<p>When my daughter was in Third North, the bedroom was very small too but they had the drawers under the bed and no dresser. I would prefer what your D has, which is a dresser and then she can use bed risers and have lots of storage under the bed with tubs and such.</p>
<p>Bed risers! Soozievt that was brilliant! Please remind me in a year…assuming I got my kid out of the house…</p>
<p>Heh…it really isn’t too original. Almost every college kid i know has bed risers and then storage units under their bed. The problem freshmen year for my D at Third North (dorm) was that we came to school for move in with bed risers and underbed storage tubs all filed up and alas, her room had underbed drawers (in lieu of a dresser). But since that time, she has always used bed risers as did my other D. </p>
<p>Just wait next summer…go into any Bed Bath and Beyond and an assortment of “corm needs” abounds. It’s kinda crazy!</p>
<p>I think many kids choose to rent a regular apartment in the City after freshman year, particularly if they have had an unsatisfactory dorm experience. My son’s girlfriend did so this year. Unfortunately, her present apartment building was recently treated for bed bugs! Geez. </p>
<p>I believe it is natural to have high expectations of such an expensive university, including the housing. From all I’ve heard, NYU housing is part scrupulous research and part luck of the draw. Even with an ED acceptance and first dibes on housing selection, we were all a little anxious with what our son would end up in. (He kept changing his selection on his housing form!)</p>
<p>I can’t speak for any of the other dorms, but I can certainly recommend Founders Hall!</p>
<p>My D was in a six-girl suite in the unrenovated Third North South Tower last year and it was the typical NY “gray and grim” space, but adequate for their needs (by the end of the year that kitchen got pretty gross though!) I was sure they would have painted it over the summer but heard (and confirmed here) that they did not. What a contrast this year with Gramercy Green! OMG it’s gorgeous (I hope she does not get spoiled!). And no need for bed risers–they have a huge walk-in closet plus a second large closet, though not all units may be identical in that way. I learned sophomores get first choice with housing so that should be a plus for all your kids just starting. </p>
<p>Off topic, but for a bit of fun, check out on You Tube “Welcome to New York University” that is making the rounds (be forewarned there is swearing!)</p>
<p>I didn’t know sophomores get first shot at housing. That’s great news! Again, with good research on the various dorms–plus timing and luck–there’s a good chance of a very nice housing situation ahead for the Poster’s daughter and others not thrilled with their freshman housing arrangement. </p>
<p>Also, I wanted to amend my comment about outside NYU housing above. My son’s girlfriend is a junior this year, and I think it’s probably more common for older students to consider renting an apartment–independent of NYU–with other like-minded students. (In her case, she has an apartment on her own, which is her preference, and her parents can afford it.) But I’d be happy to keep my kid under the NYU umbrella for as long as he is willing to remain in their housing.</p>
<p>D will probably stay in Broome Street through senior year. She moved there as a soph and is in the same apt junior year. Can’t beat the location and I love knowing she is in a secure building.</p>
<p>Oothimus, Got your pm. The answer to your question is yes! I sent you a pm in return, but I’m never sure if my cc messages are getting through. Best regards to your daughter. I hope she is having as much fun as my son in the New Studio (correct?) and at NYU. I’m sure the dorm situation will sort itself out. She’ll be so busy with studio, academic and social stuff that it will hardly matter. And next year I bet she nails some great housing!</p>
<p>My daughter tells me they know each other… are new friends at NYU.</p>
<p>I think they shared the stage at rising stars award night.</p>
<p>Wow… small world. /smile</p>
<p>Yes, indeed they did. What a lovely, talented girl! I attempted another pm, but for some reason my posts and pm messages fail half the time. Have to speak to the CC folks about that. In the meantime, if you want to communicate off forum about our marvelous kids, just shoot me a pm with your email address and I will respond. Don’t want to tie up the forum. Other than to say, as before, I hope your daughter scores much better housing next year. Fingers crossed!</p>
<p>So, at most schools a student can save a lot of cash after freshmen year by going off the meal plan and sharing an apartment rather than living in the dorm. Any chance of that happening in the NYU area?</p>
