<p>^I’ve talked to several Stern students and they usually intern at some bank/financial company over soph-junior years… the internship the summer before senior year is apparently the most important, as your performance in it can lead to whether or not you’ll get a job offer from the company you interned for.</p>
<p>I applied to Stern ED but had it moved to ED II because my SAT scores were horrible. Unfortunately my GPA has seen a downward trend (it went down 2 points between frosh and junior year but I don’t know if that’s seen as a lot or not). Right now its a 91.6/100, but I’m enrolled in the IB Diploma program so junior year courses were extremely hard. Anyways, here are my stats can you give advice for improvement or my chances:</p>
<p>SAT (Superscore):
1310/1600 ; 2100/2400 ; SAT Math II - 640 ; SAT Bio-M: 650
GPA: 91.6/100
IB Diploma Program Candidate
2 Club Presidencies, 1 I’m in the process of founding soon
Over 400 hrs of community service through 2 activities
Held State-Level position for a nationwide club
Attend a magnet school</p>
<p>I’m retaking the SATs and SAT IIs, with hopes of getting 1500/1600 and 800s in subject tests. I feel like I had a good essay but I ended up mentioning Catcher in the Rye even though everyone ends up writing about that (whoops!). Any idea what my chances are? Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>@Gambino
A lot of the underclassmen get internships that involve market research, accounting, secretarial services, cold calling, and other low level processes.</p>
<p>@iambunky
If you are comparing the same GPA, for example a 3.5 from a cc or a university, the 3.5 from a university will obviously look better. Not sure where you got 33%, but I think the transfer rate is closer to 10-15%.</p>
<p>Thanks for the response! I see, but hellodocks was mentioning something about working during the college year? Would that be something similar or more part-time?</p>
<p>Hey Hellodocks, Just a couple of questions.
1: I know NYU and NYC is a great place to network, but is it easy to network? Like is it easy to get into or be invited to events that allow you to network in your certain industry?
2: What are the students like at Robert Tisch? The ones who are majoring in sports management?
3: Also, I Know that NYC is a metropolitan city. But how do people dress to class? I come from a medium sized suburb in Minnesota, and my school has about 2100 students. Its a public school, but one of the best in Minnesota. But at my school you can expect to see at least 50% of the students in sweats and t shirt or sweats and a sweater. So do you see that at all at NYU? And my personal opinion is yea I like to dress like occasionally but I HATE seeing girls dress like that on a day to day basis.
4: Finally, please chance me for the SCPS; Sports Management Major
(<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-york-university/1039072-chance-me-please-give-me-some-advice-too.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/new-york-university/1039072-chance-me-please-give-me-some-advice-too.html</a>)</p>
<p>@GamBino
Like what was already said, international kids on a visa cannot work within 12 months of entering the country.</p>
<p>@iambunky
Look at it like this: if you were an admissions rep, would you prefer to see someone from a community college or a four-year college transferring to your school? I think it’s just the whole idea of 13th and 14th grade (comm. college) vs. an actual school where you realize you don’t fit and want to go somewhere else. A lot of kids go to community college simply because they’re undecided in terms of major or because they failed to get in anywhere else. There <em>are</em> many who go for financial reasons, but in general, comm. college is far less competitive.</p>
<p>@justspice
Junior summer internship <em>is</em> most critical; firms issue the outstanding bulk of their offers for the full-time analyst positions from the summer analyst class. Depending on the school and the firm, offer rates are generally between 60-90% from the SA group.</p>
<p>@guru
A 1300/1600 isn’t bad per se, but 1400 puts you in a better ballpark. Anything 1400+ is quite competitive at Stern, because a ton of kids (read: the 61-9% Asians) pull near-800 on Math but nowhere near so high on Reading. If you can balance the two out with a 700+ in each, you’d be in a very good spot.
If you got 750+ on your SAT IIs you’d also be very well off, because in all honesty, 800s are fairly challenging to get and require a tremendous time commitment. Your ECs are wonderful. To be frank, I wouldn’t be surprised if you got in with the stats you already have, however, I haven’t seen the strength of your writing, so improving your stats is always a good thing. =)</p>
<p>@AoDay
It’s even lower than that I thought, more in the 5-10% ballpark. If we have approx. 450-500 kids in every class, and I haven’t met or heard of more than 5-10 transfers in '13, I can’t see it being quite that high.</p>
<p>@GamBino
It’s the same thing. Technically, a summer position isn’t really an internship. The bulge bracket firms call them Summer Analyst positions, so essentially you hold the position of a full-time Analyst for 10 weeks in the summer. You get paid the exact same salary they get, just prorated (you take home the same weekly check they do. If they make $85k a year, you make $85k/52 each week the same as them). In-year positions are actually internships. Those are frequently unpaid, low time-commitment positions that just get you experience and some professional references for the serious summer positions.</p>
<p>@nasali
- It isn’t easy, otherwise there wouldn’t be so much confusion and uncertainty around it hmm? It depends on how hard you’re willing to try and how much research you put into it. Like I’ve said before, I found and got accepted into a pretty competitive pre-professional program that kind of puts a lot of that sort of stuff in front of me, but I still have to go out and get it, stay on top of the events, and do well in them.
