NYU students: do you like it?

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
161

<p>ive thought about this question for awhile. my answer is "no."</p>

<p>most people here have qualities which I dislike. In no order is a list of qualities that I feel describe nyu students:</p>

<p>socialite, superficial, excessively trendy, exclusive, elitist, artsy, passively aggressive, sheltered, spoiled, confused, inconsistent, self-aware, fashionable, pretentious, wears big sunglasses, gay, weird (for the sake of being weird), smart, creative, curious, and self-aware. Most of these qualities I dislike, and most of the people here are either in denial of posession of these qualities, or are fine with. I'm more a science and math guy, a bit skeptical, so this school really wasn't a good fit for me.</p>

<p>My experience here has led me to genuinely believe that at the heart of nearly every human action is the motive of self preservation.</p>

<p>As for the school; you will get taught really well. At this level in the game of life, it should be clear to you that you are a cut above the rest. You are going to learn a ton in the next four years no matter what. If you attend nyu, you'll also learn that this world is largely run by money. A lot of money goes into NYU, and though definitely not all of it comes out, they do manage to pay some damn good professors. They will teach you well.</p>

<p>Whether or not youll be happy should be the question you really should pursue the answer to. I think the only reason people fail here, and at any college, is largely due to depression. You're on your own, immersed around other people very close to your level of intelligence, really. I know you're smart, but nyu is pretty selective and pretty much everyone that goes here is smart in one way or another. </p>

<p>Everyday you go outside you see flashy millionaires walking by starving people on sidewalks built by tax money from the working class. Nobody gives a **** about you except people you know, and you only will give a **** about people you know. To some this is ideal, to others it sucks.</p>

<p>I just wanted to learn a lot, and I did. Can't complain about that. But had I gone to a school with a student body more aligned with my interests (which do not happen to be climbing a fabricated social and fiscal latter), I can't help but ponder how I would be different today. Not a great feeling, but I'll get over. You learn to survive.</p>

<p>-sam</p>

<p>ps: the guys here are 20% super social "hey baby let me date rape you" 70% "smart, artsy, well rounded, cool..." but only like 40% of them are what girls would consider "hot". and the remaining 30% are gay, some very flagrantly so, others cool about it.</p>

<p>The girls here are mostly spoiled and worry free. Very well bred. Probably the type whose dads called them "princess" a lot and got them a pony for one of their birthdays. They hold out for a handsome alpha male who could make a good faux episode of sex and the city when talking to their girlfriends about him. They are very fashionable, and have a unique sexiness to them. The real killer is this: 80% of the hot girls at nyu are the wannabe socialite celebrity lifestylers who bang the 20% super social guys listed above. The other 20% of the hot ones wouldn't dare talk to someone like you, because they are shy and only talk to guys who wear buttons of the bands they like. Seriously, the way to succeed with girls is to have about 20 different personalities and wear a different one each day, and see who takes the bait. Then slowly reveal yourself, and if they dig, cool.</p>

<p>A lot of people here don't really have to worry about their future, because they're set no matter what (rich parents). Of these, some of them really are here to learn and make something of themselves, but about half just want to have a blast during their college years and continue theyre fabulous life of talking about cool things theyve done, such as coke, getting into [bar celebs go to], etc. I find it discomforting and insulting, you may think its cool to be around these types. They ruined it for me. I guess it's this or the whole "frat sorority" bs.</p>

162

<p>I haven't had any such negative experiences here. If anything, I've learned not to judge a book by a cover. For example, in one of my classes there's a girl who sounds a lot like the girls nyu_kid describes - trendy, hipster, big sunglasses, into fashion, ignores the teacher in class, whatever. Turns out she landed an internship with Donna Karan by "stalking people" - she called fashion houses and kept calling until she got an interview. Anyone who has the courage and perseverance to pursue an internship deserves it, in my opinion. I have a lot more respect for her than I did before.</p>

<p>If you go into NYU assuming that everyone is rich and spoiled, I think you'll be in for a big shock. My roommate and I are staunchly middle-class, and both of us wouldn't be here if it weren't for our scholarship money. I can't believe that people would think we're "rich and spoiled" just because we're at NYU. If you don't like rich, trendy, spoiled friends, then look for better ones. Good people don't just fall into your lap - you've got to find them.</p>

163

<p>I didn't bother reading the other posts, but here's my honest honest opinion of NYU. </p>

<p>I did my intel project there under the mentorship of a brilliant professor who teaches psych grads. While NYU probably has great grad schools (stern comes to mind), I would never ever go to NYU for undergrad. It'd feel like 80% of an ideal college experience would be compromised if I had gone there. Just my honest opinion.</p>

