Just got accepted to NYU Stern for 2020 and needed some guidance with the residence halls. I like to socialize and party (yes I’m aware NYU isn’t a party school but regardless), I was doing my research and Brittany, Hayden and Third North seemed to be the most fitting halls for that purpose. I want opinions on which I should choose so that I have something relatively close to Stern that’s also reasonably modern and nice to live in. I also want to have only one roommate and a kitchen somewhere in the hall (doesn’t have to be in my room). Btw, I might be mistaken about these particular halls- if you think there are other halls that would suit me, please let me know.
3N is all apartment style, so you’d have a roommate and suitemates, and it’s not very modern. It is the party dorm, but it’s over on 3rd Ave and 10th Street, so it’s a bit of a walk to Stern (~10 minutes). You’d have the kitchen you want in 3N.
Brittany and Hayden were the most recently renovated (Hayden was closed for renovations last year and just reopened for the class of 2019; Brittany was renovated in 2013, I believe) and are relatively close to Stern. The Stern building is on West 4th Street, so Hayden is closest (just about a 3-5 minute walk) with Brittany being the next closest on Broadway and 10th Street (about a 5-8 minute walk). Hayden has a shared kitchen along with a dining hall, but I don’t think Brittany has one. Beware, though – everyone wants to live in Hayden so you’ll be competing with thousands of other students to get a spot there.
Hi I am currently a student at NYU who is living at Hayden.
It is very competitive to get in, so I would recommend applying to an exploration floor at Hayden to guarantee admission. I am currently on the French floor. I like French culture, so I have participated a bit, but there is no requirement to participate one way or the other.
Hayden is completely new, HUGE renovation took place all of last year so all of the rooms are gorgeous and spacious. It is quite literally less than a 5 minute walk–probably around 1-2 minutes–to campus and has one of the best dining halls. We are all very social here as well, although that is the norm at any NYU dorm.
@whateversquared hi I am an incoming freshman who is interested in applying to the French floor. I have a few questions about it. So what kind of French activities do u guys to and does that require a lot of time commitment? Also do u think applying for exploration floor help you better make friends in college that share the same interest? And what percentage of people do they accepted to the French floor base on the application because I am planning to write my exploration floor essay now~
@whateversquared thank you so much! I’ve actually never heard of “exploration floors”. Could you tell me what they are and a little bit about them? How are they different to normal floors? Thanks again!
@tomnoble there are information on NYU website and it’s basically just a specific floor for people with the same interest. For example there are the Spanish floor that people do activities involved Spanish culture and there are also fashion floors for fashion in NYC. And some floors for people who are interest in food or TV shows… Different dorms have different floor and you can just google NYU exploration floor and there are a lot of information. But if you don’ want to join one it’s totally fine because I assume majority of the students don’t do it
@tomnoble Exploration floors are special interest floors where residents who share a common interest (e.g. French, Theatre, Photography, Fashion, Comedy, etc…) can be put together on a floor with their peers. You have more focused floor-specific events and it is much more likely that you will get into that hall, as most people don’t apply for exploration floors.
I’m currently on the French exploration floor at Hayden Hall, which is the 11th floor, and it is great. I’ve met so many great people thanks to the program. (and also, I doubt I would have gotten into Hayden without applying, and Hayden is the res hall of dreams).
@kker98 Bonjour! Firstly, all of the activities are optional, but they are almost always fun. We have had French movie nights, a weekly French study sesh, one day a week we all speak French on the floor, and lots of fun events with our FFIRs (basically French faculty members who live on the floor with us) John and Kenneth.
I definitely think that it makes it easier to find common interests, because you have a natural first subject to talk about!
Honestly, I haven’t heard of anyone not getting in this year. The language ones seem to scare some people off. I would say about 90% of the floor were French Floor applicants, and 10% were random Hayden students put here to fill up the extra two rooms.
Have fun with your essay, and if you get in be sure to go to John and Kenneth’s events and pet their cute dog Zola!
@whateversquared thank you so much! The only thing I’m worry about is that this year I can’t take French in my high school due to schedule conflict with my math class so I haven’t been practicing French for like a year and I don’t consider myself a strong French speaker. Does everyone at the French floor are so good at French? Or are there some beginner or intermediate level speakers?
@whateversquared also how many people in your dorm share a bathroom? I heard some say 2 and some say 4 people. If 4 people are sharing the bathroom, do u think it’s little bit crowed?
Is it necessary to speak Spanish or French to fit in well on those floors or do a lot of people just apply to exploration floors to live in Hayden? I’ve been taking Latin for the past six years and know little to no French or Spanish. Also, what is the NYU Show exploration floor about? I couldn’t find an in-depth description of it on the NYU website.
Are there any non-exploration floors? @whateversquared and @tomnoble I found out a couple of weeks ago that I was a dual-admit to NYUSH and NYU Stern, and I chose NYU Stern, so see you there!
@honorsstudent16 only a small portion of people apply for exploration floors. The majority of students stay in on non exploration floor so don’t worry u don’t have to join one
@kker98@SternFinance2020 It’s totally fine if you don’t speak french at all! I didn’t take French my first semester and it was no problem. I think a couple people on the floor don’t even speak French at all, and we still love them just the same.
I’m in a triple, which is a bit different at new halls like Hayden and Brittany. My room is HUGE. I mean, absolutely HUGE. We have more space than we’ll ever need. All three of us share the same bathroom, which isn’t really a big problem as the bathrooms are really nice.
@maplemaple You don’t get to choose what type of room you’re placed in other than selecting yes or no for low-cost housing. There is no option to select a double.
and needed some guidance with the residence halls. I like to socialize and party (yes I’m aware NYU isn’t a party school but regardless), I was doing my research and Brittany, Hayden and Third North seemed to be the most fitting halls for that purpose. I want opinions on which I should choose so that I have something relatively close to Stern that’s also reasonably modern and nice to live in. I also want to have only one roommate and a kitchen somewhere in the hall (doesn’t have to be in my room). Btw, I might be mistaken about these particular halls- if you think there are other halls that would suit me, please let me know.