New York University Top Questions

I like the school size. It's all over the place in the east and west village. I wouldn't call it a college town for sure....the campus is the city, though the concentration around Wash Square Park gives you a false sense of community. In terms of school pride, I never really noticed much of any until I went to a guys basketball game. Not sure if they were screaming because they even know what the rules of the game were and who was winning, or if they were drunk and just passing the time.

Most people think NYU is a great school, and an expensive one when it is mentioned. I spent most of my time in the dining hall or in the park if I was on campus. It looks like a college town during the 4 minutes between classes, when all the students are on the streets around Washington Square Park trying to get to lunch or their next class. But it is definitely a "college town" in the city. You dont just see professors and student around. There are residents, children, and a lot of squirrels around. NYU administration sucks. They are unorganized, slow, and not very helpful. The best thing about NYU is definitely its location in the heart of NYC. I didn't mind going to a very large school such as NYU but some people will find it overwhelming. NYC is pretty much the most wonderful town to be in if you are in your late teens and early twenties. You learn a lot of independence and you get to experience the diverse cultures that inhabit NYC. You also get to meet so many different types of people with different ideas, accents, backgrounds. You grow up and learn fast at the reality of how life is. You have homeless people on your campus. There are just so many people around you, rapidly going about their life around you. Yet you do not know any of them. There are a lot of opportunities for cultural events, you just have to seek them out. The Graduate Student Union strike dominated the news 2 years back and the administration has made it pretty clear that it will not negotiate with them. In the end, I believe that everything went back to the status quo. Most of the complaints are hear (some which I have made myself) is in regards to scheduling classes and housing. It is a mess. I tried to get in a class and I got in but could not get into a recitation that would fit my schedule so I couldnt get in. But one of my friends got in through the help of another professor. You have to have some connections sometimes and actively push for what you want, which I never really did.

My first three semesters at NYU were difficult. I didn't feel like I had found a place for myself or a group of friends that I really connected with. NYC is a huge city and it is overwhelming at first. It may take longer to get settled at NYU than at what NYU students fondly refer to as "campus colleges", but once you do you can't imagine going to school anywhere else. The residences are mostly converted from apartment buildings so you have your own kitchen, common room and bathroom. There is the option to do all your own grocery shopping and cooking or eat in the dining halls. Security personnel are friendly and courteous. NYU does an impeccable job of keeping its students safe. As a student at NYU you will feel like you are a true resident of New York City. Its were you will eat and socialize and walk everyday. I wouldn't say that there is as much of a school pride at NYU as there is a NYC pride.

Best/worst thing: trading in the traditional American college campus experience for the NYC experience. The distinction between NYU and NYC is minimal, as is the one between campus and City. The campus (aka Washington Square Park) is open to students and everybody else. City dwellers soaking up the rare good weather, tourists snapping photos of the Arch just because it's a big thing in the middle of a park, vendors overcharging for water because snap-happy tourists will buy them, street performers sharing their talent or atrocious lack there of, crazies making others feel surprisingly sane, dogs trying to escape their Burberry vests and wondering why their owners spent so much money to make them so uncomfortable, and finally, fanatics using lightsabers to recreate scenes from the trilogy that changed their lives, . Initially, finding a sense of community can be pretty difficult because much like the City, the population is dense but the distance among individuals can be great. But no worries, sooner or later everyone finds people who tickle her/his fancy. Some social groups are composed of people baked from the same dough while other groups are composed of people who couldn't be more different from each other. You got the same-colored M&M's, the rainbow Jelly Beans, the trail mix, etc.

The best thing about NYU is that it's in New York City. You have every opportunity at your fingertips. The trouble with NYU is that you have to do everything on your own. It is extremely impersonal if you are in one of the larger majors. I had two internships, both of which I found on my own. The departments designed to help with those kinds of things aren't very effective. People generally react positively when I say I went to NYU. Often they respond with something like, "Wow, that's a really good school; you must be really smart," which always makes me uncomfortable, because how do you respond to that without coming off totally arrogant? "Why, yes, it IS a really good school and I AM a genius. Thank you for reminding me."