- I can’t speak to that, unfortunately. I only know two kids in the Sports Management program; I didn’t have a high opinion of either of them. They were in one of my gen-ed classes and just goofed off the whole time in lecture and recitation. Didn’t seem particularly bright either, one actually said he wanted a loophole into business without getting ‘stuck’ in Stern.
- Haha, it’s funny you should mention that. There are two extremes. There are those who get up 90 minutes before class in the morning to curl their hair, apply make-up, choose their outfit (or rehash their decision from the night before), make sure everything is just-so, and treat any class like it was a modeling event. There are also the fair share of athletes (what a joke at this school) who insist on going any/everywhere in baggy sweats, pullovers, or other athletic wear. I have no problem with the clothing, I’m an athlete myself (no teams here, none are remotely competitive or worthwhile in my opinion), but I’m not going to choose that as my attire for the day when I don’t need to.</p>
<p>Most people are casual in general. However, it being a very metro environment, both guys and girls are usually very presentable; there’s a good mix of very fashion-forward individuals as well as simply polished people who like to be presentable without erring on the side of trendiness.
4. Like I said before, I can’t chance you for something I know hardly the first thing about.</p>
<p>I see. In any case, the concerns that I have are more non-academic related. I had a fairly serious discussion with my counselor today regarding NYU in general, with the lack of community. My counselor says that it is very difficult to adapt to living in NYU because there is a very huge lack of school spirit and also a feeling of community (because NYU is spread out over NYC). My counselor says that most of the kids that he sends to NYU end up being unhappy and transferring out. Do you see this as one of the largest problems with NYU?</p>
<p>Thanks for answering my questions, I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>@hellodocks
There are about 600 kids per class. Last year there were around 50-60 transfers for both sophomores and juniors. The transfer rate is the number of accepted transfers divided by the total number of applicants, not the amount of kids in the class. Although in this case I guess they would be pretty similar numbers anyway</p>
<p>@Gambino
There are a lot of threads about social life at nyu so definitely check them out. </p>
<p>It can be difficult to adapt to living in NYC, but that’s more of a personal thing. There are a lot of factors which make answering this question difficult, but if you lived in metropolitan areas before it probably isn’t that big of a change. If you are from the suburbs, it’s something that many describe as a love it or hate it type of thing. </p>
<p>There is a lack of school spirit especially in the athletics department. Although I wouldn’t say it’s because it is spread out. New Yorkers are generally more independent minded and so are a lot of the students. I can’t speak for the other schools, but Stern does a good job of bringing together students and fostering school spirit through their clubs and student events. There isn’t a lot of university spirit, but there definitely is some school spirit. It is fairly similar at most other universities where athletics don’t play that big of a role.</p>
<p>Like I said above, many see it as a love it or hate it relationship. You can go in, without any prior opinion, but I think a lot of students apply knowing full well that they love NYC, for all of its characteristics. If you see it only as the city depicted in high profile films, you could be happy for a while but it will probably disappoint you at some point. Make sure you take advantage of all the small things throughout the city and not just the most popular ones. For the same reason that students transfer out of NYU, other kids transfer in. It’s all about finding what fits your lifestyle and personality.</p>
<p>hellodocks/AoDay - Would I struggle in Stern and struggle with the material if I am not good at math? It takes me longer to understand stuff like Calculus; I’m more a humanities type of person. My intended majors there are Finance and Marketing, not really math-heavy majors right?</p>
<p>@GamBino
This is very true, and it’s why a lot of people have trouble adjusting here. I’ll be frank; you have to be a very independent, self-sufficient person to succeed in this city in general, and definitely at this school. I’ve said this so many times in this thread it’s starting to sound hollow, but it can’t be more true. My first year was miserable, largely in part because I chose it to be. There are more opportunities here than you can conceive. Whether or not you capitalize on them will predicate how much you enjoy it here. If you don’t want to take the risk of having to be more of a person than you thought you could be, of being uncomfortable from time to time, of growing in leaps and bounds you didn’t think possible, then don’t come. I happen to believe it’s an incredibly unique education you won’t get anywhere else, even at Columbia; they’re isolated way uptown on their own gentrified campus. They are <em>not</em> “in and of the city, a truly global institution” like we are.</p>
<p>@AoDay
