Year. they pay you a stipend to volunteer in urban schools, help you find shared housing with other participants, and when you are done with the year give you a small scholarship you can apply to college. AmeriCorps - City Year
If all else fails, consider spending a summer working in NYC. As an example, my sibling wanted to go to NYC for college, but had to stay in-state due to finances. So she and some of her best friends sublet a college apartment for the summer and all crammed into it. Back home, she was already working at a Starbucks, and had her boss help her with a transfer to the Starbucks in Grand Central Station so she would have a paying job on Day 1. She did the opening shift which started super early, but which also ended early so she was able to enjoy New York. She pretty much subsisted off stale pastries from Starbucks to save money. The whole summer was a blast!
Anyway, best wishes. One way or another you will get there. Stay flexible!