<p>Probably opening the floodgates of info here, but can anyone (NOCCA Junior, my friend, I know you’re out there! <g>) talk a bit about which freshmen dorms are closest to CAP21 and the acting studios and are not absolutely horrible? (And no, my kid has not decided for sure yet, but we are fact finding about NYU and other schools in this regard nonetheless!) :)</g></p>
<p>I'LL BITE :D
The FRESHMEN dorms that are closest to CAP21 would be the two in/near Union Square....Third Avenue North (11th and 3rd) and University Hall (14th and 4th). U Hall is a little closer to CAP because it is right in Union Square but both are the closest to CAP of all the options. CAP is at 18th between 5th and 6th Avenues. </p>
<p>A couple of things.....first, the options for freshmen dorms are either traditional style dorms or apartment style dorms. It so happens that 3rd North and UHall are both the only apartment style dorms for freshmen. My D wanted apartment style. Basically, those two dorms have an apartment usually for four people....two bedrooms of two each, a living/dining room, kitchen and private bathroom. Traditional dorms for freshmen are located near Washington Square which is where the academic buildings are mostly near. The traditional style dorms at NYU still have private bathrooms but no living room or kitchen. </p>
<p>Some of this is personal preference but the Union Square area is a really cool place to live for these guys. </p>
<p>Your D would be at CAP three days per week for classes (though possibly at night for rehearsals if in a CAP production) and then two days per week would have classes closer to Washington Square or the Tisch building with is kinda between Wash Sq and Union Square. So, if she lives in a traditional dorm near Wash Sq, she is closer to classes on those days and if she lives in Union Square, she is closer on CAP days. The thing with Third North is that it is a few blocks south of Union Square and so maybe a little less far from academic classes than UHall but not that significant. Third North has its own dining hall. UHall uses the dining hall in the dorm adjacent to it. My D lived in Third North her freshman year. In her soph year, she lived in Union Square....even closer to CAP21 (could go home to her apartment for lunch) at Carlyle Court. She now lives off campus. Third North is a very big dorm (most NYU dorms are big but I think it may even be the biggest?) and it has a very nice interior court yard. Apartment style dorms cost more than traditional style dorms (hate to break that news). </p>
<p>Also, you have to put down like five or six choices of dorms for freshman year in order of preference. The ED frosh get first dibs, sorry. My D (who applied RD) road on the coattails of her roomie (theater friend she knew from our state for years) who was admitted ED to Tisch/CAP21 and so they got their first choice.</p>
<p>My d is in Third North. It is an apt style dorm and she loves it. I believe there are only two freshman dorms that are apt style, Third North and University Hall. I believe that University Hall is closest to CAP21. Third North is a few blocks from Union Square. All other freshman dorms are traditional style, and are farther away from CAP, but closer to Washington Square. My d loves the apt style dorm. Her apt is nice enough, but not fancy by any means. The kitchen is small, the stove has only three eyes and the oven is tiny. The counter and cabinet space is very small. There is room for a small book shelf (used as cabinet space) and microwave cart in the kitchen. The bathroom is very samll as well. Actually there is a double sink and that is nice, but the shower is tiny. I don't know how my d washes her hair in there (she has long arms)! Her bedroom is larger than expected. It has a captain style bed with drawers underneath and each girl has a desk with book shelf. There was plenty of extra space so I bought another bookshelf with baskets for storage. She has mentioned that the bedrooms in other Third North apts are not as large as hers. I believe that her apt may be different than others because it only has two bedrooms. Her suitemate is the RA and she has a bedroom to herself (no roomate). The living area is small, but has fabulous windows. The kitchen has a great window as well. A food plan is not required for students who live in apt style dorm. Most freshemen students in Third North do have a food plan, but my d chose not to. This has worked out well for her. I hope this helps.</p>
<p>NMR, we toured three of the dorms, the 3 on Washington Square (Goddard, Weinstein, Hayden) on Saturday. They were all very similar. Several people said they liked having the Washington Square park right outside their window.</p>
<p>Someone said Hayden is the most social. We saw one dorm room in each, two were 2-person rooms, one was a set of 2 2-person rooms sharing a bathroom. </p>
<p>If your D wants traditional style dorm room, Brittany and Rubin are up on 10th and closer to Union Square. Neither has air, but they won't be there at the time our D's were at CMU last summer! Brittany is on 10th and Broadway so maybe a tad more convenient, Rubin is on 10th and 5th Avenue. Our friend said a lot of her friends in Tisch lived in Brittany.</p>
<p>We didn't go into either of these two dorms, but from the people I talked to, they sounded similar. Rubin has a dining hall in it, Brittany does not. Students can eat at ANY of the dining halls.</p>
<p>Union Square also has a fairly new Trader Joes and Whole Foods. </p>