Haha, you mention the transfer acceptance rate and transfer attendance rate like they’re different; in Stern they’re essentially identical numbers. =)</p>
<p>@justspice
Probably. You’d definitely be at a disadvantage. I am. I’m the same way you are. I hate math, I am NOT left-brained, I have to work my ass off to get barely decent grades in anything quantitative. I’m fitting in here though. I’m an outgoing, driven person. Everyone here is driven. Not everyone is outgoing or personable. You’ll do as well as you choose to. A couple weeks ago I spent 23 hours in three days studying for my FFM midterm. I scored four points below the median. Some people would get horrifically upset at that; I look at it as a simple fact. I should’ve studied earlier, longer, and harder, that’s all.</p>
<p>I’m a Finance/Marketing major, so I guess you’ve come to the right place to ask. =) You couldn’t be more wrong about Finance though. It is the single MOST quantitative degree here. Statistics might give it a run for its money, but we’re the second-ranked finance program in the nation and it’s quite competitive. FFM, Foundations of Financial Markets (think of it as Finance 201 or 301), is literally an amalgamation of Micro, Stats, and Calc. You won’t enjoy it for its difficulty, but in terms of subject material, it’s probably the most fascinating thing you can come across. You literally feel like a genius after that class, learning how the financial structure of our markets operates.</p>
<p>Marketing is definitely not math-heavy, but there’s still math involved. Literally, half of your Intro to Marketing course will be ‘quantitative marketing,’ meaning formulas where you plug’n’chug to obtain your answers. It’s a lot of rote memorization in general (i.e. ‘the Four C’s,’ ‘eight principles,’ etc.), but there is still some math. Math is inescapable at Stern. That’s the only reason I don’t have a 4.0. =)</p>
<p>Finance is pretty mathematical as far as I know.</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed response, after talking with my counselor I received an identical response from him, and I’ve decided not to apply to Stern EDII after all. I still want to go, but I want to see what my other choices are. I’ve grown up in actually the largest city in the world (Shanghai) but apparently most of the people still say it’s going to be a problem adapting to the life of NYC because it truly is unique in a way.</p>
<p>I’m not really worried about the academics at Stern because I know that it’s a top-notch program and there aren’t many better than it in the nation, but the environment concerns me a bit. So with regards to that, how hard would it be to make friends at Stern? Will you see the same people often, or do people often shift around? I realize this is a bit of a vague question, but I find it difficult to make it better.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses! They’re very helpful and really are helping me shape an idea of Stern, and hopefully what I’m getting myself into (if I do get in).</p>
<p>Hey docks, I’ve got a few questions (well one main one that branches off into multiple ones). Do leadership EC’s help towards admission? I am currently leading, with 2 other peers, a leadership training program where we educate younger kids on positive qualities and attitudes. On top of that, I am wondering how much being an Eagle Scout would help. My GPA isn’t great, I had a 3.6 (3.8 weighted) freshman year but went down to a 3.3 (3.5 weighted) sophomore year. I am currently in my junior year and as it’s going right now I should have a 3.5 or 3.6 unweighted (closer to 3.8 or 3.9 weighted). I don’t have too much info regarding SAT’s, i’m still waiting on the PSAT’s from October and I’m taking my first SAT in January. I’m also pretty close to NYU, seeing that I live in Westchester and go to school at Fordham Prep in the Bronx. Sorry to ask a lot, but you’ve been so helpful to other people and I’m curious as to whether I have a chance or not of getting into NYU.</p>
<p>Hi just wondering, i’ve heard that there are a lot of trust fund kids at NYU is that true? And can you tell who is and who isnt?
Also, do you see a lot of star sightings? I visited last month and saw Elanor Woldorf (charachter on Gossip Girl, and Tyra Banks)</p>
<p>To everyone, I apologize for letting it slip for a week. This past week has been absolute hell in terms of school and I also found out mid-week that my superday with Morgan Stanley was on Friday so that completely swallowed me.</p>
<p>@GamBino
No problem, glad to be able to help. It really is true, even coming from another large urban area you’ll still have trouble adjusting. Everyone does. I don’t think New York is the best city in the world, I’d simply say that it’s the <em>most</em>. Most everything. Most fast-paced, most busy, most temperamental, most glamorized, most glamorous, most motivating place to live.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’d have trouble making friends here. Like I said earlier, we have a unique thing called the Cohort Leadership program where you’re placed into a body of about 60 kids who will be in your cohort for all four years. That’s an immediate group you’ll identify with, and it serves as the foundation for many friendships you’ll have the opportunity to cultivate through school and further as you all springboard off into your careers.</p>
<p>@stagief
Finally, someone actually got my name right. 
