<p>Hi, I'm currently a first-year at Wellesley College looking into applying to NYU for Fall 2011 as a transfer student. Can anyone offer any information regarding:</p>
<ul>
<li>financial aid for transfers (financial aid is a HUGE factor for me - it is one of the biggest reasons I chose to come to Wellesley),</li>
<li>acceptance rates for transfers - specifically for Stern and CAS (but mostly Stern), </li>
<li>adjusting as a transfer student,</li>
<li>and any other helpful information/advice/etc. regarding the transfer process specifically for NYU?</li>
</ul>
<p>Also, do I only apply to one school at NYU? I can't apply to Stern and CAS to see which ones I can get into?</p>
<p>NYU won’t give you much aid. We have the smallest endowment for a Tier-1 school of our size, so the Dept. of FinAid is incredibly stingy. It sucks, trust me.</p>
<p>You can only apply to one school at NYU as a transfer, and if you don’t make it in, you cannot apply for another year. I can’t give you a concrete acceptance rate for Stern transfers, but I know it’s incredibly small. In a school where your success is predicated by the networks and friendships you build, I can say I’ve met four transfer kids in the sophomore class so far.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t imagine adjusting would be that challenging if you’re a self-sufficient, mature person. The wonderful thing about the city is that you’re busy enough that you won’t have enough time at first to think too much about the change. You’ll be accustomed to daily life before you notice, and by that point you’re more concerned with keeping abreast of things you don’t have time to be miserable.</p>
<p>I find this topic amusing, because one of the girls who lived on my floor freshman year was in CAS and ended up transferring to Wellesley without telling any of us until she got in. I think a lot of what she felt was personal (proximity to family, trouble adjusting to city life), but she did the literal opposite of what you plan to.</p>
<ol>
<li>Financial Aid is very stingy from my own experience as an admitted applicant and from hearing from recent NYU graduates. If you need a large amount of FA and do not want to rack up huge debt for undergrad, NYU may not be the best place.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>It was one major factor in my turning down admission to NYU CAS. It was also a major factor for several high school classmates turning down admissions to NYU Stern for CUNY’s Baruch college. Incidentally, all of them later ended up going to NYU, Columbia, or even Harvard for their MBAs. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Large class sizes seem to be an issue, especially in lower division courses at CAS.</p></li>
<li><p>TAs doing most of the teaching in lower and even some upper-division courses.</p></li>
<li><p>Advising quality and administration can be quite bureaucratic and inconsistent causing several friends and their classmates to fall through the cracks.</p></li>
<li><p>One can easily become lonely and isolated unless one is extremely proactive and has a great drive to seek out socialization/networking opportunities on and off-campus. </p></li>
<li><p>Due to #4 and #5, the student who thrives is one who is a proactive go-getter who can take maximum advantage of NYC/NYU’s academic strengths while staying on top of academic, administrative, and social areas with practically no handholding from advising, Profs, administration, or sometimes even fellow classmates. If this is not you, it is too easy to become lost, overwhelmed, and feel lonely/isolated and thus, NYU may not be the best place to spend one’s college years. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Out of curiosity, why are you transferring out of Wellesley?</p>
<p>1 = an already well-known fact.
2, 3, and 4 = issues not native to NYU alone. Trust me, I thought it was absolutely awful here and had a miserable first year. Then I realized that NYU wasn’t the only school with these problems. Wharton and any of the other places I got in weren’t going to be any different.
5 = definitely true. Don’t come here if you aren’t a self-starter, someone who’s willing to take chances to succeed.</p>
<p>“2, 3, and 4 = issues not native to NYU alone. Trust me, I thought it was absolutely awful here and had a miserable first year. Then I realized that NYU wasn’t the only school with these problems. Wharton and any of the other places I got in weren’t going to be any different.”</p>
<p>The main point friends and acquaintances who graduated from NYU emphasized was that those issues would have been tolerable if they were at a respectable state flagship paying in-state tuition…not if they were paying Ivy-league sticker…especially when the school has not gotten to the point of having Ivy-league level rep and the level of academic quality was so variable in CAS. </p>
<p>From what they related, #4 was far more of a serious issue than what I’ve heard from classmates at Ivies where they’d get some handholding at least. With few exceptions, they said you were practically on your own to stay on top of things because you cannot rely on your adviser or the admins to steer you correctly to stay on top of what you need. </p>
<p>I also mentioned those points along with #5 and #6 because the OP is transferring from a SLAC environment where students get far more personal attention and guidance from Profs, advisers, and admins than they would in a large research university like NYU. In fact, 2-4 are practically never issues in such environments because of the size and fundamental nature of SLACs (i.e. No grad school/TAs).</p>
<p>This is really true. Stern has a pretty dedicated advising team that’s on top of things pretty well, but I’ve heard horror stories from many friends about the CAS or LSP advisers completely failing to be remotely useful.</p>
<p>I can also speak firsthand about the bureaucracy. Don’t ever let anything slip through the cracks. If you ever get a communication about financial aid, bursar’s notice, or required form, look into it and take care of it immediately. They’ll often give you pathetically short notice to resolve a fairly critical issue, and they’ll also bounce you between office and office. It’s nightmarish.</p>