<p>And no, my D still has not made a decision yet. This is so much harder than I ever expected it to be!!</p>
<p>Nolamom, are you J's mom? Hiiii. This is G. In case you were a little creeped out just now, haha.</p>
<p>Hi NMR! I actually answered your question in my thread on the NYU forum. But you asked the question in two parts on my thread, so I guess you forgot :-(. But Soozie covered your answer well, so yay!</p>
<p>And I'm soo excited about next year's housing and stuff...I'm living in Palladium (which is right next door to U-Hall...U-Hall looks kind of sterile and hospital like, the same as Palladium, but that's because they are brand new buildings, only about four or five years old each...but there's no vermin/bugs at least, and a creative Tischie could do wonders with the room), and basically I'm in love with the fact that there are 3 grocery stores (Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and Food Emporium) that are right there for me to shop at. I'm so excited about cooking next year...if I were a freshman again, I would have picked U-Hall based on its convenience for studio and the fact that I would have been able to make my own food all year. But I love living in Hayden, it has its charm and it is quite the social dorm...most of the people at Hayden are ED, but I got in as an RDer easy through the Explorations. Yep yep.</p>
<p>NOCCA Junior,
My D spent the summer working in NYC last year and lived in Palladium and yeah, having Trader Joes downstairs and Whole Foods up the block, the park, the subway, all the stores, etc. was really great.</p>
<p>Yes NOCCA JUNIOR I am J's mom. I had already figured out who you were. Congrats! I heard you transferred to CAP! I think J is ging to be in Third street next year, but I am not sure. She is so busy that we rarely talk for more than one or two minutes. By the way it is her birthday today.</p>
<p>NOCCA Jr, what is Explorations?</p>
<p>another dorm question that didn't occur to me on Saturday when I was right there ... one room we saw had 2 rooms with 2 girls in each and a shared bathroom. It looked like the only entrance to the 2nd room was through the 1st. Is this correct? So if you came home late at night, you would have to walk through the first bedroom to get to yours? Or did I just not see the door in the 2nd bedroom?</p>
<p>I have no inside knowledge, MOM, but my guess is that is probably the way it is. The NYU dorms are mostly old apartment buildings that have been renovated into dormitory space, so squirrelly things like one kid having to walk through another's room to get to her or his own would probably happen. Maybe NOCCA Jr, bearer of all Tisch knowledge, can comment and reassure us moms and dads who may be paying through the nose for housing that this is NOT true. NOCCA, my friend, what say you?</p>
<p>Unfortunately, it is true. Not all dorms have a set up like that, but some do. There are also some rooms which have a 'cut-out' in one wall which can be an issue with privacy and noise. My D did not live in either of those situations during her years at Tisch but she had friends who did.</p>
<p>Good thing the kids are young and resilient/flexible. Of course, an old and tired person like me also could probably adapt, as I am usually so exhausted that a rock band could be playing in the corner of my bedroom and it wouldn't wake me. ;)</p>
<p>Hi Nolamom! Yeah I did I'm so excited about next year! J is dorming at Gramercy Green next year, NYU's fab new dormitory on 23rd and 3rd Ave. It's about 9 blocks away from where I'll be living (at Palladium, on 14th in between 3rd and 4th...loves the grocery stores and Union Square, as Soozie's daughter can also attest to!). And yay I know it's her birthday today! I'm going to be at her little get-together on Saturday night to celebrate.</p>
<p>Hi NMR! Yes, it is true that some people have to walk through other people's rooms to get to their own...but it's not too too bad. Living in New York, you sort of have to get used to noise. Living in Hayden, a very social dorm, I have to get used to noise haha. The rooms, however, are quite big for college dorm rooms (except for Weinstein ewwwwwwww), and the location just cannot be beat. Explorations and Special Interest Housing in general are, for the most part, themed floors that have programs for the students living on each floor. There are special optional programs based on the theme of the floor. A student must apply through Residential Education, and it's an application generally of four questions of a paragraph each. The programs are optional for people on the floor, however, and the RAs of these special floors get more money for programs for students. I live in the French House in Hayden, and I've seen so many things (museums, Broadway shows, etc.) for free that I might not have gone to/heard of had I not been living on the floor. Explorations is generally an easier way into the dorm you want as well, because even though they're a bit competitive based on the floor, not too too many people are actually going to fill out the application for it. Next year I'm living in Palladium's International House, which is a special new initiative in the Special Interest Housing suites, and basically around 60% of the residents on the two suite floors will be international; in addition, there will be communal dinners, guest speakers, community service projects, and all kinds of ways to become involved in both the international community of NYC and NYU. I know I have a tight Tisch schedule, and for me doing something like this helps me become even more of a part of the greater NYU community. I'm also double majoring starting next year in Arabic/Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, so that complements that as well. It doesn't hurt to have one of the few singles in Palladium too, especially to rehearse songs and monologues and stuff :-).</p>
