Current Stern Sophomore: Ask Me

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
561

<p>Hey hellodocks, I’ve seen you’re a pretty knowledgeable guy about NYU and Stern in general so I thought I’d ask you here, although I made my own thread.</p>

<p>I’m a rising sophomore in Stern and I ended my freshman year with a 3.15 GPA. Long story short, I messed up second semester big time and it tanked my GPA. Is there a realistic way I can bring this back up to 3.5? I know freshman year is considered the “easy” year and the curved classes have yet to truly come out.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance</p>

562

<p>haha im basically asking if i can be waived from the 4 credit class regardless of when i decide to take the stats requirement</p>

563

<p>@midnight
They flat-out state that intended major does not affect the application. There are so many people who can’t choose a major even after two years of classes, it’s unfair and illegitimate to expect a prospective student with none under their belt to have identified what they want to do right away. Of everyone I know who declared something as an applicant or freshman, more than half changed it by sophomore year. This is for Stern though, not NYU in general.</p>

<p>@sonic
Abraxas’ answer is right on the money.</p>

<p>@superexcited
He means taking it in his freshman spring instead of fall. I did that. A lot of kids do that.</p>

<p>@NJ
Yeah you can. I did that poorly too and am sitting past 3.5 now. Work hard your sophomore year. Just do it. College isn’t that hard if you really think about it. Make sure you make smart moves and stay on top of things. Take summer classes in the second summer session. Your parents might not be happy, but explain it to them. You want to set yourself up for career opportunities later, and if you can’t fix your GPA immediately, your investment in Stern loses potential quickly. It’s still early enough for you where you can take classes in a second major, a minor, or just electives without it hurting what you take junior/senior year. I declared BEMT at this point, and both my summer session II classes were for that. Two easy As, and my GPA was on the upward track. Don’t stress too much, you can come out of it.</p>

564

<p>Hello,
I just had a few questions about how winter/summer sessions work - specifically winter sessions. Is it hard to do well in the winter session classes because everything is so crammed together? I want to graduate early, either by a semester or a year, so I’m planning on taking winter/summer courses, but am a bit worried because so much material is covered in a short amount of time.</p>

565

<p>Is it necessary to take a Calculus class to meet the requirement or is Linear Algebra ok too?</p>

566

<p>I would like to thank you in advance hellodocks for all the information you have posted here. Im sure that this question has been addressed before but I would like to hear how you can “afford” nyu. I believe I read that you are baring the sole responsibility for 60k a year in loans, but are you comfortable with leaving school with 240K in debt or have you received some sort of aid. And what is your opinion of working during the school year either at NYU or surrounding places that are hiring. Does working during the school year distract too much from your schooling or is it very manageable to work, study and enjoy manhattan, Thanks again :)</p>

567

<p>Lol hellodocks will just tell you to look at his previous posts.</p>

<p>He gets some FA although he doesnt feel like its sufficient. However, he believes that as a Stern student he is more likely to obtain a job that will make it all worth it. Stern students are targets for recruiters representing veryyy large businesses. Afterall…isn’t that the point of a good education? For it to all be worth it? I personally wouldnt go to a school that gets me a job with a salary thats actually lower than what I payed for in a year to go to that school.</p>

568

<p>thank you city girl, do you know if it is difficult to maintain a high GPA at stern and a job? and do people normally intern during the semester or after? Most people I know do them over summer but idkk im a very curious person with probably too many questions haha</p>

569

<p>@blizzard
They’re definitely challenging, but if you stay on top of it, it isn’t that bad. It’s more getting through the monotony of such a long class each day. Winter is worse than summer for that, it’s only three weeks while summer sessions are six each.</p>

<p>@generalgao
Linear Algebra satisfies the math requirement, it’s considered past the calc classes.</p>

<p>@PICKME
A lot of people intern during the year. It’s difficult for some people to maintain good grades. For some others, it isn’t as hard. I wouldn’t say it’s “very manageable” at all, but you can definitely make it work if you’re motivated and committed.</p>

570

<p>Hey hellodocks,</p>

<p>I will be attending Stern this fall and I am in the process of planning out my courses.
Because I didn’t take IB Higher Level Math, I cannot take Microeconomics and Stats in the Fall, and because I took IB Biology I’m exempt from the NatSci requirement leaving me to take an “elective”.</p>

<p>The prospect of choosing an elective this semester made me think about my academics for the next 4 years in general. The Stern website said I should use my electives to count towards a minor, a double-major, or a second Stern concentration. In your opinion, which is the best option? Is there any benefit in pursuing minors or double-majors? The only thing I can think of is to pick easy courses to boost my GPA! If you do suggest a minor or major, are there certain ones that are more beneficial to business students that will be useful in job hunting (i.e. ones that recruiters look favourably on) and in my career (applicable to real business situations)? I’m thinking psychology? Maybe French since I like studying French?</p>

<p>Or, can I really use electives to do random courses that I am interested in?</p>

<p>Furthermore, I remember you told someone earlier that you should “save” electives if you want to study abroad. Do you mean that I should reserve 16 credits for one semester in sophomore/junior year that won’t count for any concentrations/minors/majors? Or can you pursue a concentration or minor abroad? Also, what do you think is the best time to go for study abroad (sophomore or junior year?)</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your advice. I’ve read through the entire thread and you’ve really helped me prepare myself for the coming year. Also, congratulations on the internship! Very impressive indeed.</p>

