Tisch freshman willing to answer questions

<p>Yes thank you now I know at least one person is going back and reading haha...and also to be honest I don't think a LOT of people double major at Tisch, but a good number do. Minors are a lot easier and a lot more common. But for your specific case, a double major in journalism and Film and TV could, with some work, fit into your schedule. I don't believe it's possible to add on another minor, as the double major would be tough enough as it is.</p>

<p>Can i privately ask you some questions about registration process and housing... im living in israel and i don't think that i am receiving all the information</p>

<p>Yeah sure send me a PM.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info guys.</p>

<ul>
<li>If you have a meal plan, can you eat at any of the NYU dining halls, even Kimmel and Palladium?</li>
<li>Is at least one dining hall open on week-ends?</li>
<li>What are the pros/cons on 10 meals/wk vs 175 plan?</li>
<li><p>I see discussion re: declining dollars (use at non-NYU places nearby?), but I didn't see it on the meal plans. How do you get it?</p></li>
<li><p>Do most acting students bring their laptops to studio?</p></li>
<li><p>How's the dorm room security? One person mentioned getting a small locking cabinet. Do you see much of that? This would be for the normal items: laptop, medium range digital camera, credit card, checkbook, etc.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>If you have a meal plan, you can use it at all the dining halls, including Kimmel and Palladium. The all-you-can-eat swipe once works at most of the dining halls, all except Kimmel and the Food Court at Weinstein, where you can get one meal for one swipe only. There are plenty of dining halls open on the weekends, the notable closed one being Kimmel. If you're not an organized person, I would suggest getting 10 meals a week...otherwise, you'll end up with 75 meals left at the end of the semester with a 175 flex. That's just my opinion...most people say flex is the way to go, but so many end up with so many meals left. Just be sure, if you get flex, that you're using the meals per week thing so that you don't wind up wasting money at the end of the semester. Of course, the cons to 10 a week are that once you use 10 for that week, you won't have any more meals until the following week, and there's the danger that you won't use the full 10. Declining dollars comes with each meal plan (how much depends on the meal plan you get...view the "rates" section for the meal plans on the housing website. You can use your declining dollars at the Starbucks at Washington Square, the Dunkin' Donuts at U-Hall, and the convenience stores at the dining halls. </p>

<p>I can assure you that you won't have to bring your laptop to studio...there's no need to haha. And NYU security is very tight...to the point of annoyance sometimes. I guess a small locking cabinet would be fine, but you have a lot more to fear from people in the dorm than unauthorized people getting in. </p>

<p>Hope that answers your questions!</p>

<p>But in general, would a laptop be a good investment (for film)? Thanks for all of the help so far!</p>

<p>In general it seems like low cost triples are a decent way to save some $; at least the postings I've seen seem okay with it. But what's your impression from people you've been around? And maybe guys are fine with it, but what about for girls?
Thank you so much for giving us your advice!</p>

<p>To rszanto:
Yes, definitely...a lot of film students get MacBook Pros because they're really film student friendly. But they're also, of course, very expensive haha.</p>

<p>To bonnie:
If there's anything about my experience here, it's that girls can be just as dirty as guys haha. I'm not quite sure what that has to do with your question, but LCTs don't have to be too bad...if you know that you're a person that doesn't like to be cramped, I would strongly advise against it, as they basically put another bed in a room meant for two people. In my opinion, however, the space is a lot like what'd you be getting at a normal State U dorm. And for about $2500 less, it just might be worth it. They're really not bad at all, people survive in them, even some of my really rich friends that were unknowingly placed into them and are used to obviously bigger space.</p>

<p>NOCCA Junior - Thanks for all of your advice!! But what do you mean you have a lot more to worry about from people in the dormns than unauthorized people getting in??
Also, were you in a explorations floor? What do you know about them? Would you recommend trying to get on one? My D is thinking about Bohemians and Rebels in Hayden.
Thanks!!!!</p>

<p>NOCCA Jr., my friend, can you comment on the whole dining experience at NYU? My D is trying to choose a meal plan. She will (hopefully) be in an apt-style dorm and is going to be a student at CAP21, so I am guessing she will be too busy on her studio days to pop back to one of the dining hall facilities for lunch, at least, and she can just make breakfast in her dorm. A few people have suggested going with one of the flex plans, because you can at least carry meals over from week to week. But we are not too clear on how the dining dollars thing works: do you use the dining dollars for stuff like sodas, coffee, snacks and the meal plan for full blown meals? How would you rate the food at the various dining halls?</p>

<p>To UAMom:
NYU security in the dorms is very tight. There's a swipe card system that only NYU students that have housing can get passed. The guards at the desks can be you-know-what holes sometimes, but they don't let anyone that's non-NYU or even those that are NYU but don't have housing, past their desks. I remember times that I woke up to get something from the vending machines late at night, past the guard up, and said hi, and went to the vending machine for literally two minutes...and then, when I tried to get back to the elevators by not swiping, by going through the gate, the guard would get really mad and demand that I swipe. And that happens a lot haha. Some guards are nicer than that, but the only people that could possibly steal stuff in the dorms are those who you live in the dorm with, people from other dorms, or maybe people that others sign in. There's no sketch outside people getting in the dorms at NYU...
As far as Explorations floors in Hayden go, the French floor, the one I was on this year, in my opinion was the most active out of all three of them. The NYU Show occasionally did things, and I've heard from many people on the Bohemians and Rebels floor that it was not too active. But they might have another RA next year, so who knows? But if she's interested in a particular theme (and a particular dorm, since it's easier for RD students to get their dorm of choice via Explorations), she should definitely give it a shot. I was able to see shows for free (including Broadway's Dangerous Liaisons), go to museums for free, and other outings that had to do with French culture. Not to mention, if your D is into Broadway and the arts in general, Hayden itself provided programs for the whole dorm, including free tickets to shows such as Spring Awakening, In the Heights, and Cry Baby, as well as Alvin Ailey, cultural outings in Harlem, etc...I loved Hayden this year because of that. But yeah...basically, Explorations is a good chance to explore the floor's particular theme because the RA has a lot more in their budget than regular RAs.</p>

