<p>I'm a rising senior planning on applying to NYU and I'm not totally sure which school I should apply to. I want to major in either IR or Middle Eastern Studies but I want a lot of flexibility with choosing which courses to take, especially since I'm planning on studying abroad for a year (my tentative plan is a semester in Israel at Haifa/Tel Aviv and a semester in the West Bank at Birzeit), so I like that I could choose what to focus on as I go along if I apply to Gallatin. However, the CAS offers both as majors, so I'm thinking it may be simpler to just apply there and choose which to major in later on. I can answer any questions if you need more info to make the choice clear, but for anyone more familiar with NYU, which school do you think would be right for me?
Thanks for your input!! :)</p>
<p>I may be crazy, but I’m 95% sure NYU does not have anything for global study @ West Bank/Birzeit. </p>
<p>As far as IR goes, IR is an honors major in the Politics Department. Which means you have to take the required pre-requisite courses and get a 3.65 GPA to apply for the program. You must also maintain the 3.65 GPA to stay in the program.</p>
<p>
Yeah I realize that, I was hoping that I could enroll directly for a semester (in their Palestinian and Arab Studies program made for international students studying abroad) since most colleges seem to be ok with your organizing your own program if you’re up for it. Do you think this is something that NYU would approve of?</p>
<p>And I’m ok with the GPA requirement to stay in the program; I’m willing to work hard to keep my grades up and I think it’ll be totally doable since the subjects will be important to me. I guess what I’m wondering is will Gallatin take any opportunities away from me, or would it allow me to enroll in IR/Middle East Studies classes, just with more flexibility about my course choices?</p>
<p>(1) NYU has their own study-abroad sites and Universities they already have agreements with. Typically, trying to study anywhere outside of NYU or an NYU already approved University proves quite difficult. </p>
<p>(2) I wouldn’t be so sure on your ability to get a 3.65 GPA - NYU intro courses (and many “freshmen” courses in large departments for that matter) are typically very large - 50-200 students. This means that the entire class is graded on a curve. In some cases, a curve is advantageous, in other cases it is disadvantageous. For example, only a certain % in the class are allowed to get A. Say X% > than the allotted % score in the A range. Those in the bottom A score range will be knocked down to a B range. It makes getting A’s in intro courses very competitive.</p>
<p>Ok thanks! I wasn’t suggesting that it would be easy for me to get that GPA, just that I think it’ll be possible since I always do better in classes I care about and IR is one of my main passions. But if NYU isn’t that open to creating your own study abroad plan, maybe it just isn’t the school for me- I guess I’ll email the school and see if that’s a possibility or if I should consider the other study abroad opportunities or just look elsewhere.</p>
<p>Look into Bard College – very different school, of course, but strong in the areas you mention.</p>