NYU/Columbia/USC - Paying For It

[Allen Ho]

What do you guys know about paying for any of these film programs? I've heard rumors about NYU being really stingy with their financial aid as well as various 100k+ loan horror stories.

What kind of help do they provide for low income (below 30k a year) families?

I've also heard that if you can't pay for it, then there's a lower chance of them accepting you, is this true?

My biggest fear is that I will be accepted to these schools but I will have no way of paying for them.

If you guys know anything, incoming students or people who enrolled last year, please share your thoughts!

 

[Allen Ho]

The thing is, a lot of scholarship deadlines happen before notification dates...so I am just trying to plan ahead and making sure I am going to be making the right choices.

 

[duders]

I truly believe that financial background plays no role in admitting people. The school knows they will get their money, whether it be from you taking out loans, or your wealthy family.

In general at NYU, they give out 3 full scholarships for incoming students. Then most people get somewhere between $5k to $15k in financial aid (if they requeste it). All of these scholarships are renewed each year, unless you do something really stupid and piss everyone off.

Things get easier in your final year, when some people get GAships and get full tuition + stipend. Then about half the class gets full scholarships.

Personally, I don't think that money can be a deciding factor when going to one of these schools. If this is what you really want to do, and you really want to go to grad school, sometimes you just have to believe in yourself, pony-up and pay whatever it costs. I definitely was one of those people taking out loans, but whatever...that's what it costs.

 

[Allen Ho]

Thanks for the insight duders.

Who gets the three full scholarships? Are they based on merit and need?

Yeah I am probably going to be taking out loans and try to alleviate some of it with outside scholarships.

 

[Jayimess]

Allen,

Duders is right...money can't be the most important issue.

I turned down significant scholarships at another school in order to pay full price at USC.

Because I wanted to go to USC.

I define poverty, orphan, ward of the court, fresh out of college with no job when I applied, and they still took me.

USC offers significant assistance after the first year; a small amount after the first semester.

Outside scholarships are hard for incoming students, as you have no idea where you're going to school until well into spring...but go for whatever you qualify for.

 

[Ryan C.]

Jayimess,

Howdy!

Tell me more about the assistance USC offers after the first year. How many students are offered assitance. Do you have any feelings on what that asssitance is based on?

I have applied for the MFA Production program for the Fall.

Ryan

 

[Jayimess]

There are tons of scholarships...hundreds of them.

And department assistantships, which offer anywhere from two to six credits per semester.

The DA ships are based on need, work ethic, etc, the scholarships are merit based.