Negotiating NYU? Is there any point? Forum

[lzack]

NYU has been my dream school from Day 1, although I applied widely (15 schools) because I wanted to explore every option. As a debt-averse future PI lawyer, I knew I'd need significant scholarship money to attend any school.

I have a full ride scholarship (value ~164k) at UVA, which has moved up to become my top choice. It is certainly not where I saw myself going to law school, but the value is undeniable and I think it will get me where I want to be, career-wise. I have some other good options on the list, including admission at Harvard, admission at Columbia, $90k at University of Chicago, $90k at Duke, $150k at Cornell, etc.

I called NYU on April 1 because I had not heard anything on scholarship money. The next day (today, April 2), I received my offer... a mere $30k over the three years. Unfortunately there is no way that NYU with $30k in aid is a viable choice for me, especially with a full-ride offer at U Virginia.

My question is, should I bother negotiating NYU? I would go running straight to NYU in a heartbeat if I could get full tuition or anything reasonably close (I think I would consider anything over half), but I doubt schools ever increase an initial offer of $30k by that much. Is there any point to asking? And if so, which would be a more persuasive counter -- a Harvard admission or a UVA full-ride?