Yes, ECs will help. They always do, they paint a broader picture of you as an individual, and that’s always useful. When people see leadership experience, they recognize that you’ve begun working on polishing a skill-set that’ll be useful to you all throughout life. Schools, firms, anyone who has to look at your accomplishments will react positively to seeing you engaged in learning via leadership.</p>
<p>Eagle Scout in particular is a really tremendous thing, I’ve always been able to speak to it strongly and it’s served me well. Just this past Friday I had my superday at Morgan and it was one of the things I got asked about most frequently, and even before that in the screening rounds my phone interviewer commented on it (along with a few other key things) as being something that vastly differentiated me from many other candidates.</p>
<p>You speak about your proximity to the school, have you tried to arrange a campus visit or a dorm stayover with an alum from your prep school? Again, no problem helping, glad to be able to do it.</p>
<p>@nasali
There are. As in all things though, in relative terms. Compared to many other schools, I’d say so. You probably couldn’t tell too often simply from sight, but I distinctly recall hearing two girls in 3N having the absolute ditziest conversation ever, literally saying once “Ughhh I wish, like, I could like, just get out of school now and do like, whatever, like, it’s not like I can’t make it just with my trust money already, like, really.” That was actually my first run-in, haha. A lot of kids here are extraordinarily wealthy; many don’t publicize it though, and you wouldn’t notice if you didn’t have an eye for picking out nicer clothes (and especially dorm furnishings). A lot don’t want people to judge them for it, and they’re really chill people not unlike anyone else, just trying to fit in within a different social milieu.</p>
<p>Also, star sightings are very common. You have to learn to get over the initial touristy rush of euphoria and jealousy and fawning fanboyism though and treat them like normal people. Respect their privacy, their life, and their space. I lived in Goddard my first year and James Franco was in that Starbucks every Monday night the whole semester. You have no idea how many people swarmed him the minute he got up from his table and tried to leave. I talked with him casually twice and got his autograph for myself as well as for a friend, and he actually picked me out of a crowd once when I didn’t even say anything (he probably recognized my hair, haha).</p>
<p>The thing is to just respect them, like I said. You have to realize how obnoxious it is to not be able to live your life in peace when in public.</p>
<p>Stars I’ve seen, to name a handful: James Franco, Rihanna, Kanye, some of the Real Housewives, T.I., B.o.B, Playboy Tre, Mary J. Blige, Maino, Keri Hilson, Steve Forbes, Hugh Jackman …</p>
<p>That’s good to know, then at least Stern is doing something to help us adjust to this rather unique college experience. That is really my biggest concern with Stern but otherwise I would really like to attend Stern if I got in.</p>
<p>It sounds like I would like New York, I’ve lived in a fast-paced busy city for basically my whole life and I can’t really imagine going somewhere quiet and not in a town. I know that I’ll get a very good education in Stern and I understand there are some limitations of the environment, but I think I’d like it there. Thanks for all your help!</p>
<p>@ hellodocks: It’s so nice to see you answering questions, and I have a question for you
- Does the Asian Status hurt the admission decision?</p>
<p>@GamBino
Yeah. They recognize how monumental a change in lifestyle it is for people and do their best to provide a basic support network. It’s up to you how well you’ll utilize it, but it’s there if you want to maximize it.</p>
<p>@smartbear
Haha, in all honesty, how do you want me to answer that? I really can’t. I am not an admissions ambassador, I am not a counselor, I have no insight into anything other than experiential knowledge that I see and witness with my own eyes.</p>
<p>@snow
Bland. Completely bland. RAs, especially in freshman dorms, are quite strict about alcohol. That being said, partying <em>in New York</em> is insane. There is nothing you can’t do. If you want to go somewhere, you either need to be (a)gorgeous, (b) have a good fake ($60 fakes from home don’t cut it, some kids put themselves through school turning out quality $200 jawns), or (c) have connections with a promoter/s.</p>
<p>I don’t party, it isn’t my thing at all, but almost everyone I live with or count in my friend circle parties. You can do whatever you want. Party in Bedsty on someone’s balcony, hit a rooftop gala in FiDi or Midtown, club in Soho or Flatiron … whatever you want to do you can. Dorm parties tend to suck because the walls are so thin and many of the rooms are small. If you manage to get a room that isn’t, there’s something stupid like an FFiR (Faculty Family in Residence) next-door who will just text the RA to shut you down. Long story short, go out. Which makes sense, go out. Why would you want to stay in with all that at your fingertips?</p>
<p>I think it’s a bit glamorized. People paint a picture of it as being a ridiculous party school, and on-campus, it isn’t. Do not read me wrong though. There is a brilliantly vibrant social scene; it simply doesn’t happen in our buildings. People pre-game inside with their friends/Greeklife and then head out into the city.</p>
<p>We are not that diverse. NYU in general is predominantly white (expectable, with Asian-American as the best-represented minority). Stern is 61% Asian. Black and Hispanic kids are essentially not to be found anywhere, and most tend to hang out with just their friends so you almost never see them. I literally had a black girl come up to me once and ask me my name and year, saying “Oh wow, I thought I knew all the black kids on campus.” I think it’s sad that that’s even remotely possible.</p>