<p>Hello, babiez. I'm a freshman in the Dramatic Writing department at Tisch, and would be happy to answer any questions you have about NYU life - dorms, NYC livin', or whatever sundry questions tickle your fancy. (Just, please don't ask me to chance you.)</p>
<p>Hey! I’m really glad you are doing this post, can you tell us how the dorms are? The online descriptions are too general, I feel like hearing from someone who actually lives in one is the best way to get a feel of what it’s like.</p>
<p>Also if you could recommend a dorm, which one would it be?</p>
<p>The things I am looking for are:
Proximity to class
Size of room (very important)
dining is close (close means like 3 blocks)</p>
<p>Hey, I’m also an NYU Freshman and I can give my thoughts on Rubin.</p>
<p>Pros
-Rubin’s rooms are relatively large, wood floor instead of tile tile is nice
-Cheap. I have the cheapest possible room for a freshman (LCT)
-Very good location. It’s 5 minutes from both Washington Square Park and Union Square, which are two places you’ll go to often. It’s nice living somewhere in the middle. Also living on 5th ave is great 
-Our lounge got renovated last summer and it’s AMAZING (seriously everyone who sees it gives us compliments–nice cushy chairs, huge flat-screen TV, billiards, ping pong, dance studio, black box theater, piano room)</p>
<p>Cons
-Worst dining hall.
-No AC; this makes a fan an absolute necessity from September-mid October. After that it’s a non-issue.</p>
<p>Not as knowledgeable about the other dorms, but Weinstein has two good dining halls, one of which stays open until midnight (and has a Chick-fil-a and Subway!!). Since you’re forced to be on a meal plan, this is a godsend. I’ve been jealous of my friends who live in the Stein. It also has a great location; right on WSP. And if you’re Jewish, it’s got a Kosher cafeteria. The rooms suck; small, tile, cinderblock walls.</p>
<p>I haven’t seen the Hayden rooms, but I hear they’re a bit old and musty. Great location and dining hall.</p>
<p>Founders doesn’t have a dining hall but the rooms are huge. The building has a clean-ish sterile feel. It’s pretty far from WSP (15-20 minute walk), as well as third north, but it’s close to union square.</p>
<p>Hey!! The post below about Rubin etc. seems to be very accurate, but here’s my experience:</p>
<p>I lived in U-Hall this year and absolutely loved it. Sure, it’s more of a walk than any other freshman dorm (15 minutes to most classes, give or take), but after the first, like, four days I didn’t even notice anymore. It’s not bad at all.</p>
<p>Rooms are big and NICE - it used to be an upperclassman dorm, so it’s suite-style, with two bedrooms and a large common room, plus a little kitchen and bathroom. The bedrooms are nice-sized, and the closets are HUGE. Apparently, most dorms don’t even have real closets? I don’t know. Makes for some great hide and seek opportunities. The rooms are new-looking, clean, and spacious enough. Obviously, not huge, but the common rooms can fit up to 10 people totally comfortably (there’s a 2-person couch, an armchair, then a table with 4 chairs).</p>
<p>U-Hall doesn’t have a dining hall per se, but we do have the burger studio/mini mart in our basement, which is really convenient when it’s 10 at night and all you want is a milkshake. We’re also literally 10 steps from Palladium, which is a sophomore dorm with arguably the best dining hall (also a great gym, if you’re into that). It’s also less than a block from a Trader Joe’s and Food Emporium, so you shan’t want for groceries, either (work that kitchen!)</p>
<p>Here’s some general knowledge of other dorms, based on my experience:</p>
<p>Rubin is fine. Rooms are spacious, usually, and have nice high ceilings and wood floors. However, like stated, they have the worst dining hall by far, and I’ve always felt that it had sort of a weird smell/old-building vibe going on. The rooms that I’ve seen are either fairly large or fairly small - I think it depends on whether you do low-cost, double vs triple, etc.</p>
<p>Hayden is nice. I kind of secretly wish I live in Hayden, except then I wouldn’t have my delightful kitchen (I cook a lot). It’s a beautiful brick building, literally right smack on the square, with a good dining hall (very vegetarian and vegan friendly!) with the best cookies maybe in New York. Rooms that I’ve seen are surprisingly spacious - and the ones on the top floors have some INCREDIBLE views. I really like the windows in Hayden rooms, they’re old and big and black and trendy-looking. However, like the other poster said, it is a fairly old building, so rooms can feel sort of janky/falling-apart.</p>
<p>Weinstein rooms are tiny and awful. I’ve only been in one but I felt like I was dying. Some people really like it, though, and it’s right above not one but TWO dining halls!! Also has the best location in terms of proximity to classes, excepting Goddard.</p>
