<p>Unfortunately, I can't actually visit the campus until later in the spring (if I'm accepted) but I'm very curious...what is the overall environment at NYU like overall? Is it more academic-minded like Ivy League colleges? More school spirit/sports-minded? (somehow I doubt this, but...) A lot of partying? (Of course, any school has parties, but there are some than have that "feel" more than others, I think.) Is it large and impersonal or does it have a community feel? Etc. Any info would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>Well, I’ve only been here for 5 days so I’m just getting my first impressions down.</p>
<p>Sports are about as non-existent as you’re going to get on a college campus. Most of NYU’s self-deprecating humor is athletic-themed as a result.</p>
<p>Community? Depends on what you define it as. If you want to be friends with everyone in your school, then good luck meeting all 50,000 students at NYU. You find your social circle.</p>
<p>The buzz phrase you’ll hear hundreds of times if you come here (at least during welcome week that is) is that NYU is a school, “in and of the city”. They’re not kidding. You walk out of your dorm, and you’re not in a college campus, you’re in NYC. This is perhaps the most polarizing aspect of NYU. Some people, myself included, absolutely love this and prefer it over the traditional campus feel. Others hate it and literally leave the campus tour after 5 minutes, go home, and never consider NYU again.</p>
<p>I’m sure someone much more experienced than I will come along and offer more information.</p>
<p>i don’t go to college, i go to NYU.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>each school has a unique personality and flavor, and so does each academic department. </p></li>
<li><p>we’re New Yorkers, we don’t play sports. 
there ARE students involved in athletics, but we don’t dress up in violet every weekend and go to a huge stadium.</p></li>
<li><p>we’re LIVING in one of the most party minded cities in the US. there aren’t a lot of campus parties because people just go to 18+ clubs in Manhattan. people do throw them, i’ve been to some incredible parties in housing. (rest in peace, Water Street!) </p></li>
<li><p>basically, you CREATE your own community. we don’t hand it to you. if you want to sit around and wait to feel school spirit, good luck. i’m very involved in campus life and i have tons of school spirit, and so do all my friends who work alongside me. (i’m sure this entire board knows i have school spirit, ha.)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>i would REALLY RECOMMEND that you physically visit the campus before applying. don’t apply without coming here. being on campus is the single most deciding factor for most potential applicants. it’s a very visceral reaction.</p>
<p>I always thought that I would have preferred the traditional style college to NYU but after being here for only a few days I absolutely love it. There’s just so much to do and yes, there’s always a party in the dorms, at least so far. However, the RA’s seem pretty strict and have been writing people up a lot.</p>
<p>Thanks, guys! </p>
<p>I’d love to visit the campus, as I agree that the way one personally feels on any given campus is a huge determining factor as to whether they should apply at all. However, I live in California and my family can’t really afford to go out to New York at this point…if I get in I’d obviously visit before enrolling, though. So I’m really just depending on all of your replies to try to get a feel for whether I should apply or not. The Tisch school is the one I’m interested in. Can any of you tell me what personality/flavor hat one has?</p>
<p>NYU is large enough to make your experience whatever you want it to be. However if you’re burnt out on school spirit and community and am more interested in carving out your own niche NYU is ideal. The student body is massive and the number of degrees and programs the university has draws in people with in of all sorts of interests and aspirations.</p>
<p>I love NYU and it’s “in and of the city” feel. </p>
<p>I don’t get the people who like the campus experience.<br>
Unless you want to hate your life after the 4 years (bcus life is NOT one big campus).</p>
<p>I’m at a school with arguably best “campus” experience in the US. and while fun for the first semester, it got olddd real quick. It’s like living in a bubble. Once you leave you’re in cow country.</p>
<p>I highly recommend a school in the city. Whether it be in NY, Boston, Philly, Miami, LA, etc. It’s where you’ll be living in a few years. NOT a college campus. (unless you repeatedly fail classes and need to retake, lmao)</p>
<p>Well, many people like the campus experience because–for many–going to college is a trying and frightening experience; having a community of fellow students can be a comforting and encouraging reality, and it can make the college experience, well, more fun for a lot of people. And like you said, most times the real world is not like that, so it’s their last chance to experience that reality. Most people don’t hate their lives after college just because reality doesn’t mirror the campus feel…People usually just look back on those years fondly. Also, it’s entirely possible to go to a college in a big city but still have the campus experience while at the school so you get the best of both worlds. </p>
<p>But anyway, it’s all a matter of personal preference more than anything. Personally, I can see myself enjoying the campus experience OR a school like NYU. So I’m applying to the best of both (USC [which is of course a campus experience but also in LA] and NYU). :P</p>
<p>I think campus + city is the best of both worlds. Having a campus gives a feeling of community, there’s always a place to go outdoors to hang out with other students (the park is nice but it’s not just nyu). plus campus’s are generally pretty, and while I love nyu, it is very ugly, especially the newer buildings.</p>
<p>Just pointing this out because I recently moved to morningside heights, about 5 mins from Columbia and have been hanging around the Columbia campus lately, and I like their mix of small pretty campus in the big city. NYU used to have a pretty campus up in the Bronx (with a football team and everything!) but they sold it to CUNY because nyu was broke, so they relocated to the Village.</p>
<p>but yeah, NYU is definitely non-traditional and most people here prefer that, it’s why we came here. It’s not for everyone though.</p>
<ul>
<li>edit - I didn’t mean to imply NYU came to the Village recently, they’ve been here since 1831, but they also used to have a campus in the Bronx as well as the Village. just a fun fact :p</li>
</ul>
<p>while the buildings are nothing to really write home about, the renovations to Washington Square Park are complete and the park is much nicer now.</p>
<p>NYU has something for everyone. While you might want a campus feel, NYU has it’s own “feel.” Washington Square gives it a campus feel in a different kind of way. The buidings are not so bad,. The area around NYU is awesome with it historical buildings and bohemian flavor. It is very vibrant and alive. You can feel it. At any hour of the night there are people around. It is very well lit and active. Then there is the international and multicultural aspect of NYU. You embrace all kinds of people whether in the classroom or the shops and restaurants around NYU. It is an awesome experrience, different than any other.
