Since NYU apparently "lacks community..."

Colleges and Universities A-Z New York University
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<p>I'd like to hear some input from current NYU students.</p>

<p>I'll be attending NYU next year. The reason I chose to apply to NYU early is because of this apparent "lack of community." I currently live an extraordinarily independent lifestyle. I work best when absolutely no one is telling me what to do, and all my actions are self-motivated. I don't partake in any "typical" high school activities; I spend all of my time around the city (SF) with people who don't go to my school. Next year, I want to meet people and friends who aren't just limited to NYU students, but rather different people from all over the city. Ideally, I want NYU to be a place for me to stay in the city and do my schoolwork, while branching out and fully taking advantage of Manhattan as a whole - not just because my school is in it. </p>

<p>Everyone is always talking about the types of people who wouldn't enjoy NYU. From what you can gather above, am I correct to assume that NYU is in fact the perfect college for me?</p>

<p>I'd really appreciate if you could share your personal experience with the subject.</p>

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<p>I'm a parent of a NYU student. From your description of yourself, I think you will do fine. </p>

<p>that being said, people either love the bustle of NYC or they don't. Since you are a west coast person, I can't say what your reaction to the east coast will be, but as long as you don't mind crowds, you'll be fine :-)</p>

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<p>Haha. :) I wouldn't worry about that. I'm pretty familiar with NYC - all my family lives there and I lived at Columbia U. for a month over summer. I really love the vibe a lot.</p>

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<p>Does the "lack of community" threads worry you? Because from the description of you, I don't think you really needed to write this thread...you seem to know what you want from college and you seem to know that you can get that at NYU.</p>

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<p>I'm more interested in hearing if other kids have gone into NYU with this type of mentality, and how it's panned out for them. I know most of the kids at my high school are looking for places where they can continue to feel this close-knit community / constant beer-pong fest type experience... and obviously this is NOT what NYU is about. I'm curious if I'm being naive, or if there's something I'm not considering... etc.</p>

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<p>Actually, freshman year, my experience has been that there is a lot of community and a lot of beer (not my thing), but I hear that changes sophmore year.</p>

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<p>Wrong place to ask this question. This forum is full of NYU wannabe's, a bunch of clueless ***** who post "chance me" threads, and just a few current students. If you want to know the opinion of current students go to Facebook or LiveJournal and post to the respective groups there. Just make sure you formulate your question better, to provide an open forum of discussion without alienating people, and you should get a lot of useful answers.</p>

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<p>Sounds good. Thank you.</p>

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<p>ohmygawd, DrumsAreForGirls, I think I know who you are... haha, what a small world with college confidential</p>

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<p>GroovyGeek - you are making a great point. I have read this board off and on as my D will be heading to NYU in the fall. I find it kind of irritating that people who are "considering" or some who even attend NYU, complain about NYU's lack of campus or community feeling. Hello, where is everyone's common sense? What were you expecting?</p>

<p>NYU is for self motivated, independent individuals, with at least a basic set of social skills, who don't need baby-sitting, and realize that they will not be surrounded by cows and green pastures, but yellow cabs and skyscrapers...</p>

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<p>You seem to have a similar attitude to what I had. I came to NYU for Theater from the UK. I didn't even think of it as going to college, I thought of it as going to New York to act. And I never thought or worried or planned about whether I'd make friends or what the social life would be like. I never wanted (or even knew about) a "typical college experience". I guess I just assumed I'd have friends, like a side effect of being in a place and interacting with people.</p>

<p>One thing I would be careful of is while it's great to explore the whole city, there should be some core of your focus on your life at NYU. That was a lesson I learned. The schedule is busy and things spiral out of your control if you try to be everywhere and don't ground yourself where you are with your work. This may be slightly different for an acting student, but it's worth thinking about. While you'll love the adventure and interestingness of the city, it doesn't hurt to make an effort to establish an NYU life for yourself and make friends at school too - especially in the first few weeks, so you don't regret not doing it later. Also as a practical concern, although you seem like a smart sensible person, the city has generally been quite safe so far but can be dangerous. People can be deceitful. If you're exploring, be careful of who you meet and make friends with and where you go.</p>

