<p>I looked at the housing website, and I noticed that after Freshmen year, all the dorms are those apartment style dorms which cost about 2,000 more. So are upperclassmen not allowed to stay in the traditional dorms like 12th Street or Brittany?</p>
<p>I believe all the upper classmen dorms are apartment style. The freshmen dorms are ONLY for freshmen. Freshmen do not share dorms with other classes.</p>
<p>I had to look up “12th Street”…it’s a new freshman dorm (traditional style)! Cool.</p>
<p>Be aware that after Sophmore year a lot of the upperclassman move into their own apartments all over NYC. Some move to Brooklyn. As a parent this was very upsetting but I got use to it. My Daughter is now living in a tiny apartment in the West Village. She pays almost a thousand a month. The moving expense was $500.</p>
<p>actressmom, after soph year, my D has also lived off campus. Eventually, she moved to Brooklyn. I too had to get used to it. LOL. However, the rent your D is paying is less than the dorm rent! Be happy!</p>
<p>My D lives in Third Avenue North and I told her to enjoy it, because it is no doubt the nicest apartment she will ever live in in the Union Square area!</p>
<p>NMR…my D used to say the same thing…that she’d never get such a good location again! However, I’ve got to tell you, that she has a lot more “apartment” now for less money, even though it is not in Union Square (but is a few stops away on the L).</p>
<p>Isn’t it really inconvenient to live off-campus though? What about food? and isn’t Brooklyn like 30 minutes away from Manhattan? So that would mean getting up like really early on studio days lol.</p>
<p>As far as food goes, even IN the dorms, my D dropped all meal plans after freshman year (and for second semester of freshman year she went to a smaller meal plan…10 meals). She did not want to eat the cafeteria food as she is into healthy eating and also it is not that convenient with her schedule with CAP and rehearsals to run back to an NYU cafeteria for meals. She gets meals on the go all the time (it’s New York City!!). She also can cook if home but she is rarely home. Her off campus apartment in junior year was in Nolita…walking distance to academics and Tisch but used a subway to get to CAP (though switched to ETW second semester and that is in the Tisch building in walking distance). This year (senior year), she wanted to live in Brooklyn. I would have preferred walking distance to school but she has a mind of her own (and you do get more in an apartment for less money there). Her apartment for most of this year was five subway stops from Union Square. She moved a few weeks ago and her apartment now is just two stops off the L out of Manhattan (that means just a few stops from Union Square). She doesn’t truly have to get up earlier. Even some NYU dorms and many other Manhattan apartments are a few subway stops from NYU studios or classes. There are parts of Brooklyn that would be far away but again, she is just two stops off the L (which runs into Union Square) out of Manhattan.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info!</p>
<p>Yeah, my D had a meal plan for the first semester only and didn’t want it for the second, and I have to tell you, we’ve saved money! In addition, she often stays with friends who live in Queens and rides the subway in (about 35 minutes each way) and has no problems getting to class on time. You will be surprised at how quickly you learn to navigate the subway system to get anywhere you want to go! It’s truly wonderful and I recall commenting to my husband that if our D went to NYU, at least we would never have to worry about her having/needing a car at college!</p>
<p>Its her money!!!I am happy but I can’t believe how tiny her room is and it is a 6th story walk-up!!! I just felt safer when she was in the dorm.</p>
<p>Six story walk up…yikes…I hope you were not the ones helping her move the furniture in! 
The apartment my D just moved out of that she was in all year was a second story walk up and my husband did the move INTO it. My D’s new apartment is a third story walk up but this is the FIRST move for either of my kids’ many moves that we did not do for them and my D hired some boys and a truck and they did it. Phew. However, my D certainly has had more space in her three apartments compared to her dorms where she had to share a bedroom. She’s had her own room and just more space overall. And it does cost less. We have paid for it, though it is less than the dorms at NYU. Her brand new apartment is the least she has paid yet but she is very happy about this as starting in June, the rent is on her!</p>
<p>My D has stayed in the NYU housing system because she travels during the summers. Like some of the others, she’s given up her meal plan - When she’s too busy to cook, her friends swipe her in on their meal cards, because she feeds them regularly. She’s been able to experience the different neighborhoods in Manhattan, which has been fun for her. She really considered moving to an apt for this coming year, and Brooklyn was on the list. She decided against it for grad school reasons, not for safety or inconvenience.</p>
<p>These kids wind up being smart, practical, independent and resilient. Really, if you have an NYU type kid, I wouldn’t worry about the dorms.</p>
<p>BeezMom, you bring up a good point about the summers. I do not pay rent for my kids in the summer if they choose to live and work away from home (and they do). </p>
<p>D1 had an apartment her senior year of college and sublet it out that one summer because she had a job in her field in Paris. Now she is in grad school and again with a 12 month lease. She just landed a summer job in her field in the French Alps and just got someone to sublet her Cambridge (MA) apartment as she can’t afford to pay rent at two places. </p>
<p>D2, in junior year, was able to rent an apartment for just the school year as she was renting from the parents of her apartment mate who bought their D the condo, unlike most 12 month leases. Then, for her apartment in senior year, she sublet her share in it last summer to her own sister who paid for it as her older sister had an internship in her field in NYC last summer and my NYU kid had a summer job that came with free housing in the NYU dorms last summer and so her sister lived in her apartment and she lived in the dorm! This summer will be different because starting next month when D graduates, she’ll be supporting herself and paying rent all year round and she has a summer job lined up that will cover her rent and expenses. </p>
<p>But yes, if you have a 12 month lease and the parents cannot pay for summer rent while not in school, the student would have to either cover the rent by working in that same location or else sublet the apartment out. That is not something that someone who lives in dorms has to deal with.</p>
<p>I think most kids can feed themselves on less than it costs to buy a meal plan. But the worst case scenario (moneywise) is to buy the meal plan and then not have them use it (in other words, have them waste it) and have to pay for meals bought outside the plan.</p>
<p>NMR…my daughters are not saving money not being on the meal plan. We give them the equivalent sum of money equal to a full meal plan to pay for their food. I think one COULD save money if they cook. My girls only cook once in a while because they are honestly rarely home at dinner time and have to eat more on the run.</p>