Hi,
I will be attending NYU (Tandon) this fall. As of right now, I’m not really all that excited about it. Im from Atlanta, I grew up in the suburbs, and I feel like NYC will be a big shock to me. Maybe I’m just nervous about college in general but some uncertainty is making me really nervous.
For dorms and meal plans, how do they work. Are meal plans required for freshman? And how does room mate selection work? Is it random or is there a way to search for room mates.
For anyone who was in the same situation as me, or anyone in general, how is adjusting to college life? Meeting new people,etc? I hate to leave my friends/family/life behind. It’s really hard for me and any advice would be great.
When do I register for classes? On my Albert page, there is nothing regarding registering for classes. Is the function not yet available? As far as classes go, how is the difficulty. I took 9 APs in high school, and I found them all to be pretty manageable. (the hardest being AP World History).
Last question. How is life in general? How much money do you spend a week, what’s it like in the winter, do you go shopping, etc. My family is pretty low income, but NYU gave me tons of aid ($40000 Tandon Scholarship).
Thank you so much to anyone willing to contribute.
Current Liberal Studies freshman here.
Yes, all freshmen in university housing are required to have a meal plan. For Brooklyn, you have to enroll in the Brooklyn 1300 meal plan (there’s no information on what that really is). Freshman year, roommates are assigned randomly by NYU based on diversity.
The first few weeks it’ll feel like summer camp, and then it hits you when your first paper or test is assigned. The biggest shock for me was the amount of freedom I had; there’s no curfew and since neither of the campuses are closed, you’re right in the city. You have a whole week before classes begin to make friends, so just go to the Welcome Week events, talk to people on your floor, start joining clubs, etc.
You don’t register for classes until June/July. Be patient, your academic advisor will email you soon with more information. The difficulty really depends on the professor and how they grade/prepare the course, so RateMyProfessor will be your friend when registering.
Money: it depends on how much you eat out, buy groceries, go shopping, do fun things that cost money, etc. It is NYC, so you want to budget on the higher side of things. [This thread](How much do you spend per week at NYU? - New York University - College Confidential Forums) is kinda dated but useful.
Winter: it’s cold and it will snow at some point. You’ll want a good puffy coat (don’t worry about fashion), gloves, scarves, and hats. You can use rainboots as snow boots if you don’t see the point in buying two pairs of weather-related boots or can’t spare the money, but snow boots usually have more insulation that can be nice when it’s cold out. I recommend Columbia; their OmniHeat technology has gotten me through five Indiana/Chicago winters and it works for New York. Also, invest in a jacket for chilly weather because it’ll start to get cold fast and won’t warm up for a while, and you don’t want to be walking around in a parka because it’s too cold for a sweater but not that cold.
Hey congrats! I got into Tandon too, but I don’t know if I will be attending yet.
Honestly, I am so jealous of the aid you got. I was only offered about $10,000 and there is no way for me and my family to afford the remaining cost. Does yours include academic/merit scholarship as well? Also, did you talk to a financial aid officer to talk about your financial aid package?
@seeniebeenie thanks so much! I’m super excited and you eased a lot of tension and stress I had.
@collegecolleg I was told that it was just a merit scholarship. On my “To Do List” on Albert it said I needed a proof of citizenship to evaluate federal aid so I sent that. I called in to make sure they got it and they told me I would get federal aid along with the Tandon Scholarship, so I think the Tandon Scholarship is just based on merit. Might be based on aid as well since I did the CSS profile as well.
Second question: nope. I didn’t talk to anyone. When I got my acceptance letter I checked my financial aid award and the Tandon Scholarship was just there.
Assuming I get a little more aid (maybe $5000ish) it’ll still cost me $20000. But I’m super excited and I think it’s a good investment in the long run!
Hey congrats on getting into Tandon. I just decided (like half hour ago) to go to Tandon a well and I’m a little nervous like you. I grew up in suburbs in northern New York state so the big city is going to be an adjustment, I’m just already used to the cold. I got similar scholarship that you did, which was a large part of the reason I chose NYU. I’m going to be going for mechanical/aerospace engineering. How about you? Also, after a little bit of research I found that the 1300 meal plan is like 1300 dollars worth of credit to be used at any of the dining halls, but can ONLY e used at the dining halls, not at any restaurants or coffee shops or whatever. I could be wrong about that though, so don’t quote me on it 
I’m super nervous too. Got into CAS. I’m coming from California so I’m expecting the culture shock to be huge. I’m also pretty shy and I heard it’s hard to make friends at NYU, which is the thing I’m most worried about.
@Crystalline17 @heisenberg2016
It’s not that hard to make friends here. I’m a current CAS student and honestly it has been really easy. I see people I know EVERYWHERE on campus, whether it’s in the park, the walk in between classes, or on the subways near NYU. The whole “at NYU it is hard to make friends” myth is just that, a myth. Don’t worry, you’ll have a wonderful time here.
@aerospace99
I’m doing Mechanical Engineering as well. Good thing is that you’ve lived in NY. I’m moving all the way from the suburbs of ATL. I’m def expecting a culture change. I’m nervous but I can’t wait to leave Georgia lol. Majority of people here are either racist rednecks who support trump or good ole southern frat guys.
Does anyone know what the dorms are like? I heard that Othmer and Clark are both four person dorms. Which dorm should I make my preference? I was told by a current student to choose Othmee based on the fact that Clark sucks.
Othmer is literally right across the street from he buildings that classes and such are in. Clark is apparently like a fifteen or so minute walk. Othmer offers apartments and suites, with the apartments offering kitchens and living areas. Floors with suites have one big longe area for the use of the whole floor. A lot of people (I have heard) in suites in Othmer use friends kitchens if they know someone that is living in an apartment. NYU owns Othmer, whereas it only rents a few floors of Clark. The rest of Clark’s floors are rented out by other area colleges. Sorry this is probably too late as the application for housing is due today, but I hope this helps!
If you want to message me maybe we could hang together at some point during orientation so that we know at least one person to begin with? Especially considering we are going for the same major.
Hey! I’m also from Atlanta suburbs and am going to Tandon this fall honestly this post could’ve been written by me. I think everyone is just as nervous as you (and me) to be honest. The majority of freshman are out of state, so its gonna be a pretty crazy change for almost everyone. But if anything this will just make it easier to make friends since we’ll all be in the same boat
Hey guys i’m literally from an island in southeast asia and am also super nervous about everything! Hope we can all fit in and have a lot of fun this august 