Hello my fellow nyu 2023! Just wondering if you have applied for housing, what were your top three dorms and why?
For other nyu students, alumni, parents, what dorm did you/your child stayed in their freshmen year and how was it?
The top 3 are normally Lipton, Brittany and maybe 3rd North. Mine’s was in Founders in a 2 bedroom 4 person suite and loved it. It’s about a 10-15 walk from Washington Sq. Huge rooms. Very close to Union Sq.
I am a strong Brittany advocate. I can’t imagine having lived anywhere else freshman year 
DO NOT pick Weinstein. It is in serious need of renovation. Very old, run down and dirty. Looks and feels like a 1950’s prison. The hallways are cramped. There are ants and roaches everywhere. Rooms and bathrooms are dirty. There is hair and dirt waxed in to the bedroom floors. There is mold and mildew in the bathrooms around the tub fixtures, vent cover, and floor tiles. This mold and mildew is impossible to clean. No consistent hot water, I lived there one semester and had maybe 5 hot showers total. It’s very noisy in the rooms, you can hear everything from the suites surrounding you and from the street. I wish I could upload the disgusting pictures of my room and bathroom for all to see.
My D was in Brittany last year and liked it a lot - great location, nice dorm, everything is in good shape. It was quieter than other freshman dorms which has both pros and cons - it was a great “sanctuary” but not super social. My friend had a D in Weinstein and I didn’t hear of any of the problems above - she seemed pretty happy with her choice. Third North sounded like the most social “fun” dorm for freshmen.
D has access to her finances now, and she can see she has been placed in 3rd North. Interesting since it was not high on her list.
Incoming freshman you should know…1. You cannot choose your dorm. They have a ranking system 1-10 and sometimes you might not even get one of your top 3. 2. You cannot choose your roommates, NYU will do it for you based on 4 questions. 3. NYU will place you with roommates that you have nothing in common with. Your roommates will likely be from a different part of the US or even a different part of the world. They will not have the same major or be in the same school as you. Basically, no common ground to build connections. 4. The administration does not do enough for incoming freshman to come together and socialize, you will pretty much be on your own meeting new people. This will be hard unless you are an extreme extrovert.
This was communicated during the info session/tour. They prize diversity and want people to interact with students from different backgrounds. They also don’t want cliques from school perpetuating into college, which is why as a freshman you can’t choose to room with your BFF since pre-K. My daughter took this information as a positive for NYU, and was less enthused with schools that let you choose freshman roommates.
As for getting dorm preferences, in none of the colleges my daughter looked at was any choice guaranteed,and there were certainly others that gave you up to 10 options to rank.
Socializing… I’m sorry you have had a bad experience. I have heard mixed stories about that, as we did at the other big urban schools my daughter was looking at. It does seem a bit more difficult than at the more traditional campuses. Some people just find it easier and others don’t. Then again, you hear similar things about non-frat types at Greek-heavy schools, etc.
@OllieCat We were expecting the same when assigned housing. #3 on the list did not hold true for D. She has connected with all of her suite mates. Three of the four girls have quite a bit in common with D. One is in the same school. One has a similar performing arts major, and her roommate lives an hour away from us.
It can be hard on freshmen if they are placed with incompatible roommates. My D got very lucky with her room - she’s visiting a suitemate this summer on vacation and rooming in a double with her freshman roommate next year. But it doesn’t work out for everyone. The introvert / extrovert thing is a challenge too - part of the appeal of NYU is the independance of living right in “The City” but that means there’s no central gathering place, no real “campus hangout” where you see the same people every day. I think many introverts would do better socially in smaller schools where community is built-in.
@SJ2727 I didn’t want to room with my BFF since K since no one else I knew was going to NYU. I only wanted to have something in common with my roommate(s)…just one thing. But I’m not sure what I expected when there were only 4 questions regarding roommates and habits on the housing application. Yes, I did know the policy but when NYU is your dream school, you tend to ignore the stuff that MIGHT go wrong. This was completely MY BAD. What would be nice, however, is if NYU gave you the choice and maybe you could find someone on a class FB page or on Room Surf. A more extensive housing questionnaire would also be helpful. Even the 4 questions I answered were completely ignored by NYU Housing when placing me. I could have cared less where my roommates were from but I would’ve had a much better experience IMO if I had something in common with them.
@VANYU2021Mom my D applied for NYU. Just reading the forums, I am getting so nervous because they are saying if you are accepted, you see changes in your portal such as financial aide, housing, etc.
Is that true? Since your D attends? Just want to brace myself and be ready to support my D if she didn’t get in.
Most people are reporting they see housing and all that. All we see is a check list stating that everything is completed received. Also can only see “Summer” housing ONLY not fall. So just wondering for some in sight for actual students/parents versus a ton of afraid people like myself hoping for any glimpse of an answer.
@momstress2020 My D applied ED last year. She had no changes and was accepted. Some did, some didn’t. There were no clues until the decisions were posted to the portal (which last year came before the email).
@yellahamma thank you! that is a little reassuring
Hi @momstress2020 my advice would be to not get caught up with all of that because it isn’t true. Those changes mean nothing. The only way I thought I knew for sure that she was accepted was because of a blog posted by the NYU admissions committee. I was still having doubts. But at the time the committee walked you through the whole admissions process step by step; and how your application is broken up into regions; how admissions officers are assigned; how the application moves on or not after being read multiple times. IF you were accepted you were moved on to the final stage and that was the financial aid office. I was very apprehensive even after reading that blog when the financial aid office reached out for additional information. I showed my daughter the blog but we were still cautiously optimistic.
Since the 15th is on a Sunday, decisions will most likely come out on Friday and the earliest will be Thursday. This is how it has been from years past if I’m not mistaken. Always before the 15th. Good luck and I hope she gets in.
VANYU2021Mom Thank you sincerely