<p>I know people say you can save money by going off the meal plan. My D had an apartment style dorm from the first year onward (then apartments eventually off campus). But the reason she wanted off the meal plan was not to save money. She didn’t want to eat the dining hall food. She wanted to eat a healthier lifestyle. She also was on the go a lot and it wasn’t even that convenient to eat in dining halls. Sometimes it wasn’t even convenient to shop and cook. She might have a lunch break and not want to go home or have a very brief break between classes and evening rehearsals and want to go to the zillion of places nearby to get a salad or some such. When our daughters went off the meal plan, we gave them the equivalent sum of money per semester for food to buy their own. This was besides their spending money. So, we did not save by them not being on the meal plan. We spent the same but it was more flexible for them and foods they preferred and so on. I imagine one could save, however, by going food shopping and cooking most of the time. My D didn’t do that as a student due to time. She is no longer a student now (and supports herself) and I think she shops and eats at home more than when she was in school.</p>
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<p>Unlikely. Apartments in that part of Manhattan are very expensive, assuming you want something safe and rodent/bug free. The kids that my D knew who got apartments in upper years got them in Brooklyn. There are issues with getting an apartment in the city, not the least of which is convincing the landlord or management company that you are able to afford it. You generally must show that you have an income of 40-50 times the monthly rent, and for guarantors, it’s generally 80-100 times. For students, this is going to be difficult/impossible without a parent guaranteeing it, and if the parent is out of state, it’s even more difficult. Another consideration is that you’ll need to pay for it for 12 months of the year, not just the 9 months of the school year. Once you’re out of housing at NYU, it isn’t easy getting back in if you find that an apartment isn’t what you want. Think carefully before planning to do this, especially as early as sophomore year.</p>
<p>Ah, I didn’t catch onto the entire question from classicalbk and thought she was just asking about meal plans vs. no meal plans!</p>
<p>Agree that an apartment may not be cheaper, if in the vicinity of NYU and there is the issue of a 12 month lease, but it may happen or it may cost the same (but at least have your own bedroom). My D lived in the dorms for two years. The third year she lived in an apartment in Nolita but it was sort of an unusual situation as the roommate’s parents bought the “luxury” condo for their daughter and furnished it (higher end than a student apartment would be) and we paid them for the school year only about the same as the cost of the apartment style dorms (though in the end, they had some extras we had to pay like they had a maid service!) In senior year, my D moved to Brooklyn (Williamsburg section) and it is just a couple stops from Union Square. Her rent was much cheaper for that apartment and she had her own bedroom. The idea wasn’t so much to save on rent as she no longer wanted to live in dorms. Now, my D supports herself and lives in a different apartment in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, and pays even less, though has a nice apartment. She is just two stops on the subway out of Manhattan. So, yes, if a student lives there with roomies, it is possible to spend less on rent than the dorms and actually get MORE. Money could be saved on food if one cooks in too. My daughter now pays about half of what we used to pay for the NYU dorms.</p>
<p>As far as the 12 month lease…when my D had that for senior year and it started the summer before senior year, we do not pay for our kids’ summer housing if they live away from home and their earnings must cover their summer expenses if they are living elsewhere (which they always have) and so that summer, she sublet her share in the two person apartment to her SISTER who had a paid internship in NYC (and doesn’t live there otherwise) and my NYU daughter actually lived in the dorms for free that summer as a benefit she received for her summer job. It is not that hard to sublet your share in a rental for the summer if you are not going to be there but it definitely is an issue in terms of 12 months’ rent (if you are like us and only pay for housing for your kid while IN school). My D who went to Brown and then went to grad school at MIT, had a 12 month lease and found people to sublet her apartments in the summers when she took jobs in Europe. Pretty common to do.</p>
<p>Thanks folks for the apartment info.</p>