<p>Son is definiely commited to finding an undergraduate business school with the intention of majoring in finance. He has a 3.6 uw gpa with 6 AP, 28 ACT (is re-taking in October) and the usual slew of EC's to make him a good candidate. He originally was looking at U of Indiana, and Bentley and decided to throw Emory and NYU in as reaches. Although we have been in NY on vacation, I am concerned that NYU, if he should get in, would not offer a "true college experience" and am hoping to hear back from those with experience at NYU and Bentley as well as it is predominantly a business college and might also be limiting. We live in the northwest so will be making the trips east soon, just hoping to get some feedback before hand.</p>
<p>well, it will definitely take some adjusting. generally speaking, for most people at least, college is not the best introduction to city life--not to say that this should preclude him from applying/attending, as it's just one man's opinion. Just one thing to keep in mind. I suggest visiting the campus and letting him decide for himself.</p>
<p>Let me offer a contrasting point of view. My daughter is a freshman at a school in center city Philadelphia. While not as large as NYC, still very similar in many respects. A college campus defined by contiguous and non-contiguous buildings on city streets, the variety of resources, diversity of life and distractions that a city offers and the need to use common sense a night to avoid potential safety concerns. She lives in apartment style dorms with no meal plan. My daughter could not be happier and could not envision herself at a more rural college campus. Her days so far consist of going to classes, enjoying the cafes and restaurants with wifi hotspots to do work between classes, taking advantage of student rush tickets for local shows with friends and just enjoying all the resources a city has to offer. She's a city kid, she enjoys the vibrancy of city life, of being immersed in an environment that is not the "cloistered" student-centric environment of a more traditional campus. Would this work for all kids, no; you need to have the right mindset, self discipline and focus and really thrive in city life. It really depends on the kid. So discuss with yours the differences between a city campus and more traditional campus, your son's interests and desires about the living environment he wants for the next four years.</p>
<p>I went to an accepted students presentation by the president of NYU and I was very impressed about how much of a real college experience NYU intended to offer. There are lots of opportunity for seminars or small classes and many ways to get very involved with professors or other students. They do look at NYC as their campus. Though my daughter did eventually decide to go to her long time dream school on a traditional campus, the tours and talks at NYU made it a very tough decision. Just because it doesn't have a traditional campus doesn't mean it's a commuter school in a huge city. Check it out, you may be surprised.</p>
<p>My D is a city girl. She often traveled to NYC on her own beginning about age 14-15. She spent time in Columbia housing and NYU "dorms." She loves the restaurants, shopping, and activities available in the city. She also decided she did not want to go to NYU. She decided the city would be too distracting and it would be too difficult to seriously concentrate on college.</p>
<p>My D loves cities and NYC in particular. She was so convinced that she wanted a school that was in a big city. We visited alot of them! Of all the schools we visited NYU had the least "campus feel" and was the most integrated into its city.
I think the question you need to ask yourself is how much you want to have the "traditional college experience". Ultimately, My D decided that she only has a four year opportunity for "college life", but a lifetime of opportunities to live in and explore a city. She chose a university that is in the suburbs of a big city but has a traditional campus and campus life.
NYU is an amazing institution and NYC is one of the most exciting cities in the world, but NYC not a "college town" and NYU is not the prototypical college experience. I think you need to decide what type of experience you want as an 18-22 year old, because while you can always live in a big city, you can't go back to college.</p>
<p>Thanks for everyones input. Problem really is that my son doesn't even "know" if he's a city kid or not. Having gone to school in Boston myself,
there are many schools there that offer a little piece of campus environment although you still aren't getting a huge campus setting. Does anyone have any opinions about Bentley???</p>
<p>Sorry don't know amything about Bentley, but I did go to NYU. I loved NYU, but then the city was like a second home to me. I lived in the dorm for a short while and then got my own apartment with a roommate. I found that while there were lots of cool people at NYU and I made some really good friends, my main focus was the city....going to restaurants, clubs, movies, shopping, etc. I really didn't get involved in any school activities and didn't have a college campus experience. The good thing was that I had an apartment to live in right after college and didn't have to move back home and I was able to get a job in the city right away with no problem. NYU has it's pluses and minuses.</p>