<p>Goddard is like a specialty hall for community service (look into it, I don’t really know), my friend lives there and the rooms are a little small but nice. It’s literally next door to the main CAS building, right on the square.</p>
<p>Third North is sort of the cool kid of freshman dorms. It’s the biggest dorm by far, you’ll inevitably notice that 70% of your friends live in Third North. Rooms are suite-style, like U-Hall, with two or three bedrooms plus a kitchen and bathroom. It used to be sort of gross, but they’ve recently renovated it, so it’s now very clean and nice. A little less spacious than U-Hall depending on the room (lots of variety). About the same walking distance from campus, perhaps a shade closer. It has an OK dining hall, plus it’s in a fantastic neighborhood for going out.</p>
<p>Founders is giant and part of it is an old church? I don’t know, I kind of like it. The rooms are ENORMOUS, like the size of my common room and then some, but they don’t have kitchens when they easily could. The big size is kind of awkward, honestly. My friends and I call it the “Facebook Dorm” because, yeah, it’s very sterile, everything is white and blue. Closer to campus than U-Hall by about two blocks.</p>
<p>Bottom line: if you want a kitchen/suite-style living, U-Hall is the place to be. If that doesn’t matter to you and you want to be closer to classes, I’d go with Hayden. Again, Rubin is the cheapest, Founders has the biggest rooms - it depends on what you want!</p>
<p>NYU Local did a fairly thorough article on this, if you’re interested in doing further research.
[NYU</a> Local’s Guide To First Year Dorms For NYU’s Class Of 2016 · NYU Local](<a href=“http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/04/03/nyu-locals-guide-to-first-year-dorms-for-nyus-class-of-2016/]NYU”>http://nyulocal.com/on-campus/2012/04/03/nyu-locals-guide-to-first-year-dorms-for-nyus-class-of-2016/)</p>
<p>Oh, you know what? U-Hall may not even be available to freshmen next year, I totally forgot about that. I know it used to be a sophomore dorm, then they moved freshmen in this year while they renovated Brittany Hall. I’ve heard mixed rumors about whether it will continue to be a freshman dorm. I’m PRETTY SURE it will be (it’s still under “freshman” on the NYU website), but if you later find I’ve led you astray, deepest apologies.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore in high school and NYU is my dream school. Unwashed wondering how competitive the dramatic writing department is application wise? Also personally what is your take on the school? I can’t thank you enough.</p>
<p>Sent from my MB865 using CC</p>
<p>I’m into the sciences (like bio/neuro). Is NYU strong in the sciences too? (I would go to CAS bc Poly is too engineering/math/chem based)</p>
<p>Abaxter15 - so, during our orientation, they actually had a fun little Q&A sesh about the admissions process for DW. Basically, it’s fairly competitive - there were something like 260 applicants and there are 48 students in my grade. But it’s important to remember that they’re NOT looking for perfection - they stressed this like crazy - they want to see a unique voice, clear passion, and potential for growth. They said there were applications where the writing was “absolute ****,” but the student was admitted because they had a clear voice and seemed like they would grow well in the program. They also pointed out that there were crazy-talented applicants who weren’t qualified academically for NYU and were rejected or waitlisted. This isn’t a great general statistic, but my PERSONAL situation was as follows: I studied playwriting/screenwriting throughout high school and, I THINK, submitted a fairly strong portfolio. My academic numbers weren’t STELLAR - in high school I had a 3.22 unweighted GPA, but a 2140 SAT and 32 ACT. I was admitted regular decision. Since you’re a sophomore, I’d say study up, work hard, read plays, watch good films, and figure out your style. Also, don’t get TOO caught up in the idea of a “dream school” - you never know what you’re going to end up wanting at the end of the day (I almost didn’t apply to NYU because I wanted to go to UMich SO badly and didn’t think I cared about other schools - I got into both and ended up here at NYU and am happy as a clam). ALSO, since it seems like you’re really into the program, feel free to PM me and I can add you on Facebook or something haha.</p>
<p>@elnamo - honestly, I’m not SUPER into the whole science front, so I may not have the best possible answer, but from what I understand, NYU’s scientific programs are pretty great, especially their school of neuroscience. I have a floormate with a bio major who seems pretty content with/challenged by his classes.</p>