Paying for a big city experience

So awhile ago, I said I’d let everyone know how I was planning on paying for my time at NYU this summer. Of course, that involves a lot of work so I delayed the task for as long as possible. Unfortunately, now that I’m spending my Sunday working an eight-hour supervisor shift at the university library (I’ve worked here for four years, which allows me to supervise as an undergrad), I have the time to tell you. Be excited.

Like I mentioned (or may not have mentioned…I can’t remember) before, I was recently accepted to New York University’s Summer Publishing Institute, where I’ll be getting a six-week crash course in the book and magazine publishing world. I’ll be living in a NYU dorm in Greenwich Village and then taking classes downtown in the Woolworth Building (located right next door to Ground Zero). I’ve been planning on attending the institute (if I got in) for more than a year now, so when I received my acceptance e-mail, there was no question as to my response. I admit, I did have one moment of pause when I considered how much it was really going to cost, but I survived that and am now happily enrolled.

Let’s get down to the basics. Tuition for the program costs $4,900. To live in a NYU residence hall costs $275 a week, or $1,100 a month (good by NYC standards!) I could have paid for a meal plan, but opted not to considering that I will be spending the majority of my time away from NYU’s campus (and therefore NYU dining halls), it was expensive and even the program itself recommends against it.

To confirm my place in the program (you had to respond within two weeks of receiving your acceptance letter, or else risk losing your spot), I had to send in a $500 deposit that will go toward my tuition, as well as payment for the first three weeks of housing ($825). The remaining housing payment is due by June 1, and I’m not sure exactly when the rest of tuition is due, but I assume it’s around that time.

Here’s my plan to pay for it all:
-My parents have agreed to pay for my housing. I initially had to write the check for $825 (which about gave me a heart attack, seeing my checking account drop that fast), but my mother recently paid me back. I didn’t record that expense in here because, well, it wasn’t really an expense at all.
-I have around $3,000 in my savings account and I plan on withdrawing $2,000 of that to go toward tuition.
-I expect that my grandparents will give me $1,000 for a graduation present (since that is the amount they gave my cousin), and that money will also go toward tuition.
-I have entered a competition in Miami’s English Dept., with monetary awards given out for big winners. They may have decreased the payout because of university budget problems, but originally first prize was $5,000, second place $3,000, etc. IF I win one of these awards, the entirety of it will be used to pay for the program.
-If I don’t win an award (which is more than likely), I have plans to save at least $1,000 in my checking account by the end of the school year, which will go toward the program as well.

That totals $4,000 on my dime. Now, we’ve already paid $500 on tuition, so all that’s remaining is $400. My parents said they would pick that up as well.

Now while I’m there, I’m going to have to pay for food (the dorms have kitchens, but I’ll have to supply the basic ingredients) and a Metrocard to get around. There’s also the inevitable cost of living, which is obscenely high in NYC. I understand that I will have little capital upon returning home, but I will have at least a part-time job/internship at Dayton Daily News awaiting me, which does pay (minimum wage). I’ll be spending the rest of the summer looking for full-time jobs, in the hopes of making up the money. However, the experience will definitely be worth it and I have high hopes that graduation from the program will help me land a (better) job quicker than if I had never gone. It will definitely provide me with that leg-up that’s so desperately needed in this job market, plus there’s no replacing six weeks in the city.

To offset this, I do have some good financial news. My checking account received a flush of cash recently, with my mother paying me back that $825 as well as bringing me my state income return check ($114). Also, when I originally did my taxes, I thought I owed Uncle Sam $274. I wrote the check, glumly, but thought that was the end of that. Then, my mom tells me that we did my taxes wrong and that instead of owing the government, I was getting a return of nearly $400! That means in the upcoming months I will be paid back the $274 I originally sent the IRS, and then returned $400 more! How exciting! Add that on top of the fact that during this pay period, I will work 30 hours for the first time since leaving my old job at the student newspaper, and it’s been a good few weeks. Well, let’s just say it’s been a financial rollercoaster but at least I’m now on an upswing.