Hi. There’s 9 days left until I have to make a decision on where I’ll be going and I’m stressing out so much.
(PS. for NYU I got into the Gallatin school of individualized study, where you get to create your own major. Also, Wellesley and NYU are both are giving me pretty much the same amount of aid.)
Ok so a little bit about me:
I love art (drawing mainly) and I plan to at minor in it in college
As for my academic interests, I'm all over the humanities and social sciences: psychology, philosophy, polisci, history, writing, anthropology, sociology, you get the gist.
-I'm from Mexico but I currently live in the suburbs near Houston, Texas.
Here is an overview of what I think are the pros/cons of each school for me:
WELLESLEY
advantages:
academically prestigious (in academia, not rlly a big name for the general public though)
pretty campus
strong alumnae network
supposed to prepare u well for grad school, which i wanna do
supposed to have strong sense of community bc of the small population
no meal plans lol, we have unlimited food supply
disadvantages:
doesnt seem to have a lot of things to do
grade deflation/stress culture/overall academic intensity and competition (im already prone to stress and i dont want to suffer it any worse)
i feel like it can get rlllly lonely.. since the campus is really big compared to the population, everything seems kind of like a big isolated bubble away from Things idk
communal bathrooms ;/
even tho its close to boston it rlly isnt that close.. so no points for location
NYU
advantages:
location !!!!! i love new york city sooo much and i feel like besides having more things to do it probably has way more opportunities too
no communal bathrooms at all lol
maybe i wouldnt be so academically stressed ?? idk though
disadvantages:
no campus... i think i want a campus so that i could get "the college experience" but then again i could also be wrong abt this and maybe the no campus thing is actually something id prefer ? i ddont knoow
ok so the school within nyu that i applied to is called the gallatin school of individualized study where u basically get to build ur own major using any and all interests that u have (which is like perfect for me since i have so many interests) buuut i feel like maybe having so many options could become overwhelming? does that make sense? maybe the freedom could become trapping? ff what am i saying idk
maybe nyu is more career-oriented instead of grad-school oriented :/ but again i dont really know for sure
So as you can see, I’m a mess. The biggest reason why this decision is being so difficult for me is because I don’t really know what I want (regarding if I want a big or small school, city or suburbs, co-ed or not co-ed, etc). Most people know what they want, and since my two schools are very different, this SHOULD be an easy decision. But I don’t know what I want and my gut isn’t telling me much.
Wellesley has a bus that runs to Boston frequently so it’s easy to get in on the weekends (or during the week if you have time). Also you can walk to the commuter rail or take an Uber to the subway. There is a weekend shuttle to the nearby mall/movie theater. There are a few stores in Wellesley that you can walk to from campus too. The campus is large, but there is open space and the lake so the distance between dorms and classroom buildings isn’t that far. It’s a beautiful campus.
How did you feel when you visited each school? Do you want the women’s college in the suburbs or co-ed city experience?
Make a pro/con list highlighting factors that are most important to you.
Wellesley is very well known even outside of academia. It’s very elite. But really so is NYU. But for different reasons and appealing to different types of students
I think based on your pro con list above that you would be well suited for NYU. You seem more excited by it in the limited info you provided. It’s an exciting place to live. Lively arts culture and lots of options. You don’t seem to want a particular path but Iove lots of things. The build your own major sounds perfect for you.
@MA2012 my post was a pro/cons list haha. and i said at the end, i don’t /know/ what it is i want. i like both coed and women’s. regarding the boston thing, i know its easy to get there, but many current wellesley students tell me that no one actually rlly goes to boston often. (also, as for location, i do heavily love new york city more than boston).
when i visited wellesley i really liked the people and their intellectuality, but, as i said in my list, it felt lonesome and sort of boring. but safe, like a bubble. i was ready to commit, until i visited nyu a week later and loved it too.
honestly i feel like all admitted student days are meant to be like advertisements for schools so i’ll love them there because they put forward their best possible image. i cant know for sure right now how they really are.
people say that when u visit a school that is “meant” for you, you’ll feel it in your gut and u’ll just KNOW… but i didnt feel anything at either one
@privatebanker i do seem more excited about nyu, but that might just be because the prospect of being in new york city is exciting to me because of broadway, of art, of the life of the city. but i dont know if im /ready/ for the city, since ive never lived in it. i dont know how hard it would be for me to adjust… and i dont know how good nyu is at preparing for grad school
Thousands of kids each year and 10 million people can make it work. I am sure you are made of the right stuff. But it is intimidating for sure. It’s an electric atmosphere but filled with noise lights and action.
You’ll be in a classroom or Library studying a lot
Are you politically active because Wellesley has a lot of things you can do related to activism you can get into.
Go to Wellesley! You can get on a train at Westwood station just minutes from your campus and take the Acela to nyc any weekend Lots to do in Boston. And just because other kids are lumps on a log doesn’t mean you can’t and I’m sure you’ll connect with others like you. Do well and go to columbia for grad school to get the nyc experience and you’ll have the best of both worlds. I think since you are unsure about the nyc immersion you would be well served in a bucolic campus setting with other smart young women.
@privatebanker columbia is a dream. i got waitlisted last month but we all know theres no hope in that lol. as for doing well at wellesley i feel like thats gonna be really hard, since the academics are so intense and grade deflation doesnt help either
Yes you will. You got in and also to NYU which is no easy a either. So I have now boiled it down in my mind. Now that these options have become real and not a dream or a validation of your hard work at some level.
NYU is a bit scary because of the intensity of the city
Wellesley is a bit scary because of the intensity of the classes and other students
City vs mean girls
I think you can handle the competition and visit the city
I know a first year at Wellesley who has gone to Boston many times this year so some women do get off campus. I’m sure some stay on campus too. This woman has friends at other Boston schools and has met with them. Maybe your host doesn’t leave campus much but some do.
Look at your pro/con list again and decide which of the factors are most important to you. It looks to me like more pros for Wellesley. As for the cons no place is perfect. Your social life will be what you make it. There are lots of activities on and off campus at both schools. Walking around the lake at Wellesley is a nice way to relax and de stress.
@momofsenior1 yes i sound more excited because the prospect of living in new york city is exciting. but that doesnt mean its the wise choice to make, since i could always be wrong about my love for nyc. who knows, maybe after a week or two i dont even like it? i cant know
You indicated that both NYU and Wellesley are giving you the same amount of aid. One thing to realize about NYU and NYC in general is that NYC is expensive. You have the city available to you and there are plenty of low-cost things to do in NYC but going out to meals and out at night is costly. Plus after freshman/sophomore years at NYU, living off campus can meet really living far afield to be able to afford housing…I know NYU students that have lived off campus in Harlem as well as in NJ, making that really not a college campus experience.