<p>To NMR:
Hi! The 175 flex plan is convenient because meals carry over from week to week, and it's also about 1 and a half meals more a week than the 10 meal a week plan. But be warned: she should use her meals wisely. There are many times that people have, at the end of the semester, 40, 50, and even 75 meals left because they didn't use the meals to the fullest extent. If she's going to get 175 flex, she should try to use at least 10 meals a week to make sure she doesn't have all those meals left at the end of the semester (and thus, not wasting hundreds of dollars). The declining dollars can be used at Starbucks at the Square, U-Hall's Dunkin' Donuts, and the various convenience store areas of the dining halls (which carry things like soda and snacks and even laundry detergent). I've never done it, but I THINK you can use declining dollars in exchange for a meal, because each meal is technically around $10. As far as the meal plan goes, you can use a swipe for the traditional all-you-can-eat thing at any of the dining halls except the Marketplace at Kimmel (my favorite dining hall, although they have the same stuff all the time haha) and the Food Court at Weinstein (which has the Quiznos, Chick-Fila, and the Grill), in which you can only use one swipe per meal. In my opinion, the best dining halls are Hayden (the food is really good and there are vegan/vegetarian options), Palladium (moreso at dinner), and Kimmel (although, once again, options are limited after a while). For me, Downstein (the all-you-can-eat traditional dining hall of Weinstein) is simply ehhhhh...I always dread having to eat there, I guess because it reminds me the most of what horrible college food is supposed to be like, haha. Generally, though, NYU dining hall food is a lot better than what you would get at State U...but also, obviously, a lot more expensive. Your D should be fine with a 10 meal a week or 175 flex...since she's living in an apartment style dorm, she even has the option of going for less (such as 75 flex) or not getting a meal plan at all.</p>

<p>And NMR, there's also Campus Cash, which is separate from the meal plan and declining dollars. Declining dollars comes with the meal plan and can only be used at the dining halls; Campus Cash can be used at the dining halls as well as NYU affiliated retailers, such as Space Market, Au Bon Pain (both the one on 8th street and the one in Union Square), University Cafe, and a lot more that I can't think of right now.</p>

<p>Thanks, NOCCA. It sounds as if you have sampled the fare at many of the dining hall options! Yes, my big worry is wasting money by having her have a lot of unused meals we paid for. I don't mind paying for food at all: it's a basiac necessity! But I do mind paying for waste. :) (Gosh, I sound like such a mom ...)</p>

<p>Another question for you, NOCCA.
In terms of Tisch professors/classes, I was wondering if you could help me out? I've already asked someone else on this thread, but I just wanted to hear a couple people's opinions (you can just reply to this or send me a message, if you want):
1) Ilya Skorupsky for Drawing & Design for Animation? I got kind of screwed as an internal transfer, so this wasn't my first choice craft class (I'm more interested in TV and writing, although I do enjoy drawing cartoons). So my questions are: is it worth it to take this class if I'm not focusing on animation, and is the teacher good/have you heard good things about them?</p>

<p>2) Sight and Sound Doc-- James Brown as the teacher. I've heard he's arrogant?</p>

<p>3) Children's TV (history/criticism).</p>

<p>4) Dramatic and Visual Writing I-- Selma Thompson.</p>

<p>I have limited options in terms of waitlists and switching classes (since, again, I'm an internal transfer), but I just wanted to put my mind at ease about the schedule I currently have.
Thanks so much!!!</p>

<p>I'm soo sorry! This is definitely not a question that I could answer, because I'm not a film major, haha...and Tisch is so divided between departments that there's no way I would have even met any of these teachers. They're not on ratemyprofessors.com, either (I already checked for you :-) ). However, I would strongly advise you to send a message to a rising sophomore film major on Facebook. I know that seems awkward, but I did it to a couple of drama majors before I came to NYU, and as a result I had a lot of information about things before going on campus. Go to the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Class of 2011 Facebook group and you'll find a ton of current film majors there. Good luck!</p>

<p>NOCCA - a question about orientation for you. Do many students come to orientation that week before school is out? Or is there another orientation that they are supposed to attend? I don't think we can fit it in, and the expense of it doesn't help either so I hope it wouldn't be too much of a negative to show up for the first time in late August.</p>

<p>Sorry for the delay in response UAmom haha...honestly, don't even worry about it, it's not a big deal. Tisch has orientation during Welcome Week (none during the summer) and it's basically a few speeches about NYU that everyone knows about, prestige and caliber blah blah blah. And they register you for courses, but any dumbo can register on NYUHome lol. It's a really great experience to have, a lot of people meet friends that they'll have their four years at NYU just through orientation, and it's obviously a good overview/preview to life here, but honestly, it's nothing to stretch about.</p>

<p>What is the move in procedure like? Do they give you a key at the dorm, or during the summer? How would one go by bringing a full sized computer to NYU?</p>

<p>On move-in day for freshmen, they give you the key and you sign the registration cards. I'm not really sure how one would go about doing that...I got a laptop and it was during Welcome Week...but I suppose like any other form of luggage, just handled with extreme care haha...are you driving to NYU or going by plane? Maybe you can have it shipped up (but you would have to make sure the computer got there a little after move-in day, as mail is not held before then).</p>