164

<p>Anyone taking CS at NYU?? If so, how are the teachers? The curiculum?</p>

165

<p>Is anyone here a past or current communications major? Is the curriculum good? Teachers? Is it worth the price of going to NYU or should I go to a different school instead.</p>

166

<p>NYU Stern</p>

<p>I am unfamiliar with Stern and I wish somebody could tell me everything about it.
Campus (heard NYU doesn't have one.. is it true?),
social life,
attitude of students,
dorm life,
dorm quality
Stern aesthetics</p>

<p>anything else you want to add, feel free to.
thanks in advance.</p>

167

<p>It's true NYU doesn't have a campus--it's kind of hard to do that in the city. But we do have Washington Square Park. There's a fountain in the middle, and it sort of passes as a psuedo-quad. If you want a campus and dislike city life, NYU is definitely not for you.
In Stern, there's a good mix of students. You've got your nerds who spend every waking moment in the computer lab (free printing!), but you've also got kids who go out and get plastered every weekend (sometimes on weekdays too). So honestly, depending on the kind of person you are, you can find your own crowd. Although I believe the general stereotype is the backstabbing, will-do-anything-for-an-A, cold-hearted businessperson. But I don't think all of us are like that.
As for dorm life/quality, NYU students do not live by schools, so dorm life/quality depends on which specific dorm/program you get in.</p>

168

<p>Can anyone tell me what the History Department is like? thanks</p>

169

<p>Anybody familiar with the Art History program, or the Art department in general? CAS a good choice to pursue a curatorial profession?</p>

170

<p>How hard is for a moinority to get accepted into NYU?</p>

171

<p>This thread really helped me out since NYU is my top choice now. The two things I might have a problem with are the things most people complain about: the financial aid and the fact that the nontraditional campus life can sometimes make the Univ. depressing.</p>

<p>Is anyone here a part of the B.A. or B.S./M.A. or M.S. five year degree program and if so how is it?</p>

172

<p>people being ****ed about lack of campus is absolutely idiotic. They have some idealised/romatic view of a campus thinking because they have a few acres to sit around under a tree and picnic on are some how going to cause them to have a bunch of friends, have "college spirit" and have everlasting happiness from the view. The coolness of a beautiful campus wears off in the first few weeks, and ends up having the adverse effect of isolating you from the outside world. If anybody who complains about living without a campus ever lived on one, they'd realize its a non issue</p>

<p>on a slightly side note...I just hate hearing people saying they feel like they dont have a sense of community because of the lack of campus, yet dont go to any of the almost weekly NYU sponsored events. If you cant find a sense of community here, you wont find it anywhere else, jsut drop the damn romanticized views people, its so illogical. I have friends who go to ND, which has the supposedly tthe most campus spirit. They go to the football games every week and such. Does this make them any happier in college or think any better of it? No, it just give shim something to do with his friends, they doesn't feel like a family or any closer to fellow students they never have met. Theres plenty to do at NYU with friends, and ridiculously easy to make them.</p>

173

<p>yeah i honestly never understood why people said there was a lack of community at nyu. Lack of school spirit, maybe, but definitely not a lack of community. It is ridiculously easy to make friends here, especially if you're dorming and/or involved in an academic department where there's a lot of interaction in the classes (e.g. film, theater, music). And there are PLENTY of events that nyu sponsors encouraging community.. people can't expect to sit around in their rooms all day waiting for new friends to come find THEM. There IS effort involved, but its very very minimal. And I also agree with the fact that a campus can have the adverse effect of isolation.</p>

174

<p>I completely agree with mattistotle, but I see the other side's viewpoint. Some people just aren't cut out for city life, and since New York is the biggest of cities, it just isn't for them.</p>

175

<p>I'm currently a freshman in the College of Arts and Science. It's difficult to give my honest opinion regarding NYU; seeing as it's my University, I'm prone to boasting, sugar-coating, etc. However, I've definitely had my ups and downs here thus far, so I'll do my best to describe.</p>

<p>The Cons:
I highly discourage incoming freshman from attending freshman orientation week. That's what initially frightened me into iconoclastic submission; the activities are terrible, and the sort of people I'd actually converse with didn't attend the activites. It's basically just a week of wandering around the city being lonely (and I had several good friends also attending going into orientation week). After the first two weeks or so I convinced myself that I needed to transfer to Vassar or Wesleyan; the city's a lonely place if that's what you make it to be. Additionally, and I'm sure it has been mentioned, your professors don't really care about you; if you're looking for someone to lead you by the hand and wake you up for class, don't come to NYU. It's also very difficult to remain financially stable in the city; I'm currently being transfered 600 dollars per month from my parents and it's by no means enough (assuming you go out regularly, eat out, attend concerts, etc.)</p>

