My son is a jazz musician and is applying to NYU/Steinhardt. Since NYU is an urban campus, I’m wondering what campus life is like. How would you describe school spirit? How is campus life different for Steinhardt students versus other schools at NYU? On the college tour, they describe Washington Square as NYU’s “campus”. Is that accurate?
Would appreciate sharing your experience as Steinhardt student. Thanks.
@vivaldi13 I have 2 daughters who graduated from NYU Steinhardt for undergrad and both have continued at NYU for grad school. My oldest D rec’d her BM degree in Vocal Performance in 2012 and is now back at NYU getting her MBA at Stern. My younger D rec’d her BFA in Studio Art in 2016 and just got her MA in Art Education this September.
I would say that NYU does not have the typical school spirit of other schools since it does not have a football team and rah-rah games to attend. There is no getting past that fact. My D’s didn’t care in the least and chose NYU because it had its urban campus and was integrated into NYC life. And there were activities and camaraderie in the dorms, especially in Freshman year when everyone is eager to meet new friends.
In the case of my music major D, taking advantage of NYC meant there was the opportunity to see shows, to audition, to get a taste of the life of an actor and to take advantage of internship opportunities. Plus her professors were working professionals in their fields.
For my sculpture major D, there were art galleries, museums and professional working artists as teachers.
The best part of being a Steinhardt student was that their majors are relatively small, within a big university setting. Campus life is no different for Steinhardt students than others except they have the advantage of a small, intimate class size. Both D’s formed very close relationships with students and faculty within their major, but also had the opportunity to meet other majors through their dorms, clubs and classes outside their majors.
My D’s stayed in NYU dorms all 4 years as undergrads. I wanted them to be closer to campus and to have the security of the dorms. This lent itself to more of a campus life experience than her friends who moved to Brooklyn or uptown had when they were upperclassman.
Being in the dorms allowed them to meet other majors. Both D’s were particularly drawn to other creative majors particularly theater, dance and film majors from Tisch. This led to many collaborative projects–my artist daughter who was also a theatre kid in HS got to sing and act in movies and help with make-up and set design. My vocal performance D who was concentrating in musical theatre got to work with other musicians who needed vocalists in different genres.
Feel free to ask questions, since this is now my 10th consecutive year as an NYU parent!!