New York University Top Questions

I leave my door unlocked most of the day but I deadbolt it at night. Athletic events are not popular at all. Theater is really popular-- esp. among the Tisch students. I met my closest friends in my acting studio and in my residence hall. If I'm awake at 2am on a Tues. I am definitely doing homework. A good amount of students party/drink 1-3 days out of the week. Fraternaties and sororities are not that important in the NYU community. You can do a MILLION things in the city that don't involve drinking...jazz clubs, restaurants, movies, theaters. It's not hard to not drink but it's REALLY hard to do anything without spending money.

NYU isn't known for its athletics, but both men's and women's basketball games are relatively popular on a Friday night here and there, before people go out to a club, bar, or anywhere else. Of course being in New York City there is always something to do, whether it is going to comedy clubs, dance clubs, jazz clubs, plays, bars, restaurants, museums, sporting events, movies, and just about anything and everything to fit someone's personality. NYU students receive discounts to a variety of shows and events throughout the city, and if you're really short on money there's always chilling in people's common rooms. There is a small Greek scene, but what they're mainly good for is bar parties, which you can go to even if you're not a member of a fraternity or sorority. Fraternities are also where one might find the straight boys who seem to be missing.

I'm involved with Speech and Debate, and even though it is one of the smaller groups on campus, we always do really well at tournaments. Students do leave their doors open, but we still knock before we come in, just to be polite. Theater is most popular because broadway is so close, and people have friends that are in shows. Athletic events get good support, too. We always have great guest speakers and many students enjoy seeing them as well. As for the dating scene--some girls feel as if they get slim pickings, just because all of the "good" single guys are either taken or gay. But eventually, people find someone, because we not only have 40,000 students but we do stuff with other schools so its easy to meet people if you take the time to be friendly. I meet my friends in a variety of ways: sometimes through my other friends, sometimes in classes or at events. It all depends. My roommates and I are all pretty close and we do stuff together. For some people, every day is a party with the occasional break to go to class for midterms. For others, every day is a neverending class with the occasional break for food and showering. Most of us like to balance work and play. When big tests come up, we are confined to our rooms and studying hard, but we like to reward ourselves for a job well done. Last weekend, I went to a dance competition featuring one of the guys on my floor. Then, I came back and watched Gone Baby Gone. Weekend before that I went to Yaffa Cafe on St. Marks and 1st Ave, and the next day I went to a Speech and Debate tournament on Long Island. Saturday nights offer a lot of non-alcoholic options. There's theater, movies, and dancing if you have money, and ice skating, uptown window browsing and the Tea Spot for bubble tea and relaxing music if you have only a little bit of money. If you are completely broke, there is always someone with a nice TV, DVD's, and food. My friends and I like to go to Times Square when our other friends come into town, and listen to music at the Virgin Mobile store. Or we take the Staten Island Ferry, which is free, and chill around the South Street Seaport. Off campus is the best for getting non-dining hall food, and it isn't always expensive. Of course, technically, we don't really have a campus, so even the pizza place on Macdougal is considered off campus.

Again, I didn't really do a lot of NYUish stuff. The greek life likes to think that they're popular, but they suck big huevos. The PIKE frat is pretty lame - most are in stern and think they are pretty. Same with AphiZ. The twits. The STDS just run rampant between those two. Athletics, don't even get me started. NYU's mascot is based on the Bobst LIBRARY system, and before that, it was a flower. A big purple flower. There isn't even a football team, how unamerican are we. I think the fencing team is good. I have a friend on the fencing team. Cracks me up every time I picture him in a fencing outfit with a skinny little sword. That's about all I can say on that. I met some of my closest friends through living with them or through other friends. A lot of my best friends attend(ed) New School, mostly writers/music people. Don't ask me what I was doing in Stern. Haha I have to say, those semi-formals were always amusing. the violet ball and the stern semi-formal brings flashbacks of high school proms. Hmm...people party extremely often. too many different kinds of places to party. the beginning of freshman year, it was a lot of macdougal street. then came lotus, cain, the meatpacking district and 29th st. east village/les has taken over. you can do lots of things on a saturday night that doesn't involve drinking, but i'd probably have a glass of scotch anyway.

There is a club for everything at NYU. I did community-service based work, but I also met people by going to the gym, through my freshman year residence hall experience, and in class. My sister was part of the swim team, and she is very involved in the athletics area of NYU's social life. While most NYU students are not in attendance at sporting events, the athletes tend to go these matches to support one another. NYU also has festivals throughout the year that promote a great deal of mingling, socializing, networking, etc.