<p>The Pros:
That all stated, I must say that I've fallen in love with NYC and even NYU. The area's absolutely stunning, even in harsh October winds. I've never felt threatened, even when walking home barefoot with a guitar in a slip-dress at 3:30 AM. As the axiom goes: "I didn't come to NYU, I came to NYC." And it's true, because if it weren't for the beautiful area, incredible diversity throughout the city, and daily ridiculous occurences, I'm not sure I'd still attend. After the first several weeks you'll find a group of friends assuming you're not completely socially inept; unfortunately NYU students are of the clichey, pretentious hipster breed, so you're going to have to act quickly. I've actually met several very good friends randomly throughout the idea who don't attend NYU. You'll meet a lot of interesting individuals, which, generalizations aside, you won't typically find at large state schools and lower-calibur institutions; apparently the more money'd up the kids are, the more interesting and ridiculous they are. You'll find a lot of trust fund babies, GSP jocks, and clove-smoking hipsters (although I do smoke those...), but mostly you'll meet a lot of friendly, unique people. (Though admittedly people aren't friendly until you make an effort to speak to them. I've been surprised many times what a bit of effort results in.) </p>

<p>Overally I'd say that the Pros outweigh the Cons, and I'll definitely continue my education here for at least the time being. But, girls, if you're looking for attractive, straight, intelligent, non-egotistical males, good luck: you aren't going to find any at NYU. Unless you're willing to settle with drunken hook-ups with oversexed Indie boys and suit-wearing Stern tools, I suggest you look outside of NYU for men.</p>

176

<p>Please. There are plenty of straight NYU males. It's the girls who have their heads in the clouds.</p>

177

<p>I have to say, I loved welcome week...Christian Finnegan? Hypnosis? Being devirginized by Rocky Horror Picture Show? LOVED it. But I do agree that initially the city can be scarier. After having been here two months though, I have to say I don't feel like that at all and haven't for a while. The village is gorgeous, and I love the fact that the city is my campus.</p>

<p>As far as prof's go, I have to disagree with you. If you're talking about lectures, sure, but just the other day my ITS professor asked me to stay after class because she noticed I had been withdrawn (my gma had just passed) and talked with me for a while because she was concerned. My studio teachers are also very personal with me (but that's just how studio is...). As far as leading you by the hand, I don't know how many people come to NYU with that intention. Most kids here are very self driven.</p>

<p>For $- I'm not a rich kid by any means, so I work, which really isn't so bad- there is a lot of opportunity. My budget is respectively $250 a month and I see at least 4-5 shows a month (there are some great deals, you just have to search) plus go to movies, a little (very little) pleasure spending, etc. I don't go out to bars/clubs, though, so I couldn't give my opinion as far as the price range for that (but I've heard it's crazy).</p>

<p>As far as meeting people goes, my schedule is kinda crazy (as all drama kid's are) and I have to work, so I don't have too much time for clubs and floor/building activities. Unfortunately most the people on my floor are really tight knit, and though they are all nice, I haven't had the time to get as close as they all are. Most my friends come from my classes.</p>

<p>I have to agree with Oryx about the environment. ****ing gorgeous. I'm in love with the village (all of NYC, really). It is extremely diverse and always interesting. The other day I went to Christopher park for a Design assignment and a bum greeted me, noticed I was sketching, complimented my sketches, and asked me to draw him next time I came by. haha. I have to admit it made my day.</p>

<p>The best thing about life here, though, is when tourists ask you for directions and you are actually able to give them. Love it...</p>

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<p>Oryx & Crake: interesting comment and perspective. Was it really that hard to make friends upon your initial arrival at NYU? I am a fairly social person (I have many friends, but only a few really close ones) who has never had much trouble making new friends in new situations, but the way you describe your school sounds almost cut-throat and cold. How would you (or anyone else at NYU) describe the "typical" NYU student? I have heard it many times on this board that there is NO typical NYU student, but in your opinion/s what type of student is most prevalent at NYU? Are there more funky, artist type students or are there more convention, I guess "hipster" type students who (dare I suggest it?) classify themselves as "normal" (whatever that may be)? Or it there an even mix of both or a bit of the inbetween? Any comments would be appreciated.</p>

179

<p>There is no typical NYU student; the institution is simply too large to make such generalizations. Nor is there a plurality of any one clique. Are there alot of hipster-types? Yes. But there's just as many preps as well. Same goes with the artisty types, although I'm QUITE disappointed in the metal scene here.</p>

180

<p>ilovenewyork:</p>

<p>What kind of stats do you need to be invited to the scholars program? It's mentioned at the college level, with no information on what is needed to be a scolar. Is it by invitation only, based upon yor admission criteria?</p>