<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm considering applying to NYU, specifically the Global Liberal Studies Program. The prospect of studying in New York and Florence, London or Italy is very appealing to me, but I'm not so sure about the academics.</p>
<p>Does the program focus on social studies, like world cultures, anthropology, languages, art and such, or is it open for a wider variety of academic options?</p>
<p>And, are there any other NYU programs that allow one year to be done at one of their international sites? The NYU website has me a little confused.</p>
<p>Any help will be much appreciated, thanks.</p>
<p>Since NYU has its own sites abroad, and the administration wants to make sure that as many students as possible study abroad, you can definitely spend an entire year abroad if your major allows it. I had several friends spend a year abroad, mostly at two different sites (though two spent a year each in Chile), and I even had one friend spend two years abroad (he was a Romance Languages/European History double-major, though, so it worked out well for him).</p>
<p>So you don’t have to be in the GLS program to study abroad? It could work with any major, all you have to do is ask the administration?</p>
<p>All you do is apply to whatever site you want to go to. For instance, at the beginning of my second semester sophomore year, I submitted a very short and simple application for NYU in London. I was accepted a few weeks later; pretty much everyone who applies gets accepted unless, I don’t know, you’re on academic probation or something. I then had to send in a deposit (I believe it was $300), and when class registration time came along, I registered directly for classes at NYU in London. I think there’s also some workshop or something you have to attend, but all it really takes is submitting the app. It is seriously so easy that an extremely high percentage of undergrads study abroad at least once during their time at NYU. The fact that some of the sites are specifically geared towards certain schools–like London for Sternies–means that pretty much no matter what school you are in, you can probably study abroad.</p>
<p>Now, if you want to study abroad at a non-NYU site, that takes some more work. NYU has some exchange programs that you can participate in, and for those, there’s a more rigorous application process. You can also petition the dean of your school to study abroad somewhere else entirely, but that takes some definite convincing.</p>
<p>Does studying abroad at an NYU site cost a great deal more than a semester at NYU (excluding traveling expense/air tickets)?</p>
<p>You pay tuition to NYU, so that stays the same. The price of housing may change, as some places will be more expensive (London), some cheaper (Prague, Accra), and in some places, you’ll need to find your own housing (Paris, Madrid). The differences will never be extremely vast, but it may be a couple thousand dollars’ difference (which I realize is a big difference to most people, myself included). </p>
<p>Aside from tuition and housing, the real big differences will be in cost of living. A place like Prague, where a giant dinner can cost $5, will be cheaper than NYC (unless they actually convert to the Euro anytime soon). A place like London, where a baked potato cost $7 when I was there, will be just as if not more expensive than NYC. It’s really good to set a budget and try to stick to it, as burning through cash is really easy when one is abroad and unable or unwilling to constantly be doing the conversion rates before buying something. There are also extra travel costs, since most students travel to other countries/cities while abroad. There are many, many cheap airlines abroad, particularly in Europe, so it’s not like a round-trip ticket will cost $500, but it is still a major expense (I would estimate that, including the Chunnel to Paris, I spent about $800 on traveling, though I managed to go to six different countries). Of course, there are NYU-sponsored trips to surrounding cities, so one can always take advantage of those.</p>
<p>There are also miscellaneous administrative fees, but the NYC campus has those as well.</p>
<p>Plus you can apply for study abroad scholarships. When I went to Prague I got an extra $2,500 scholarship, plus room was $2,600 a semester less expensive. It can actually be alot cheaper to study abroad.</p>
<p>Yes, you can also petition for an increase in financial aid if you’re studying abroad somewhere more expensive.</p>