Hi!! I was accepted yesterday to NYU (my dream school) and I got this email today. Does this mean I just wasn’t eligible for academic merit or that this calculates that I won’t be getting any aid at all and would be paying sticker price
It looks like NYU won’t be giving you any institutional aid (merit or need based). If you filed FAFSA you will qualify for a $5.5k federal student loan and possibly more depending on your SAI (but unlikely if NYU isn’t giving you any need based aid.)
Did you run NYU’s net price calculated before applying? If so did that show you would receive FA from NYU?
Contact NYU financial aid and ask.
Congratulations on your NYU acceptance!
You can certainly contact them directly to discuss this letter and what it means for you.
Here is some additional info to provide more context:
NYU has a threshold requirement that first year students demonstrate financial need in order to qualify for merit scholarships. In that way, merit aid and financial aid are tied together as a package deal. Since NYU commits to meeting “100% of demonstrated financial need” it uses merit awards to offset financial aid.
There are no separate merit awards for first year students who do not qualify for financial aid. But, students can and do appeal based on arguments that NYU did not meet their demonstrated financial need.
[ETA - there are the rare exceptions that may not require demonstrated need. For instance, merit scholarships that consist of “perks” such as trips, a summer credit stipend, etc. & merit scholarships funded from outside sources but administered by NYU]