The best thing is the location. Living in new york is amazing. I'd change the advising. NYU has the worst advisers I've ever met. That might be because I'm in CAS, but the undergraduate advising is Horrible. There's a high turnover rate of advisers. After my first semester freshmen year my adviser left and I haven't had a set adviser since then. It's hard to try and plan your life out with someone who has no idea who you are or what you want to do with your career. And even if you explain to them they don't really guide as to what classes to take. I've wasted at least 4 courses doing things that I didn't need or want to do to get my major/minor/ or fulfill interests. That's a LOT of money wasted. I think the school is too big... because I went to a really small grade school (K-12th grade) and I liked that personalize interest given by the teachers. I came to NYU because I wanted a bigger school and to take advantage of the diversity fo the student body, which I didn't get in high school, but for me the school is just too big. I spend most of my time on campus because I live downtown and to get to and from school just takes too much time to do multiple times per day, usually. I also have a lot of extra-cirriculars, so I need to stay on campus to work on those after my classes are finished. Even though NYU is in the middle of the city, I still feel like we have a little bit of a "college town" feel, ust because around campus most of the people you do see are students... and there are a lot of activities geared toward just students/the NYU community specifically. There's not a lot of school pride. People who do go see games and such is usually because they know people on the teams, which is fine, but it's not my thing. Besides sports, I think there is some school pride, just because you tell other people, "I go to NYU." and they know the name and will probably be somewhat impressed... The experiences I'll remember about NYU mainly concern my involvement in extracurricular activities. The most frequent student complaints have to do with teachers who aren't interested in their teaching (but rather their research, considering this is a university) so they put none, or barely any effort into actually teaching their students. Also, advisers are a big complaint, as well, as I already demonstrated.

The academics. The professors are really knowledgeable about their subject and it's so awesome to get to learn from them. I would get rid of the General Studies Program. It's for students who need to go to community college for two years first. NYU is too large. People are always impressed when I tell them I go to NYU. I spend most of my time in my room or exploring the city. What college town? NYU's administration is awful. It's too decentralized so it's difficult to know who to complain to about something. Then, when you find who to contact, there's no one above them to contact if they aren't helpful or if you want to complain about that department. The biggest controversy was liberal professors giving conservative students a hard time for being conservative, however, it's only been about two professors who have done that, so it's not as big of a deal as it was made out to be. There isn't a lot of school pride. A lot of people resent NYU for not being as much of a dream school as it seems to be before anyone gets there, but I think it's just different from what it's portrayed as, but I still love it. NYU holds some classes in the classroom inside Starbucks. There are people begging for money on your way to class. It's really big on "Going Green". It is always working on building more international campuses as well as buying other schools, such as Polytechnic University. One experience I'll always remember is when Barack Obama came to speak at Washington Square park, which is at the heart of NYU. The most frequent student complaints are that NYU isn't the dream school that everyone thought it was. It's too big. You never see the same people on your way to class. The lines for the elevators when going to class are ridiculous. Housing is too expensive for what you get.

I think everything's great

The best thing about NYU is that it is in New York City. I would change the tuition, so that families who make under $60,000 get a full financial aid package. Our school is just about right. I spend most of my time in classrooms and in my dorm hanging out with friends. We have moderate school pride--def. not sports though. One experience that I will remember would definitely have to be welcome week. Frequent student complaints would have to be that NYU is looking to far ahead into the future rather than focusing on its current students.

Best thing: professors/programs/opportunities for students and of course...living in the city Change: Administration-don't seem to care much about students, lots of red tape. There are too many students for anyone to get real individual attention and have all their needs met. People's reaction: Every time I say it, especially in Texas, I am met with wow's and you must be smart. Where I spend my time: When it's nice I spend the time in Washington Square Park-outside of that NYU has a beautiful student center that overlooks the park, fifth avenue, and empire state building