Hi, I just received an invite to this program. Can anyone give me the rundown on what this program actually is and whether I should accept my invitation? I tried finding information about it, but overall the information is kinda vague.
Thanks
The run down:
Perks:
-A very cheap trip to Florence during winter break of your freshman year
-A very cheap trip to somewhere during spring break of your sophomore year
-Access to a few honors classes (though there aren’t many)
Requirements:
-Community service
-Maintain a GPA of 3.65 or better
-Required seminar classes once every two weeks during freshman and sophomore years
-You need to attend and write up 3 lectures a semester during your freshman and sophomore years
-You need to study abroad at some point (summers are acceptable)
-You need to apply for a DURF grant
-You need to complete an honors thesis in your major
-You need to present your research at the Undergraduate Research Conference
-You need to take a Freshman Honors Seminar course
If the requirements list sounds like things that you would be interested in doing anyway, you should do the program. Many people (and I’m NOT advocating this) just do the program for the first two years and then quit after that. It’s really up to you. I thought it was worthwhile as a designation that helped me get special consideration for things, as well as forcing me to do things that were worthwhile for future grad school apps (thesis, DURF grant, GPA). And if you hate it after you start, you can always leave the program.
@jazzcatastrophe Thanks, that is a lot of useful information! Do you know how the Freshman Honors Seminar courses differ from the required CAS Seminar courses for all CAS undergraduates? Also do you have to go on the trips? I don’t want to go to Florence during my winter break because I want to spend as much time with my family because I live far away. Also, how does the research go? Do you work alone or with others and when do you do the research? Can you do it at any time? Also how many hours of community service do you have to do a semester and does the program set up the arrangements for you? Are the “required seminar classes” for a grade? Is it easier to get top dog recommendations? I know it’s a lot of questions, but I just want to make sure before I accept the invite.
@aNerdyGangster
Yep got in that too… Wondering if it’s worth the 63K that includes Board…(Are they just trying to get us…The Supposed top 5% to come their overpriced university?)All I can say is that I am getting absolutely no Finacial Aid or money so this program is more like perks than any actual reward… Your thoughts? And also that 3.65 GPA Requirement… I would rather have a 4.0 at a small college than 3.645 at NYU… :bz
@lifeishard Yeah, I understand. 63K a year is too much. I told myself I am paying 40K MAX and NYU gave me a 37K scholarship to bust the price to 34K. I can save money on housing by doing efficiency or Rubin, so I could even get it a little cheaper. So for me, doing research and “getting in” with the top dogs at NYU is definitely worth doing the program. I would like to get either an MD or a PhD so it will definitely help.
I just got in today too with a 25k merit scholarship and I think this has pushed me over the edge for going.
NYU’s winter break is extremely long, lasting till all of January I think. So, I think I’ll be comfortable leaving one week to go travel the world!
I had planned on already expecting myself to receive a 3.7 or higher, because I really want to do the med school thing. So I’m more excited about this program than anything else!
How did you find out that you got in? Was it in Albert?
@aNerdyGangster
@whateversquared
@undecided1021
Well OK u guys got some aid though I got nada.if u want to go go but if u got better scholarship and u can be top percent at that school. Go there instead. Ultimately nyu is cut throat and man tainting that GPA is hard…
@undecided1021 I found out through an email I got yesterday at 12 PM.
@aNerdyGangster, the Freshman Honors Seminars are actual 4 credit classes that are capped at 16ish students on a specific topic of your choosing (as opposed to the CAS seminar which I think is more of an intro to college type deal? They started that after I was a freshman). They’re actually pretty cool. The specific topics vary from year to year, but it’s a way to dive in-depth into a specific topic early on in your academic career. Here’s the list from this current year: http://cas.nyu.edu/object/ug.academicprograms.seminars2014-15
@jazzcatastrophe what are the lectures you attend and also how much community service/type of community service do you guys do
yeah, all CAS freshman have to do Freshman honor seminars and the scholars have to do another seminar which is a P/F course… they just made this a rule in 2012
Also, @jazzcatastrophe how was the independent research process? How does it work? Do you do it during the summer and how intensive does the research have to be?
The more I think about it, the more I think I may not enjoy it. I really don’t want to go to Tel Aviv(yes, I know I can also go to London but London according to the NYU website only offers Organic Chemistry and Physics, and I need MCB) to study Biology in my 2nd year. It will be too much stress on me orienting myself in a new country with a different language and too much on my family. @jazzcatastrophe any perks in just doing it the first year… I really would like to do some community service
@Str8Mobbin you have that backwards, all CAS freshmen have to do the pass/fail class, the scholars have to do the freshman honors seminar in addition, though all CAS freshman have the opportunity to take a freshman honors seminar if they want to. The research process really varies from major to major, all majors have an honors track and the requirements for that are what you’d have to do. For psych, for example, it’s a year long project accompanied by two 4 credit classes (one in the fall, one in the spring), and you have to carry out and write up a project, supervised by a PhD student/post-doc/PI
@BigScaryMonster there is a Scholars Lecture Series that you can attend to get credit, but if there are other talks by speakers you find interesting outside of the lecture series, those can count towards your lectures as well. As far as community service goes, there is no required amount, just a requirement that you do it. The program organizes some opportunities that you can participate in, but you can also find your own volunteer opportunities and those can count as well.
@aNerdyGangster, don’t forget that a summer study abroad session would also fulfill the requirement, so if you have the funds to do that, that’s another option. Perks for just doing the first year would be the cheap cheap cheap trip to Florence
Cool, thanks! Do Presidential Scholars get some type of distinction at graduation? @jazzcatastrophe
And, also, I think BigScaryMonster is right. In 2012, they made it a requirement for all NYU CAS freshman to take a freshman honors seminar course which will be taught my a high-ranking professor. I looked on Albert and when I clicked on the Scholars course it shows that it’s a pass/fail class that meets for an hour a week that is only open to scholars.
Here’s a link
http://cas.nyu.edu/object/ug.academicprograms.honorsfall2013
“With the launching of the College Cohort Program in fall 2012, every CAS freshman is required to take one of these seminars.”
Those classes sound hefty in workload though.
Oh wow, I take that back. The workload is not that bad through, the one I took was pretty minimalistic, we had to write 3 papers and 2 presentations over the course of the class, and because the topic was something I was interested in, it was fine.
There is no distinction for scholars at graduation (there is only a distinction for GPA of 3.5 or higher, and then folks with Latin honors at the school specific graduation)
I just got my invite today. Does anyone know about how much work the scholars seminar is? I’ll be taking it in addition to my freshman honors seminar, calc 2, bio, and chem
It’s pretty minimal work
It says on the website that scholars study abroad either junior or senior year, but with my major I could only study abroad sophomore year. Would I be able to study abroad as a sophomore or would they kick me out of the program?
You can study abroad sophomore year (I did, and so did many people I know)