I am really involved with community service organizations on campus, especially Circle K. I am also an Admissions Ambassador, and a member of the NAACP. NYU kids will pretty much only go to athletic events when there is free food or shirts. No one leaves their doors open. No one. Last weekend: I hosted a danceathon for my club to raise money for UNICEF at a local dance studio on Friday night (we made $200!). On Saturday I got a late breakfast and then went to a hip-hop class. Then I went up to Manhattan College in the Bronx to see my boyfriend. Then I babysat for a few hours. On Sunday, I spent my entire day in the library doing homework. Then I went back to my room and cleaned it a lot haha. Pretty thrilling.

Most popular clubs are probably career-focused. I belonged to the Ski/Snowboard club, which runs some pretty cool subsidized trips. The Washington Square News runs a pretty tight ship and the staff is pretty friendly and fun to work with. As far as athletics...i think we are awesome at fencing? Frat life is lame at NYU. As are the majority of people in them. They are organized groups that you can roll with wherever you want to give you a false sense of family. Who needs 25 more brothers or sisters? Their called friends, people. Get them on your own. The dating scene....ah. Evolves drastically from freshman to senior year. What starts as sneaking into each others dorms to drink cheap wine and forties eventually empties your already shallow pockets as you scrounge for quarters between the couch cushions to bankroll a $30 bar tab. But man, the ratio is TOTALLY in our (guys) favor. I'd put it at 55{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}/45? girls to guys, with 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of guys being gay, automatically shifting the scales to 65{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}/35{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. 2 to 1? I'll take it. Saturday nights without drinking? We're in New York City. Endless opportunities to keep busy. Depending on the weather, the park scene is rockin from the east to the west side. Museums, from the MoMa to the Whitney to Madame Tussaud's, are always a good call. Plus, NYU's discount helps quite a bit. There are poetry clubs and comedy shows, sports games and street performances...like i said, endless possibilities...but some don't come cheap.

The most popular clubs and organizations at NYU were ones related to rights and volunteering, such as Red Cross or LGBT. I was involved in a volunteer group, NYU's Presidents C-Team. Students involved would volunteer at schools, medical centers, or parks. A lot of people would be in clubs that were related to their major, such as being in a future doctors organization or a business fraternity. Out of all the sports teams at NYU, the basketball team had the biggest turn out at the games. I been to several basketball, volleyball, and one lacrosse game. barely anyone showed up at the lacrosse and volleyball game. The stands would be filled at basketball games, especially during the "Tear it Up" home games. However, it still was not a big percentage of NYU students in attendance. I lived in Weinstein freshman year and everyone on my floor became very close. We left our doors unlocked and we would just hang out in the hallways. It was great especially for freshman year. However, I have some friends that were in other dorms and it was not as social. I met my closest friends through friends and in class. In the middle of the night on a Tuesday, I would probably be out somewhere getting late night snack or starting a paper that was due in the morning. Fraternities and sororities don't lay a huge role in the college life at NYU. There is just so much other things to do. There are a lot of parties going on at NYU but with the city available to us, it was really easy to find something to do on the weekends. Most people like going to bars around campus (west village) or clubs (midtown.) Williamsburg is also a popular destination with upper classmen. I'd say that the NYU social scene revolves around drinking. If I wasn't drinking on a Saturday, then I was probably watching a movie with friends in the dorms or going to the theater. The Violet ball is held every year, so is Senior formal and the school formals. But other than that there aren't a lot of school planned events. Students are very much on their own. The dating scene is non-existent. Some people find a relationship, but a lot of undergraduates at NYU were just looking to have some fun.

You can do anything. Even if it is not something affiliated with the school, there is always the city to fall back on. I've taken ballet classes, photography classes, sat on student council, played intramural sports, worked three different work-study positions and volunteered for the NYC branch of the ASPCA. For fun I go out to bars, restaurants and night clubs with my friends or go to see movies, the ballet, Broadway musicals, stand-up, sporting events, concerts, and more. The possibilities are endless. NYU is very generous with the budgets for student run organizations. It also has the best Global Education and Study Abroad program in the world, with over 8 satellite campuses around the globe and more in the works.

Summary of sports at NYU... Put it this way, no one knows the fight songs because we don't share a common cause to fight for. We can't even make up our minds about what our mascot is - a bobcat or a fighting violet (although the right choice is obvious).