<p>I have narrowed my college choices down to NYU and a state university thats 25 minutes away from where I live. The state university is pretty much paid for fully by scholarships. Also almost all of my high school friends are set on going there. My best friend and two of my other close friends already decided that if we all go there we re rooming together. I feel like I would have a great time going there because I would be close to home and be with my friends. But on the other hand, a good part of me wants to go to NYU. I visited once and I loved it. I have always dreamt of living in NYC and going to NYU would my only chance of ever living there. The only problem is I feel like I would be alone and I would have to find a new group of friends. So basically half of me wants to go to the state school because its cheap and my friends would be there and the other half wants to go to NYU because I love the city and everything about NYU. I m not to keen on the state school itself but my friends and its closeness to home is why im considering it. Im not sure if I can find a group of friends that I would be close with like the ones I have right now in high school. How many of have had this problem and what did u do? Did u find that new group of friends or did u just stay close to home?</p>
<p>My daughter is in this decision place, BUT it’s because of finance instead of friends. She WANTS to go away, make even more friends, etc. But I don’t think we can afford it. So I’m not sure I can speak to this well, but…know that most people I know made their best and LIFELONG friends while in college. If you’re going to go back to your home state and live/work…then maybe the nearby college is for you. If you think you’re going to be living in NYC, then I’d go that route (provided you can afford it, of course). If you DO stay home…I know I’ve promised my daughter that she can at least do some of NYUs summer sessions (in NYC or abroad). Like you, she’ll be saving a TON of money at the state school…so we can afford these small things AND she/you would make some friends “away” too. Good luck on your decision.</p>
<p>What about the cost of NYU? Can your family afford those hefty tuition and board costs?</p>
<p>My parents basically said that we will manage to get the money but if I go to the state school, the 50000/year would go to other purposes like R124687 mentioned.
I’m not sure if my current friends are my “lifelong friends” or not. I’m hoping to find friends that I would be closer to than my current friends if I go to New York. Is it hard to find a really close group of friends in NY?</p>
<p>unless it’s easy for your family to afford the full costs (over $51k/year) I would go with the nearly-free state university. I’m an NYU student and there are things I really like about the college and like you, I really wanted to live in Manhattan. But this college is very overpriced (most private colleges are overpriced, but nyu’s financial aid is horrible). The reason I ended up going to NYU is because the scholarship I’m on made it as cheap as a SUNY (about $20k/year) and that’s how I justified it to my parents.</p>
<p>It’s easy to make friends in college and if you come here, you’ll probably end up with a group of close friends like most students. But I wouldn’t take out loans or go into debt for it. So many people take on ridiculous loans for NYU and will struggle with them for years. The summer classes I took at my state college were smaller, taught by an actual Professor and not a 21 year old Chinese TA, and the facilities and resources were just as good as NYU’s. The only advantage NYU has to state schools is the Manhattan location, but don’t come here just for that unless you have other great reasons too. Hey, if you graduate debt-free you might live in NYC after college, whereas tons of NYU grads will probably be slumming it in a shack somewhere after graduation with a $150k BA in an arts field to pay off…</p>
<p>Costs issues aside, since Brownboy is asking about friends - I’ll bump so hopefully you can get some current NYU students to answer you. I know there are many on CC. I personally think a person decides to make friends anywhere, or they don’t. Possibly a lot about your personality. When my D goes to summer camp, she spends about 60 seconds looking uncomfortable. Then, for example, she spots a photo of a dog on someone’s bunk and says “Hey, you have a dog, me too!”…and they’re off and running and she barely waves good bye when I leave. There are some other posts on here that say that NYC is not a terribly “chummy” atmosphere. But you’ll always have your room-mate…which may or may not be a good thing. But surely you’ll hang in some public areas. And there are a lot of “get acquainted” actitivies early on. And TONS of clubs. </p>
<p>So…I don’t know how much anyone can really say beyond that. If you’re more comfortable in surroundings (including friends) that you’re used to…then local might be good for you. If you’re up for any adventure, “away” would be better. I think kids tend to change a lot in college. They’re very formative years. You sound like you WANT NYU…you’re just a little uncomfortable and don’t want to make a mistake. Might be sort of a “sink or swim” thing. Might have to DECIDE to make it happen? I think they have an admitted student’s facebook page, don’t they? Maybe you’d get to know some kids in advance, plan a meeting “Hey-you sound just like me let’s meet when we get there!”. They do have an admitted students’ weekend/day or something, right? That could be a good investment, if you’re not sure at that point. GO. Try to meet some kids then. Hang out. Drop the 'rents". You might find someone with whom you make a connection and there will be a friendly face for each of you when you come back. I’ve found that usually others APPRECIATE it when you make the first move to say hi.</p>
<p>I am going to add my .02cents. Your decision should be based on what you want to do for your future. If your finances allow, and you want to go to NYU, then this is a great opportunity that you should really consider. While NYU seems large and difficult to wrap your arms around, there is a sense of community among students, based on your dorm, explorations floors, the clubs your are involved in, etc. The dorms have a budget for outings and social events and it is up to the students to decide what they want to do. Some of the lectures are extremely large classess, but are broken up into groups for study and many of my D classes the TA’s have small groups that they work with via online studygroups, etc. My D is a sophomore. Her freshman year she was silently anxious about making friends but managed. This year she is actually good friends with all of her suitmates and they do different things together. She is working hard, having fun and getting the experience of a lifetime. If where you want to be is with your friends, then go to State school, you will save tons of money, still get a good education, you can always transfer. No school is worth major debt. But if you can do it, think outside the box.</p>
<p>I went to NYU, and what they say is true - it isn’t worth the price tag. Tuition, housing, etc. will put a large dent in your pocket and the quality of education (and facilities) just isn’t worth it. Given that your state university is paying fully for you, I’m not sure why you’re even asking this question. Note that I am assuming you are paying fully (or almost fully) for your education at NYU.</p>
<p>
Why can’t you work there later, or just take a prolonged vacation there? Keep in mind that NYC may seem alluring at first, but it gets boring fairly quickly.</p>
<p>
You are naive to think this is the “only problem”, and it is far from being one you should be justifiably concerned about. First, there are a lot of people at this school and a lot of opportunities to find “friends”, so finding some shouldn’t be difficult. Second, NYC caters to the independent, and unless you have some dependency issues, you have to learn to deal with being alone now and then. You should be far more worried about other problems, like the ones I mentioned above (price tag versus education quality / facilities).</p>
<p>In short, unless NYU is offering you a significant amount of cash or you have some important plans that you can carry out at NYU but not at your state university (and not stuff like “it is the only chance I’ll get to live in NYC”, because that’s BS), go to your state university.</p>
<p>Everyone’s pretty much summed up anything I would ever say about being at NYU. </p>
<p>In my opinion, the only thing I would argue is that the boost to your resume that coming from a “well-known” NYU program might tip me over to NYU. (Stern for business, Tisch for anything film/tv related, my program in Steinhardt for media, etc.) If there was someone majoring in a program such as english, I would tell them to save their money. And I LOVE NYU as much as someone possibly can, but I’m also realistic. </p>
<p>You can also spend the summer at NYU! NYU offers housing and classes over the summer. Summer in NYC is absolutely fantastic, and you could be filling graduation requirements for a SUNY while taking classes and hanging out in NYC in the summer! My summer roommate from two years ago was a girl who came all the way from LA for the summer. Just another option to think about.</p>