<p>Hey guys,
I'm currently a freshman at NYU torn between transferring and staying. I was just accepted to Vanderbilt and I'm waiting on Wash U and Emory. I love the city of New York, but the NYU experience has been a bit disenchanting, especially when everyone talks about it being "number 1 dream school" and all. I just feel like you make very few good friends here and have a number of acquaintances whom you rarely see if not in the same dorm. Also, I am torn between having a campus/college social stuff and the city. Unfortunately, I heard that NYU gets even LESS social as you get older. Is this true? Does no one really talk in the upperclassmen dorms like I've heard? NYU has been a bunch of ups and downs thus far, and for some people I've heard in continues to do so. I can't handle that for another three years. Any upperclassmen have any insight?</p>
<p>Is it really that bad?</p>
<p>dabillano, it sounds like NYU isn't a good match for you. If it isn't RIGHT right now, I doubt it'll ever be--when matches happen, you KNOW it.</p>
<p>dabillano - where are you originally from? I have grown up between Wash DC and Soho (Canal street, basically!)</p>
<p>I had a hard time choosing between NYU Gallatin, and an Indiana University - Bloomington Honors scholarship. I have lived 'anonymously' in one big city or another my whole life, and I was SERIOUSLY tempted to try out a completely 'new' place for college. I know Manhattan and it is a comfort zone for me, so to speak. I seriously considered challenging myself by going to a school with strong social connections etc., because I've never been a part of anything like that.</p>
<p>But in the end, I just can't do the whole sports madness/ greek thing. Its not a stretch, its just simply not who I am. Thats why I'm going to be staying in good old soho. </p>
<p>I am sorry to hear about the social problem thing, though. Because I took a gap year, I have alot of friends who are in your position (fresh @ NYU this year), and from time to time they say things about the social scene similar to what you just posted.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt was another school I was very interested in. Downtown Nashville has great night life, and Vanderbilt is an excellent school. I wish you the best of luck. NYU may not be for you, but since you like NY, you can always move back to NYC after getting your bachelor's.</p>
<p>THanks for everyone's messages. Trial by Fire, sounds like we had similar but opposite situations- I grew up where you knew a ton of people back home (not a small town though) and I opted to try something different and I actually did it. Eh.... I've always believed change is good but sometimes making a huge leap requires baby steps I guess. I'm from Alabama, but I've never been all that southern and in fact hated the South for probably the first 15 years of my life. I guess by hs i finally learned to love it despite all its imperfections haha. Hopefully by May I'll figure out what to do with my life.... thanks for your great input. It really helps.</p>
<p>dalliano..is that bad??</p>
<p>I'm also wondering if going to NYU....would like to know more about your situation..</p>
<p>I meant your experience and commnet on NYU...</p>
<p>You should follow your gut instincts . My S at this moment on a Columbia tour which I hear has a more "campus " experience .</p>
<p>I think you should trust your intuition, if you really don't think that the school is for you, you probably know within the first semester or first year. Find some place that you are completely happy with!</p>
<p>I really don't think people should base their NYU decisions on my personal experience haha, because I feel like one's experience at NYU is very circumstantial. It is very affected by where you live, your friends, etc etc, and most definitely what kind of person you are. YOu have obviously heard the saying NYU isn't for everyone- which is very true, but I don't feel as though it takes a certain kind of person to thrive here. They always say you must be a go-getter at NYU but I don't think that's true. I know very independent people who love it here and people who are still like dependent and immature who are doing just fine. It just depends. If you are totally fine with the fact that NYU has no campus, don't need a ton of attention from professors, and KNOW you are not going to feel any kind of regret when your high school friends talk about their "collegiate" experiences, then you will be fine. All it takes is the right mindset, which I feel I didn't have from the beginning (NYU almost denied me housing completely last summer, so... yeah. I already felt the bureaucracy.) I have heard NYU being described as a "state of mind," and I feel this is very true. Good luck with your decisions and please try to talk to someone who is more partial to NYU than I am haha</p>
<p>i appreciate your candor, and I understand the anticampus feel of NYU. but what is it specifically. do you feel like you aren't hanging out with new people because NYC just consumes NYU students or is it something bigger you think you're missing out on?u said your other college friends have it, but you dont at NYU. im goin next year and i would like the college feel to exist even though i hear it doesnt.</p>
<p>Hmm... I'm not sure that it's so much that NYC consumes people; but it's generally well known that it's difficult to meet people outside of your dorm and your classes, and the freshman classes are mostly over 100 people (if you're in CAS or Stern) and so that can be challenging sometimes as well. Still, it's not that hard to make a small, close-knit group of good friends... most likely the kids that live on your floor. If you're in Stern or Tisch you will bond well with your fellow classmates, but CAS doesnt really have any programs to meet people other than summer orientation. I will say that when i visited schools like Vandy it was almost like college culture shock; people were extremely friendly and congregating in the lobbies of the dorm about every night, or left their doors open and just hung out in the hall. My friends say they actually have to leave the dorm to get anything done. Sorry but you just don't get that here (at least not in Rubin hall haha). Then again, we had a really bad, conflicting floor this year- so I can't testify for everybody's experience. Like I said it's all circumstantial.</p>
<p>aight man thanks. i hope for the best, ill take it as i go.</p>
<p>dabillano,
did you apply to those schools on fall/spring of your freshman yr? so you applied to other schools like in the beginning of frsh yr.. right?
are there many schools that accept sophomore transfer?</p>