NYU vs. Barnard vs. Cornell?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>NYU:
Pros-I got into CAS. I LOVE the atmosphere of the school. It's so diverse, vibrant, and so full of opportunity! I also love the fact that I'll get to live in lower manhattan (such a cool area!). People seem so down to earth and talented at the same time! Also, I feel like there's less competition. I may be pre-med, and since this is a school where you can be annonymous if you'd like (since there are soo many people) I feel like it'd be a good place to be.</p>

<p>Cons-No college experience, no parties, expensive to live in, big classes, hard to make friends....uh that's it? Also, I love my parents but they might pester me a lot about going home every weekend...which I may or may not want to do. </p>

<p>Barnard:
Pros-An all women's school seems pretty cool! I love the idea of being surrounded by feminists and having a female-empowering education. It's also in a pretty area in NYC which I'd love to dorm in. </p>

<p>Cons-Same as NYU's</p>

<p>Cornell:
Pros-I never thought I'd get into Cornell CAS, but I did, and now I feel like it's the biggest accomplishment of my life thus far. I love the fact that I'll have a legitimate college experience (not sure what that means) not ENORMOUSLY far away from home. Also, everything on campus is so classic and beautiful. Also, I want to study either English or Linguistics and both departments are super strong at Cornell.</p>

<p>Cons-I have seasonal affective disorder, so the cold worries me. All I'm thinking about is how many boots and scarves and jackets I'll have to bring there! I will also miss my little brother a lot. He's only 5! It also seems ultra competitive, so if I do pre-med, that might affect me?? I also realize how arrogant I sound sometimes when I say that I got into cornell...</p>

2

<p>I like Cornell, but frankly this “seasonal affective disorder” thing concerns me.
Regarding Barnard, you omitted its relationship with Columbia.</p>

3

<p>Cornell is that much further/ North/colder/darker than NYC? Ask your physician about the SADD thing. If your current therapies work, they might not require much adjustment.</p>

4

<p>Oh yeah, Ithaca is a lot further north and colder/darker than NYC. I used to live in upstate NY - not even as far up as Cornell, just in the Hudson Valley - and it’s noticeably colder. And I have a few friends who went to Cornell and to Ithaca College and they say it’s very much colder there than it is in NYC. NYC has the urban heat effect and the proximity to the ocean warming it up.</p>

<p>OP, where did you get the idea that there were no parties at NYU? NYU kids party - they just often party off-campus, and even then, if you’re living in the residence halls your first year they’ll throw parties.</p>

<p>Barnard’s cons are not the same as NYU’s. Barnard and NYU are very different universities; Columbia and Barnard students definitely throw parties in their res halls, and the housing costs are actually pretty inexpensive - housing at Barnard is about the same cost as housing at UGA in Athens, GA. I used to work for Columbia’s res life and I have a friend who works at Barnard’s. Also, Barnard has small classes, not big classes. The only similarity between NYU and Barnard, really, are that they’re both in New York.</p>

<p>Also, you’ll have a college experience at each one of these places - it’ll just be a different one. Cornell probably has more to offer on the stereotypical college experience (large university in a small college town far away from a city), but not every student wants that. Some people prefer the urban experience of NYU, and others prefer the sort of hybrid experience Barnard provides (urban college, but in an enclosed environment). Also remember that NYU and Cornell are both very large universities while Barnard’s a small women’s college - which atmosphere do you prefer?</p>

<p>I went to college fairly close to home and my parents stopped bugging me about coming home after the first semester. By sophomore year I only went home once or twice a semester aside from breaks.</p>

5

<p>Seasonal affective disorder affects many of us who live in the US and Canada, but Ithaca is one of those special places in this regard. However, many people find relief from SAD from light boxes in combination with outdoor exercise, a consistent sleep pattern, and proper nutrition. (Sometimes medication is called for, as well.) Ithaca can give you the outdoor exercise, but you’ll need the discipline to maintain all three of these when October 15 rolls around no matter where you are. It’s often difficult for college students with SAD to maintain the discipline of regular hours and eating habits that they had in high school when they go off to college and lots of other students are partying or studying all night and foregoing sit-down meals. If you’ve never used a lightbox, it can be a godsend for people with SAD. You can learn more about them by googling SAD and lightbox. Get a good one if you go this route. NIH offers advice on kinds to consider.</p>

<p>Having said this, sufferers of SAD should be taking these remedies wherever you live if it’s above the tropics. You may find that following this regimen improves much about your winter days no matter where you live. And if you see your roommate or a friend experiencing SAD-like symptoms, speak up. Lots of students don’t experience severe SAD until they experience the irregular hours and eating behavior of college life.</p>

6

<p>The thing is, it’s overcast, drizzly and cloudy in Ithaca relatively a lot. That’s what concerned me for you, not the cold.</p>

<p>I actually liked that weather, believe it or not. I like drizzle. And for many others it’s no huge deal. College kids are resilient, generally. But if you know going in that you may have issues with this, it doesn’t seem like a good match to me. I would encourage you not to do it.</p>

<p>Regarding the above, D2 told us at the time that they did NOT have parties in her dorms while she attended Barnard. Space was one disincentive. But the more serious one was, any people who wished to enter her dorm (eg boys), for a party or anything else, would have to be known in advance and put on a list at the front desk in order to be allowed in. They don’t have “swipe access” to Columbia dorms, either, so access to Columbia dorm parties is not a given. The campus is teeny, and she said everyone took off all the time, mostly to go downtown near NYU. Based on her reports I don’t regard it is a “hybrid experience” at all. Because the campus is too small, and relatively inactive vs other choices,to retain the kids there. Maybe it’s a little better now with this Diana center now open. but that’'s just one building…
There were some frat parties. but D2 was not thrilled with them (to put it mildly).</p>

<p>To me (and to D2) a campus centered experience is far better for college.
In Ithaca many upperclassmen live in Collegetown, a “student ghetto” area right off campus, and they throw parties in the houses that they rent. Which are not subject to university oversight, do not have RAs, people do not have to be known by the hosts in advance and “put on a list” to get in, etc. And when people want to go out, they often congregate at a friend’s house, which can be more relaxed and intimate than going to a bar downtown (though they go to bars too…).And people do not scatter so much across the winds of the city. The campus and housing areas are large, but that does not totally offset. I think it’s a better experience for college. Particularly for the many who will wind up in cities thereafter. It’s more special. IMO.
But obviously reasonable people differ on this point.</p>

<p>So like I said normally I would advocate for Cornell. But not in your case.</p>

<p>I would suggest Barnard for you. NYU has an unimaginable beaurocracy it’s too big. IMO.
To indicate how disjointed NYU is,after you graduate the NYU library will hit you up for donations separately from the rest of NYU. Evidently they are running the library as its own "profit center? Very weird.Until you go there…</p>

7

<p>So, where did you decide to go?</p>

8

<p>Except that Cornell has not released their decisions yet, minor detail lololol.</p>

9

<p>@PSC2IVY‌ read the dates on the posts</p>

10

<p>Oh kk</p>