New York University Top Questions

First, I would say that not all students are that integrated with each other. I think NYU is more conducive to bubbles of networks (like teams or clubs) than cross-interaction. I don't think students necessarily feel "out of place," but I also don't think students necessarily feel any sense of "belonging" or "community." There's too many people either way - you've got to relate to someone, but you're not going to relate to the majority. Most students are from the New York area, New Jersey, or California. We're more financially diverse than say, the Ivy League schools, but it's something that could be improved if we had a larger endowment. Politically, it is definitely predominantly left, which is logical, since people who choose to go to school in New York are probably also likely to be Democrats, but there are a fair amount of Republicans as well.

There are billions of LGBT groups, theatre and music groups, a few greek organizations, and very little else. A student who is very shy or conservative would feel out of place. Most students wear trendy east village hipster stuff to class. Most students are either from the Tri state area or California, with some exceptions. Most are upper middle class/upper class, again with exceptions. Students are politically aware. They are pretty much all liberal. Stern students are the only ones I hear talking about their future salaries.

I have found that students here tend to dress up for class more often than students did when I was in high school in CA. All different types of students interact, but sometimes there's a definite separation of races/religious groups. Most students are politically aware. Maybe business students talk about how much they'll earn one day....i really don't know or care.

Most students here are from New York, New Jersey, California and Massachusetts. There is diversity of all kinds here - ethnically, religiously, stylistically, etc. I've met just as many Conservatives as I have Liberals, just as many punk kids as I have preppy kids, and just as many who hope to make millions on Wall Street as I have who couldn't care less and would be perfectly complacent with living in a shack on the beach. If there seems to be a popular theme here among the student body, however, it is definitely that there are no shortage of students of identify with the LGBT community.

No one feels out of place at NYU. I mean, NO ONE. There is some sort of group or club or union for everyone. Literally. I have never seen a place where there is no outcasts because there are so many groups, there is no way a person could not find one that they didn't like. If they did, they could start a club of their own. And since frats and sororities aren't as popular as they are in other universities, there isn't pressure to go greek. Most students wear whatever, but generally, you can tell that the girls especially have a sort of "New York fashion flare" about them. The trends you see in magazines are the trends that a lot of the girls wear. Still, there are others that do their own thing. 4 tables of students: there would probably be the Stern table, and then three other tables with all kinds of people. Stern is kind of in its own world. Students are pretty politically active, and I would say the majority are either apathetic or left. Students speculate on what they will earn one day, but most students say that the Stern kids will earn the most, and the Tisch kids will be starving artists. It's not completely true, but we joke about that kind of stuff just because we know how intense the Sternies are.

Everyone at NYU is very open to everything. A heterosexual, homophobic white southern/midwestern male who lives for sports would feel out of place. Students wear just about anything, but mostly indie/artsy clothing. Different types of students rarely interact. The indie kids, the asian crowd, the brown crowd, and the unclassified students sit at the dining hall. NYU students are from the tri-state area and california. Most NYU students are uppermiddle class stuents. Students can be politically aware, but many are not. Most students are left. Students do not talk about earning, other than if they are in the Stern school

I've seen that being at NYU, or even in the city, makes people more comfortable with the idea of sexual and racial diversity, even if they weren't before. It's hard to generalize about the way people dress at NYU when there are so many different types of people. But on any given day, you'd definitely find lots of people in Gould Plaza in suits. Some fashionable people. Then there was the Uggs and jean skirt kick a while back. Never really fancied the fashion trends that flew through NYU. Most people have a good amount of money, considering that 4 years at NYU is about $200K. And NYU is cheap on handing out the financial aid and scholarships. So for the rest of us without money, well, it isn't pleasant. NYU's pretty liberal, although you'll find a right winger splashed into the mix here and there.

NYU definitely does have a diverse student body racially, religiously, and LGBT-wise, definitely less diverse socio-economically. Due to NYU's high tuition, many of the students I encountered were economically very well off. I was one of the few students I knew who was paying her own tuition, needed loans, paid my own rent, bought her own food, etc. There are few financially independent undergraduate students that I encountered. NYU is definitely a liberal school, and students are definitely politically active and aware. There are clubs, organizations and presentations that feature prominent political leaders; I actually met Bill Clinton while at NYU.

One thing I should have expected but didn’t was how much money most of my peers seem to have. I come from a relatively poor background, and while my parents were moving me into the dorms with my belongings in boxes we’d collected from the local grocer, my fellow students were moving in with designer bags. I’ve acclimated, but I still sometimes feel like I can’t relate to some of my peers because I have bills and am taking out so many student loans. I have friends here who have literally never worked in their lives, while I’m holding down three jobs this semester just to make ends meet.

The great thing about NYU is that it's so diverse that you can make up your own group and be accepted for it. However, there's always the mainstream trend that would be called "normal" I suppose. We never wear pajamas to class but usually tend to dress up more than other students at different colleges tend to. Generally, the NYU population is extremely liberal.