<p>My daughter has not been in a dorm set up in that way (walking through a room to get to another) and so I guess these set ups exist but just know that is not necessarily the norm at all dorms. It wasn't in the three my D has lived in. </p>
<p>I am not NOCCA Junior but I can answer your question about "what is Explorations?" My D has not participated in these but these are an OPTION in housing, and will be thoroughly explained when you get the housing information to sign up. Explorations are like themed communities often for a floor in a dorm and if you sign up for one, you live where that themed community is (compared to being in a housing lottery and just requesting dorms). There are Exploration communities just for first year students. There are organized activities and so on in that group. It is not simply just a place to live. </p>
<p>Here is a little blurb that is just the basics of what it is and there is much more information on the website at NYU:</p>
<p>
[quote]
The Explorations program at NYU is a network of theme-based communities across the campus that intentionally places students into a community where living and learning is dynamic and constant. The theme in each community is developed through programs and activities which are planned by the resident assistant (RA), a faculty member designated for the floor (Faculty Affiliate), and the residents on the floor. NYU has specialized Explorations communities in both the FYRE (First Year Residential Experience) and upper-class halls. Many of our upper-class communities are designed by students themselves.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I will add that these sound like something fun to be a part of. My child was not interested. I do think it is important at college to "belong" to some sort of "groups" and in her case....her "groups" are Tisch, her studio, her a capella group, Tisch Scholars and so on, not a structured residential group. But some may want such a group for "belonging". Tisch however, does have that small group feeling with studios. Anyway, I have to say that dorm living, at least in the apartment style dorms (not counting if in Explorations) from my observation, are not that community-ish, as compared to say, my own dorm experience in college or the one my other D had in her freshman dorm. For my D at NYU, the apartment style dorm was a place to LIVE...but not where she was friends with kids on "the hall" like at traditional schools or dorms....she has LOADS of friends but they were and are not centered on who lives on her floor, etc. In freshman year, she did have friends she knew through Tisch or before attending NYU who happened to also live in her building, but many who lived in other buildings.</p>
<p>EDIT....OOPS....I POSTED WHILE NOCCA JUNIOR WAS POSTING AND SO DIDN'T KNOW HE ANSWERED YOU ALREADY.</p>
<p>Folks, I noticed in the NYU housing info sent to my D that it said that kids could request friends as roommates, as long as the friend was requesting them. If four kids went in together to request a suite in an apartment style dorm, would that help four freshmen get one of their more-top choice dorms? The forms say that you have to list your top 6 choices ....</p>
<p>You definitely can request roomies if the roomies make the same requests and also list the same dorms in the same order of preference. I cannot imagine why a group of four would have better odds at their first choice than a group of two in terms of freshmen housing.</p>
<p>Because it would make things twice as easy for the housing and residential office. In other words, they are taking care of four people at once, rather than only two. And four times easier for NYU's housing office than matching up a kid who is alone and has no one requesting to be roomies with him or her. Well, that's my theory, anyhoo. Might be all washed up, for sure. :)</p>
<p>May sound logical but I am not sure it has any effect on getting the dorm you want. In the apartment style dorms, there are usually two bedrooms in an apartment with two kids in each. If you apply with a roomie, they just put those two in ONE room and two others in the other room....I don't think there is much of a match up of who is in the entire apartment unit. Perhaps there is some effort in matching roomies IN THE SAME BEDROOM on some very very basic criteria on a form (sleeping, cleanliness habits, for example) but I do not think that they do that for all who share the apartment. I don't know but my assumption is that going in as four for freshman is not an advantage in getting a first choice dorm. I don't even thinking going in as two roomies for one bedroom in an apartment or suite is an advantage in getting a first choice freshman dorm at NYU. I just do not believe it works that way there. You could call housing and ask.</p>
<p>Oh, well, my theory made me happy while it lasted. But thanks for explaining the way it works in the real world, my friend. :)</p>
<p>NMR....I think this is how it would work for freshmen at NYU but honestly your best bet would be to ask the housing office as I do not have any inside information for this school in this capacity and just wrote what I think based on what I know, but it is not pure fact with regard to NYU freshman housing.</p>