<p>I was accepted into NYU for next year, and I'm ecstatic, though I am worried about the whole community/camaraderie aspect, like many people. I've therefore begun thinking about applying to live in the Residential College in Goddard, or the Explorations program. Does anyone know what the difference is, as well as the pros and cons of each? Thanks!</p>
<p>Explorations:
You’ll live on a themed floor with a bunch of other kids who chose that theme. In most buildings, access is exclusive; you’ll have to swipe your ID to get the elevator to let you hit the button for the floor (typically the uppermost ones in most dorms). You’ll do things all the time centered around that theme with your RA and FA (faculty adviser overseeing the Exploration). Overall, it’s a mixed bag. You might pick a theme you’re really interested in and get some of the weirdest kids you imagined and dislike the year, or you may end up in something you weren’t so keen on at first but had a great group of kids and RA/FA that ended up helping you explore a new topic and learn a lot.</p>
<p>ResColl:
You’ll have an entire building of kids who all wanted to be in it, which is a pretty powerfully unifying factor. You’ll meet each other all Welcome Week, be fast friends by the end of it, explore the city together through your streams, and love how close you are with your RAs and friends. Streams are essentially the same as Explorations, only your floors are mixed between them and you are able to ‘stream-hop’ to get to any event you want to: Broadway shoes, poetry readings, tree plantings, volunteer teaching in community schools, museum visits, even spring-break trips. Everything in Goddard is open to everyone in Goddard. People leave their doors open and chill in the hall. There is always someone out, someone to talk to, someone to do something with.</p>
<p>The only caveat to such a tight-knit community is that it’s almost reclusive. If you aren’t proactive about making friends with kids in your classes, you won’t see people outside Goddard. Sadly, there are a lot of kids who are completely fine with that and never venture outside the boundaries of their immediate support group, and for those of you who do have other friends, bringing them into Goddard can feel like a bit of an ordeal when the recluses are all intimidated because there’s someone new there. All in all it’s an incredible experience for freshman year, but you basically have to take charge and make sure you’re not just staying in the ResColl confines but making use of the entire city and school.</p>
<p>I lived in Goddard last year, so as you may have noticed, I’m a bit biased in its favor, but it’s definitely something I strongly recommend to anyone interested in Special Interest Housing. The number of people I’ve met in SIH on Explorations floors who were unhappy with their experience is a majority, whereas I’d say the attrition rate in the ResColl was <10%.</p>
<p>Do the streams in Goddard change every year?</p>
<p>Nope. They’re modified a bit by CollegeBoard (the peer-led team of students from both Goddard and Broome Street who administrate much of the ResColl’s policies and programs) each year to reflect any changes we the students see fit, but they stay largely the same. This will be only the fifth year the ResColl’s been around, so it’s still a very new program.</p>
<p>Generally, there’s:
Performance
Politics
Technology
Writing
Adventure
Social Justice</p>
<p>Each has a far more appealing name (i.e. “All the World’s a Stage” = performance), but those are most of the general themes. Sometimes they’re rolled into one, i.e. a bit of overlap between politics, law, and social justice.</p>
<p>Thanks very much, hellodocks! I’m definitely interested in applying to live in Goddard now that I’ve read your response. Are there a lot of students who apply and get rejected (or whatever the correct term is), or is there usually enough space for all applicants?</p>
<p>It’s grown more and more competitive as it’s gained exposure. There were a few rejections in my year, definitely a number of rejections in 2014, and I can only imagine more this year. Normally as part of Collegeboard we’d be directly involved with the grading of the incoming applications, but those of us studying abroad are a bit out of the loop.</p>
<p>As long as you don’t come across poorly in your app, it’ll be fine. Not a problem at all. Don’t use the word ‘community’ in your essay too much. That’s the single cliche, it’s like how many times can someone cram that word into a single paragraph.</p>
<p>Everyone who gets accepted is guaranteed housing in Goddard. Everyone who passes the 0-credit pass/fail class that comes along with participation in the ResColl, “Leadership and Public Service,” is guaranteed housing in Broome Street for upperclassman years. It’s a great program.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought it was really up to the individual to get into Goddard, a friend who is currently in Goddard told me there weren’t enough applicants this year, I don’t know. I would definitely recommend you go ahead with it though, I’ve found the lack of community to be rather depressing and I wish I had applied to Goddard.</p>
<p>I am a current resident at Goddard. </p>
<ul>
<li><p>I do not think Goddard rejected any qualified applicants this year (by qualified, I mean submitted reasonable essays). There were even a few slots available for transferring from other dorms.</p></li>
<li><p>Location: The location is second to none at NYU, especially if you attend Stern. For this reason alone I would go to Goddard again. You will not appreciate this until you attend here in freezing mid-December. </p></li>
<li><p>Rooms: Mixed bag, majority are “average” sized, but some are very small and some are enormous.</p></li>
<li><p>Streams: Somewhat overrated, although good way to meet people if enjoy attending events.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Because goddard is an essay application is it the same as other housing apps? As in, do you get to put a second preference for housing, or is it that if you don’t get goddard you’re screwed?</p>
<p>No you don’t get screwed if you don’t get into Goddard, if I remember the housing app correctly you rank your top choices and then you have to write the essay for Goddard. I assume if you don’t get into Goddard they do their best to assign you your next choice.</p>
<p>Is the housing app available yet?</p>
<p>paperback,</p>
<p>I posted this in a previous NYU thread:</p>
<p>OK, As to students newly accepted by NYU on 3/25/11, this is what NYU has on the Admission website following the announcement that email notification of NYU decisions for acceptance or rejection of an application had been brought forward a week (3/25/11) to reduce the anxiety of applicants (yay for NYU) :</p>
<p>“Students admitted will also be mailed a packet of materials about housing and next steps.”</p>
<p>Collegeboard has rejected people before. We do it quite a bit, actually. If someone doesn’t present a good application or sounds like an ill fit for the community, they won’t get in, simple as that. Whether there were open spots in Goddard or not, I can’t confirm, but typically it’s full. A few kids leave who think it’s not for them, and some want to get in because basic freshman housing wasn’t for them either.</p>
<p>The location is absolutely phenomenal. Everyone talks about Hayden but Goddard is on the closer side of the park, and for Stern, agreed, it’s epic. Agreed on the rooms, too. You could have a large double, tiny double, gigantic triple … it varies so inconsistently.</p>
<p>hellodocks: sounds like a good way of doing things.
Thanks, everyone!</p>