<p>Hey guys, I have having a heck of a time choosing between wustl and NYU.
At Wustl, I'll be in the Olin school of business for marketing and possibly a second degree in communication design [if that gets too hectic, I'll do a minor). At NYU, I'd double major in business at Stern (marketing and management) with a possible minor in who knows what. I was at multicultural weekend, and it was amazing!!! It's all come down to opportunity...NYC has so much more possibility of cool internships/networking compared to St. louis. Not saying St. Louis isn't a cool city - I mean, wash u has SUCH an amazing campus and dorms! :] and of course I think all the people are so nice - but can't you find nice people anywhere? Art is important to me, but I think I might be able to study that on my own if I go to NYU, because NYC is full of art. Anyway, I can't really choose (i'm leaning towards NYU) so helllpppp xD</p>
<p>fai - Well, as some of us continually say on here, it all comes down to fit. Clearly NYC offers opportunities and resources NO other city can match, and few come close. Having said that, keep in mind the competition for those internships is proportional to those opportunities. And while newworking sounds great, unless you are an extraordinarily gifted artist or outgoing person (or even both), networking as an undergrad sounds nice but the reality…</p>
<p>So if you really felt more comfortable with Wash U as a school and overall environment, give that some strong weight. After all, what if you change your mind about what you want to do with your life? Tons of kids do, and as much as you probably don’t think so now, at least allow for the possibility. On NYU’s side, if you are that into art and design that you really need to be immersed in it (and I mean that seriously and legitimately, not sarcastically at all), then that is where you should be. It isn’t like you couldn’t probably transfer if you change your mind, although that is a hassle and there are no guarantees. There was a NYT article yesterday that getting into a school by transfer has been shut down among the top schools, but in your case you were already accepted so that would make a difference I bet. Anyway, it seems to be that is what you are weighing, the overall quality of the Wash U experience versus the NYC experience. Only you can decide that, but hopefully I gave it a smidge of perspective. Maybe not. Good luck!</p>
<p>Very simple choice; what kind of college experience do you want, since WashU and NYU are both great schools with absolutely different environments. If you want a traditional college campus experience - then choose WashU. If you want a big city (no campus) experience - then choose NYU. Not much point going beyond that basic choice.</p>
<p>thanks fallenchemist! I know it comes down to fit, and I’m positive I would fit in at WashU, but I think I would also at NYU, although I bet there are more party there and I’m not really into partying. I’m not sure if I’m a city person, how can I tell? I’m pretty outgoing and artistic, so that matches your previous description. I also currently live in a small town…so maybe going to NYC will get me out of my comfort zone and give me an overall different experience that will help me grow.</p>
<p>And are the opportunities at wash u really that negative in comparison? I suppose it would be advantageous to apply to an internship in new york as an NYUer.</p>
<p>I think my point was that the opportunities at Wash U are likely not that negative in comparison, if my assumption (and that is all it is) that the number of opportunities in a place will be roughly offset by the number of people vying for those opportunities. I could add that while Wash U is clearly the preeminent school in St. Louis, and in the midwest outside of metro Chicago. In NYC you might be competing against students from Columbia and other schools possibly more highly perceived than NYU, especially considering they have Parsons and other schools that are specifically geared towards certain design areas, and have really top artisitic talent. It really is impossible to weigh all this, I think.</p>
<p>As far as NYC, no one can answer that for you of course. Some people thrive being thrust into a milieu such as that, others crash and burn. If you cannot tell, we surely can’t not knowing you. If you are a risk taker, go for it in NYC. If you are a little more cautious (and again, despite our prevailing culture, that really is not a negative, it is just a personality trait), then go for Wash U. I am continually impressed with how positive the Wash U students find their experience, with few exceptions.</p>
<p>Since the decision seems so close for you, I guess it comes down to one simple phrase, playing off what ST2 said: Go with your gut. Then embrace it and do your best to enjoy it to the max. If it turns out it was wrong, well like I said, that is what transfers are for.</p>
<p>fai, I strongly recommend that you “search your soul” regarding the type of college experience that you are looking for. As ST2 and Fallenchemist explained, WashU will give you a “traditional college experience” while NYU is a distinctly “city experience”. NYU has absolutely no campus and the kids use the city as their campus. After freshman year, kids live all over NYC and are essentially “commuters”. If you LOVE NYC and love city life, you’ll be very happy there, but do not expect a typical college experience. When we were looking a schools, my D who is a major fan of NYC, chose WashU because she decided that there was only one time in her life to enjoy college life and that she had her whole life to live in a city.</p>
<p>fai-</p>
<p>these are both great schools.</p>
<p>at WUSTL, you’re going to have an easier time accomplishing your objectives of Business + Art (wether double majoring, minoring, or just exploring with classes).</p>
<p>WUSTL won’t be as intimidating as NYC is, and if you’re not from a big city environment, it can be intimidating if you’re not 100% gung-ho on going to the middle of a city with no college “campus” feel. some people like that, but you gotta be ready.</p>