Like missamericanpie said, “she doesn’t go to college, she goes to NYU”. pretty much sums it up.
I would definitely apply even if you cannot visit, but it you get accepted, you should really visit, because NYU is not for everyone. Good luck.</p>
<p>As for your question about Tisch, the school as a whole does a lot of stuff together during Welcome Week/orientation. We also have a separate Writing the Essay class from the rest of NYU which is focused on the role of art in the world around us. We not only get classes with the rest of NYU (MAP requirements), we get class with all of Tisch (WTE is all mixed), along with our major classes or studios.</p>
<p>For those who are planning NYU visits: </p>
<p>In addition to visiting the school during the day and taking a traditional tour, make sure you go back at night. It will give you a much better feel for the community and social life.</p>
<p>When we visited NYU, we happened upon the campus late at night, simply to locate where we needed to go for our tour the next morning. On a whim, we parked (there was plenty of short-term street parking at night), stopped at Starbucks, and strolled through Washington Square Park. The park was peaceful, but lively, full of students and neighborhood residents. Every table at Starbucks was filled with students studying. The clubs and restaurants around Washington Square were open, and lines were forming for nighttime events. We felt safe and the area was inviting and intriguing.</p>
<p>We attended our tour the next morning, and NYU was a different place. It was bustling with students, business people, and others from various walks of life. Taxis and delivery trucks were everywhere. In true New York style, everyone had a place to go, and everyone was in a hurry. We were truly at a university whose campus IS the city. It’s unique from every other university we visited, but that was part of its appeal.</p>
<p>Our third trip to campus was a late-night visit to the Coles Center, at someone’s invitation. That, too, gave us more insight into the community – the students we spent the evening with were very welcoming and provided us with their personal experiences, both good and bad. We left with a feeling that NYU was a very special place.</p>
<p>As many others have posted, we weren’t able to visit until spring break. Acceptances had already come in, and our daughter only had a few weeks to make her final decision. The last-minute visit wasn’t a problem, and her decision was fairly easy. Bottom line, though, if we hadn’t made the impromptu late-night stop, we would have had a very narrow view of the “campus” and life at NYU.</p>
<p>I’ve lived in NYC for all 23 years of my life so my approach to your question is probably really different. I think missamericanpie hit on the nail right on the head. </p>
<p>The night life in the village is totally bad ass. Chances are if you are an NYU student, a large percentage of your social circle in NYC will not be NYU students but just people you meet from different companies, schools, and at parties and clubs and stuff. The best of both worlds is an accurate description if you are looking for some sense of community but overall a larger sense of a big city feeling. </p>
<p>Don’t expect the area near NYU to contain mostly NYU students, staff, and faculty. obviously NYU has a huge impact on the village but there is so much more going on that you really owe it to yourself to take full advantage of the NYC experience and get out to the boroughs and meet people. Manhattan seems diverse but if you are looking to get to know some people from other schools, the commuters and NYU students that are from the area can generally act as a node to those networks. </p>
<p>The village is awesome but if you aren’t into drinking it’s probably not the best place to hang out.</p>
<p>@UriA702
But isn’t there much more to do in the village than drink?</p>
<p>There is but the social-scene south of the park involves A LOT of bars. On weekends you can smell the alcohol all the way on the street. There are a lot of cool things to do in the village, but it is just a small part of a huge city. Subway rides are $2.25 per ride and will take you anywhere within NYC. The public transportation system here is fast and very efficient.</p>
<p>One of NYU’s best features is that while attending you are not an NYU resident, you are a NYC resident and to get the experience you should be taking advantage of everything there is to do in the bad-ass city.</p>
<p>Greenwich Village has way more bars than East Village, I think.</p>