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<p>Funny story, I thought I was replying to your thread and I wrote a really long response that sort of applies to your question, but I posted it in another thread- the "Is NYU unfriendly?" or something along those lines. Swing by that thread if you'd like, but you seem to have a good head on your shoulders, I think you'll be fine.</p>

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<p>Thanks you guys. You've been super helpful. Every post just makes me more stoked for next year :)</p>

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<p>I’m at NYU right now…</p>

<p>I am from California, and have a large group of friends that I’ve known since middle school. Most are at state schools, or are still in community college. With that said, I love them to death and always will no matter what.</p>

<p>I was frustrated however, by the lack of motivation I found in Los Angeles. I became a self-starter, and enjoyed being alone during the week days and focused on school and reading books. I did this though, knowing when Thursday and Friday came, I’d have a great group of friends who love me to go hang out with. I figured NYU would be great because of its strong presence in the financial industry (what i’m interested in), and a great economics program…</p>

<p>I’m here now, and really enjoying classes. You learn a lot here, especially if your interested in finance. Every bank recruits here, and if you want to go into asset management theres a hedge fund on every street corner. My academic expectations have been exceeded here. This to me is no surprise. John Sexton (President of NYU) is increasingly trying to improve the academics here and expects our university to be a top 5-10 University in the future. I believe his academic goals will be met.</p>

<p>With that said, when you hear NYU has NO community, there is NO understatement here. I went to a community college prior to attending NYU, and the social life there is NO different than here. Kids here (especially if your a transfer) are pretty closed off emotionally. You could easily spend four years here and not make a SINGLE friend (although I can’t speak about freshmen dorms and that atmosphere, although both my roommates have nearly zero friends and have been here since day 1). </p>

<p>Manhattan to me personally is a very cold place, which fixates on wealth and status. I realized that I would rather live in a town of 100 people in Kentucky than live here forever. Most importantly, living in Manhattan has taught me that I’m not a person who’s happiness will derive soley from financial success. I need love, and family around me quite often – something I didn’t think was true before. I will have NYU to thank for that realization, so I guess I can look at the glass half full.</p>

<p>With that said, I believe Sexton is neglecting the need for a community atmosphere here, and how that can actually translate into better academic and career success. An intelligent person who’s been extremely well educated but is unhappy, is in my view, less likely to be successful than someone who’s life is full of happiness and friendships and has a decent education.</p>

<p>If your a self-starter, who has no issue taking MAJOR social risks (going to goofy events or a bar by yourself and making friends), than you will thrive here. If you require ANY assistance to make friends (I mean ANY, like a community atmosphere), then this place is not for you. </p>

<p>Long story short – if New York has massive career advantages for you (finance, fashion, etc), or you want to live here in the future, come to NYU. If you plan on doing anything other than finance and or want to live the remainder of your life in LA, go to USC and have the time of your life.</p>

<p>However, everyone has their own beliefs and personal characteristics. Take my words with a grain of salt, or an entire bag.</p>

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<p>imfrickenfoofy, your comment has honestly been the most insightful thing I’ve read about NYU’s community. Perhaps because it’s coming from someone that is honest and actually going there.
I’m just curious to know why you haven’t taken what you describe as a major social risk, I bet there’s others that feel the same as you.</p>

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<p>I agree with Imfrickenfoofy. I’m a sophomore at NYU and I can still count the friends I have here on one hand. Out of my two close friends here, one went to high school with me. My social life - which has definitely lost some of its flair since I started college - exists outside of school, outside of Manhattan even, given that I commute from Brooklyn. I know that people have friends at NYU, but I’m glad you’re not coming here for that. And since I mentioned where I live, let me end by saying that you shouldn’t limit yourself to Manhattan … explore the other boroughs, too =)</p>

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<p>My D attends NYU and is part of an incredibly tight knit community. But I think that is the nature of her major/ program. She is a vocal performance major and there are about 30 to 35 admits each year. So she is friends with her graduating class and those above and below. They share many classes together, tend to room together (on and off-campus housing) and socialize frequently. Friendships also includes grad students in the program as well as accompiantists/ composers. D has other friends outside her program who she met on her floor freshman year and through her scholars program.</p>

<p>So I do think a lot depends on your specific program of study and the community it creates. My younger D is considering NYU as a studio art major. Curious if anyone know about their “community.”</p>