<p>regarding internships: what makes you think that you won’t get a good internship or career if you go to WUSTL? No college will give you a job. If you go to NYU, what guarantees are there that you’ll get a job or internship there? It’s all about where you look for jobs. NYU kids can get jobs in STL, Wash U kids can get jobs in NYC. And, it comes down to how much you use the career center in college. I’ve had great experiences with Wash U’s career center so far… the advisers basically ask you where you want to work in the summer, and in what type of field, and they start showing you the giant database (eRecruiting) of firms that post jobs for Wash U students. Trust me: there is no shortage of internship opportunities here. Wash U is a Top 15 school, so in my opinion it is likeley that recruiters will be more favorable to you anyway, rather than an NYU student where you are only one of 20,000 undergrads and the academic reputation isn’t as high as Wash U’s (depending on what you go into, of course… I don’t mean that as a blanket statement at all). From my experience at Wash U so far, most people end up leaving STL for the summer and going to Chicago, NYC, or San Francisco anyway. </p>
<p>STL does have a nice design community, though, and has lots of businesses, galleries, design firms, museums, etc. The city has the 7th most amount of Fortune 500 firms headquartered there, for example. There are tons of museums and galleries: St Louis Art Museum, Wash U’s Kemper Art Museum, the Pulizter Museum, the Contemporary Art Museum, COCA, and tons of galleries in the Loop and Central West End and even down town.</p>
<p>And, going back to everyone’s favorite word: “fit”. You will be spending 4 years at a place, and calling the campus, your friends, and your professors your Family. You need to be able to feel comfortable calling your college your home. You’ll sleep, eat, walk, run, hang out, and study there. What type of environment will best provide that for YOU?</p>
<p>thank you everyone for your helpful advice. I still need to think it over for a few more days :] I’ll let you know my decision.</p>
<p>It’s a big decision for sure. Good luck, just put on the headphones (earbuds?) and let your mind relax.</p>
<p>so after thinking a lot and reading tons of threads :] I think wash u is where I should go…because:</p>
<p>-i’m not 100% passionate about living in NYC with no campus
-just because I go to Olin doesn’t mean I won’t have great opportunities
-Wash U community is amazing
-graduate school matters more anyway XD
- I can do art.</p>
<p>thank you guys so much!</p>
<p>A parent on another thread stated something interesting about her daughter’s decision to not attend NYU. She said that her daughter had her whole life to experience life in a city, but only the next four years to experience life on a college campus.</p>
<p>yeah, I saw that 
It was still a tough decision though, since Stern has significantly better rankings for marketing and management.</p>
<p>fai - well, congrats on your decision. As hard as it is to truly internalize my next statement, please try: Rankings for individual undergrad programs are among the most meaningless things in the world. I won’t go into all the arguments, it would be a book. And I know we love to quantify, categorize, and soothe our psyche with these things, but it is a false paradigm. So best of luck to you! You have made a great choice.</p>
<p>Fai, best of luck to you. You’re going to love it at WashU!</p>
<p>Here’s a small anecdote to reinforce the point made by others about job opportunities… My D is a sophomore at WashU in Arts & Science. She landed a wonderful paid marketing internship in NYC for this summer. One of her closest friends is a sophomore at Stern and has not been able to find a job yet for the summer. This is not to say that Stern undergrads are not getting summer jobs, but just to illustrate the point that WashU kids can and do get jobs in NYC and that going to Stern doesn’t guarantee you one either.</p>
<p>ahh. well I have to make my decision soon but I’m still stuck, believe it or not. NYU would be a 3 hour drive but wash U would be a 3 hour flight, and now both my parents want me to go to WashU. I know that it’s up to me in the end, because I’m the one who is going to college. </p>
<p>Wouldn’t it be more useful to study business in a city like NYC? And my mom mentioned part-time internships during the year also, I know know if that’s feasible though. And I feel like even though fit matters, so does expanding my comfort zone and experiencing something completely different :)</p>
<p>You are just second guessing a decision that it seems, from what you posted, that you made both from reason and from instinct, and both ways it came up Wash U. It is natural to be nervous, but don’t overthink it that much. You cannot control every detail of what might happen, emphasis on might. What you can control is going to school where there really is a campus, which is something you like. And going to a place where you can take art. And a number of other factors that all pointed to Wash U. Lots of people go to business school in NYC and have trouble getting internships, and lots of people go to Wash U and get internships, including in NYC. Where you are going to school just isn’t the deciding factor there. So take a deep breath, relax, and have faith in your judgement. You have thought this through much more than a lot of people do.</p>
<p>Besides, if you spend a year at Wash U and it isn’t what you thought, you can most likely transfer and you won’t have lost anything since freshman year is, well, it is freshman year. But I am sure you will go in with a positive attitude and love it. Good luck!</p>
<p>thanks. But I found there’s a studio art minor at NYU, which would let me do something with art. If I go to washU I’d end up probably taking an art minor with a business major anyway. And as much as I love the campus, I think it’d be really helpful and interactive to live in a city, where as a mentioned previously, I could intern during the year as well as summers. NYU also has a reknowned study abroad program, which is really attractive. I’m not trying to argue against WashU, I just feel like I’d learn more at NYU - street sense, how to study despite distractions. Plus, my parents want to visit me and wash U would be inconvenient.</p>
<p>well, in the end it is about fit as you see it, of course. Best of luck in NYC.</p>
<p>Hi Fai:</p>
<p>I am also debating between NYU and Washu.</p>
<p>I am interested in Applied math and creative writing, and NYU is ranked very high for both.
But I am also drawn to Washu’s more traditional atmosphere.</p>
<p>Since you chose NYU over washu 2 years ago, would you mind sharing your experience?
Do you like NYU? Has it been great for you?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>