Aidan Rogers at NYU

Humans of NYU - Aidan Rogers

A Student From the Bronx with Big Dreams

I didn’t think I was going to get into NYU. All I knew while applying to the school was that the school was big in the arts and that my favorite artist ever, Lady Gaga, attended the school. I figured I didn’t have the qualifications to get accepted nor the money to pay for the school’s application fee anyway. However, I eventually decided to spend all the money I was given on Christmas to pay to submit my application and test my odds at getting into the school.

To my surprise, I got in. However, the thought of paying $50,000+ a year for tuition gave me heart palpitations. Weeks after the announcement, I had already dropped the prospect of attending NYU.

While I was sitting on a tour bus for another college with my mom, she asked me if I knew how much financial aid I had received from NYU. “I don’t know,” I shrugged, having been told by many in the past that NYU was ‘notorious for not giving good financial aid. I decided to just check anyway, and there it was: $54,000, all 4 years. NYU gave me a scholarship, and it was a free ride.

I want this to be a message for dedicated and talented students who also come from low-income neighborhoods in the Bronx or other boroughs. Your talent and dedication can push boundaries that were set in place for you. Your unwavering desire to be something bigger and better can challenge a system that tries to keep people like us from moving up in our careers and education in this country.

I couldn’t be more excited to be starting my journey at NYU in the fall. I made it!

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