okay, a question about nyu.

cptofthehouse
Fri, 14 May 2010 10:20:24 +0000

Anyone who needs financial aid needs to have financial safeties on their list. NYU is NOT a financial safety. They make no claims at all to meeting 100% of need. However, they are need blind in admissions, so they often gap, big time. Which puts kids who don’t have the money in a quandry. They are accepted, but the aid package is inadequate.

However, for some students that NYU really wants, they are generous. I’ve known kids for whom NYU gave the best merit/aid package out of all of their choices. So if you like the school, don’t cross it off of your list. Just be very aware that it is very possible that you could be accepted and not get the aid you need to attend. By knowing this up front, you won’t be hit with that situation as a big surprise if this does indeed happen.

The surest safeties are those local state schools where you are pretty much guaranteed admissions and where federal and state funds could make it a very sweet financial deal. Maybe even free, with ancillary expenses covered as well. Lehman (a CUNY) offers students full scholarships including year abroad and computer and supplies. That is a great deal for those who absolutely need the money.
The schools that tend to guarantee to meet full need and be need blind as well, tend to be reaches in terms of getting accepted. But certainly have a couple of those on your list, as they just might pan out.

My friend who is PELL eligible had her daughter complete a number of different types of colleges in terms of need blind and meeting 100% of need, need aware but meeting 100% of need, as well as schools where she was in the very top % stat wise and was a highly desirable student so that merit awards were possible. She also included local schools where she could commute and most of her cost would be paid by PELL and subsidized Stafford loans. She also avoided schools that tended to be loan heavy in their packages.

Out of a dozen schools, other than her two financial safeties, only one offered a near full ride. The state flagship even gapped her. If she lived close enough to commute, it would have worked out but the room/board added to the tuition made it out of range. Her two safeties are local state colleges.

But she did hit the jackpot with one school that is offering her a doable package. It is a $50K+ costing private school that does not guarantee to meet full need, but she was a top applicant in the group and was offered a nice merit scholarship which paired with the PELL, some local money, loans and work study makes it doable. The loans are within reason and are almost all subsidized.

Yes, it did hurt that she was accepted to two top choices that did not offer sufficient scholarship or aid to go there. Just not worth the nearl $40K in loans she would have to take per year to make it work. And she was waitlisted at a couple of schools that are need aware, and it could well be that her need numbers put her on the waitlist rather than getting accepted as they tend to be less selective than those two schools that did accept her. Though both waitlist schools guarantee to meet most of regular acceptance kids’ needs, there is no such guarantee for waitlisted students.

That is what you have to do to ensure you get enough money and some choices.