US citizen in Italy aiming for NYU, Fordham, and USC [8.2/10 GPA, <$30k]

Chance Me / Match Me
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Demographics

  • US citizen living abroad (Italy), double citizenship
  • White, female
  • Public high school

Cost Constraints / Budget

  • Low(ish) income

Intended majors: business (marketing) or communication and media

GPA

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 3.2/4 (8.2/10)
    In Italy, grades go from 0 to 10 but professors rarely give lower than 2 and higher than 9.
  • Weighted HS GPA: N/A

HS coursework

  • My school does not offer AP courses, honors, etc.

Awards

none

Extracurriculars

  • Class President - Student Govt./Politics
    Served as class president, honing my leadership skills and encouraging teamwork to address student needs and initiatives.
  • Blog - Journalism/Publication
    Author of an article published in the school newspaper and created a blog with over 10,000 words, bettering my writing abilities.
  • Volunteer counselor at local church summer camp - Community Service
    Coordinated children’s activities at a church summer camp, dedicating 160 hours to creating a positive environment and improving leadership skills.
  • Peer tutor - Academic
    Served as a peer tutor for freshmen, helping them adjust to high school, organizing activities, and guiding class representative elections.
    Beach Summer Camp Counselor - Community Service
    Volunteered 60 hours for the last 4 years, at a summer camp, keeping preschoolers safe at the beach, and managing and overseeing activities.
  • Peer tutor - Academic
    Tutored a freshman student weekly for 4 months, improving their English level while developing mentorship and communication skills.

Essays/LORs/Other
I’m still in my second to last year of high school (high school is five years in Italy), so I’m still working on essays, which will mainly focus on my experience of growing up in two countries and how that makes me an individual. I am planning to ask my professors, towards the end of the year, for the LORs. I have no school counselor so I will ask two of the professors who have been with me since freshman year.

Schools

  • NYU: Applying ED since it is my dream school. I am aware that it is very selective but I am determined to try and apply.
  • Fordham College: Applying RD
  • Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT): Applying RD
  • University of Southern California: Applying RD. Again, I am aware that it’s extremely selective
    FYI, these colleges are my reach schools whereas universities in Europe/Italy are going to be my target and safety schools.

Thank you in advance for the help!

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I’m not sure your GPA conversion is correct ? The percentages do not map across exactly. @MYOS1634 am I remembering correctly that you have insight here?

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Thanks for letting me know! I am not sure because I came across various websites and they all said different things.

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Btw, you can apply (non binding) early action to Fordham. My daughter submitted her fordham app at the same time she did her ED to NYU. You would get a decision sooner if you did that.

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I was considering it but wasn’t 100% sure mainly because of the early deadline.

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What is your family’s budget for your college education? Seems that should be the primary factor to consider in preparing an application list.

Also – be sure your “safety” schools will be affordable.

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Low-ish income.

Before applying ED to NYU, run their net price calculator.

Is your family ok paying this amount - it could be $400K over four years. You have the same issue with others.

Why FIT? If I were applying to FIT, I’m not sure the other schools would fit. What specifically are you seeking to do?

Welcome | Net Price Calculator

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NYU now meets need. (With the usual caveat that it is their calculation of need).

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Meeting full need (according to school’s determination) does not always include things like transportation, health insurance, spending money, etc. so still important to look at costs.

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Their definition is total COA, which for nyu includes transportation (though the estimate they give for the latter clearly wouldn’t cover international airfares). Still a long way away from $400k.
Of course, since they started meeting need they’ve had to reduce the student intake so it’s even harder to get into than it used to be.

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Tuition room and board are $87.5k this year. Maybe not $400k full cost but creeping near. Throw in books and other things…you’re even closer.

Now add 3-5% annual hikes including next year.

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Just checked in with my parents about the budget and they set around 30k. I do know both Fordham and NYU are quite helpful when it comes to financial aid, so I was counting on that.

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I was quite interested in the advertising/marketing major offered by FIT, mainly because it’s more creative and adds elements of fashion to the course. That’s why for USC, my major was going to be marketing, and my minor was fashion.

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Have you checked each college’s net price calculator?

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Has your family run the NPC?

Generosity at NYU will come from need - same with USC.

Fordham has merit but that seems an aggressive #.

Have them run the net price calculators - if NYU or USC don’t come in at budget, find others that will.

I linked the NYU one above.

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Yes but that’s before need is met.

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I understand. The directive was to OP to have their family fill out the NPC to see if their $30k budget will be met. Same with USC.

They are asking for a $60k+ haircut.

What matters is what the formulas determine - if it shows it will hit - then great. don’t forget the schools will know the true #s as they will see the tax returns.

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Have you done enough research into NYU to decide which school you’d be applying to? Stern houses marketing while Steinhardt has communications. The cultures at each of these is quite different, as is the acceptance rate.

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An 8 is an A so 8.2 is a 4.0.
You will also need to estimate your rank on Maturita, like top 10% in the country, top 5%< top 2%…
What type of liceo are you attending?

What’s your SAI?

Run the NPC on NYU. Is it within budget?
(You don’t get FA based on what your parents feel they can pay, but based on what NYU estimated as per NPC.)

Can you run the NPC on

https://studentaid.gov/aid-estimator/estimate/student-information

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Is the conversion right? 4.0 seems high.
I’m currently attending a linguistico.
I’m not sure what my SAI is, I would have to ask my parents.