571

<p>Would it be possible for you to give a brief summary of how you spaced out your courses when you made your schedule? What days of the week do you have classes, from what time to what time, and how did that work for you? Any tips to give? </p>

<p>And if you had two classes a day, how big of a time gap would you recommend someone to put between classes? I know one would have to move from building to building. </p>

<p>I’m planning out potential schedules for the fall semester, and there are many days and time intervals to choose from. I want to have a day of the week off (Maybe Monday) as a safety net to “catch up”, so I was thinking about going with a 4 days a week plan as opposed to lumping all classes into 1-2 days. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

572

<p>@whatever
Don’t worry about not doing those in the fall. I didn’t either. It’s alright to take an elective if you like. I had one elective freshman fall, another sophomore fall, and took a semester abroad … all with a dual major in Stern (my year doesn’t offer concentrations) and a minor.</p>

<p>I recommend that you try a class in either something you think you may be interested in as a minor or a language. For instance, if you’re interested in anthro, take one of the introductory courses in that department and see if it’s a minor that would interest you. Or if you’d like to study abroad in Buenos or Madrid, try Spanish I. It’s definitely a good idea to pad your GPA, that’s important for recruiting so anything you can do to keep it pumped up will help you. There are no minors or majors that are super helpful for recruiting; if anything, picking more unique ones that reflect your varied interests will probably help you. It’ll portray you as a well-rounded person, someone more than the requisite finance + accounting guy who has no interests at all outside of banking.</p>

<p>You don’t necessarily have to ‘save’ electives, but if you plan to have a double concentration, you probably will need to use three electives during your semester abroad. You’ll find one, at most two that count toward your major (not allowed to take more than two for your major abroad), so if you take the standard four classes, you need either two or three electives.</p>

<p>Personally, I think going in sophomore spring is best for Sternies because it allows you to stick around for the whole junior year. Junior fall is crucial for networking, and spring crucial for interviewing. By going sophomore year, you allow yourself the whole year to get that pivotal summer analyst slot as well as participate in ECs to stack your resume the last year it will help you during recruiting.</p>

<p>You’re welcome, so glad it’s been helpful!</p>

573

<p>@Rainfall
First year I had it weird. Because they were so late accepting credits from another college as placement into higher-level courses, I wasn’t able to move out of WTE and the lower math req until literally the last weekday before classes started. My schedule became miserable, I had 6 classes in a row on Tuesday from 8:00am-4:45pm non-stop. It was murder. Don’t do that. The spring, I don’t remember what I did but it wasn’t all that great. Sophomore fall I almost managed to get two a day four days a week, 9:00 and 2:00 on all four weekdays. It got thrown off because one class met an extra time, so I didn’t get the perfect alignment.</p>

<p>Now I have it set where I have four lectures in a row on Tuesday and Thursday alone, so I can work three full days a week as well. A lot of people will do one of the two extremes I listed, two classes 4x a week or four classes 2x a week. Depends on whether you plan to work or not, which as a freshman, I highly doubt you will.</p>

<p>If you have a gap, either make it a huge one or none at all. Put them back-to-back so you don’t have to walk back and forth from your dorm all the time, or if you do come off campus, make the gap large enough that it’s actually worth it.</p>

<p>You’ll never have Friday classes (in the fall you’ll have CLP with your cohort, but that’s 90 minutes and not really a class), so that’s your safety net day. Take MW and TR classes, you’ll still get a weekday off and you won’t need to stack your schedule to only two days a week this early in college.</p>

<p>e possible for you to give a brief summary of how you spaced out your courses when you made your schedule? What days of the week do you have classes, from what time to what time, and how did that work for you? Any tips to give? </p>

<p>And if you had two classes a day, how big of a time gap would you recommend someone to put between classes? I know one would have to move from building to building. </p>

<p>I’m planning out potential schedules for the fall semester, and there are many days and time intervals to choose from. I want to have a day of the week off (Maybe Monday) as a safety net to “catch up”, so I was thinking about going with a 4 days a week plan as opposed to lumping all classes into 1-2 days. </p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

574

<p>That’s weird, how did your post end up at the bottom of mine?</p>

575

<p>Can you highlight any specific things that I should take advantage of in terms of applying for a sophomore summer internship? I’m transferring in so I’m going to need to get adjusted to the whole idea of living and going to school in NYC but I don’t want that to get in the way of networking and such. I’d feel more comfortable if I had some sort of game plan in terms of events to attend, who to utilize in the career center, and anything else that may be helpful in landing at least a few interviews for positions.</p>

576

<p>Are you 2013 or 2014?</p>

577

<p>I’m 2014 so I’ll be starting in the fall as a sophomore.</p>

578

<p>I saw your post on WSO. Try not to put as much revealing information on there.</p>

<p>Read some of the comments on your thread there, mine was one of them. For next year, aim on improving your resume based on the feedback there, and get involved with the staff at Wasserman. Stay on top of all the job postings online there, and attend every campus info session during OCR season. It’s highly unlikely you’ll get picked up as a sophomore, but getting your face in there and absorbing some industry knowledge can never hurt for junior summer. For sophomore summer, aim for PWM at a BB or an IBD internship at a boutique firm, they’re more willing to take younger people than BBs.</p>

579

<p>Are there any research/internship/volunteer opportunities at Stern for high school students?</p>

580

<p>No. I’m afraid not.</p>