<p>hey everyone,</p>
<p>I've been hearing a lot of negative stuff about this school, and I just wanted to talk about what is awesome about the school. It is, after all, one of America's top dream schools, and is excellent academically. What about NYU is so attractive to applicants? Why would someone chose NYU over other schools? What is a typical student like?? What is a typical day like? Is challenging to make friends? etc......</p>
<p>it’s in new york
it’s good
it’s not columbia (hard to get into for most people)</p>
<p>for certain fields, the connections you make at NYU are invaluable for your job search.</p>
<p>Its location will give you endless opportunities in jobs/interns and its prestige is known all around the globe.</p>
<p>The fact that it is centered in the heart of New York gives its students infinite excitements that populate the city.</p>
<p>There’s no babying of young adults at NYU - thanks mainly to the location, students are forced to become independent, thick-skinned, open-minded, and brave in the face of new experiences. If you can learn to love it (not wimp out and transfer :P) it’ll be the most educational experience of your life. If you’re up for a challenge and have the ability to take initiative, you will thrive at NYU.</p>
<p>I chose the school for its global program - going abroad is a cinch with NYU campuses (meaning direct worry-free transition of abroad credits) basically anywhere in the world, with new ones cropping up all the time. Additionally, the opportunities here in the city for internships, clubs, and activities outside the school (flying trapeze class anyone??) are almost overwhelming in both quantity and quality. NYU has been the number ONE dream school in America for years (recently slipping a few notches to big names like Harvard and Princeton, but still in the top five), has been christened a “New Ivy,” and has an enormous alumni network - for those shallow enough to play the name game, don’t worry, New York University is well-known. </p>
<p>Then there are the trivial pleasures; the chocolate fountain at Palladium Sunday Brunch, $10 Broadway tickets, a gym rat’s heaven (a personal TV on each elliptical machine? Sweet!)… Seriously, why would anyone NOT want to be an NYU student???</p>
<p>As for making friends: Start. Early. Freshmen, welcome week (though it may now be less than a whole week due to silly children who don’t know their alcohol limits) is your chance to form relationships before schoolwork rears its ugly and time-consuming head. If you’re open and friendly and go out of your way to connect with people on your floor, they will introduce you to their other friends who happen to know other friends of friends… Eventually even NYU will seem like a small world. Just as at any college, it’s really what you make of it. </p>
<p>As for a typical day - there’s no such thing! Tischies might spend a whole day in “play class” (lying in a pile like puppies and napping is, apparently, highly instructive), while the CAS scholar might discuss the effect of zombie movies on today’s urban culture followed by a three hour lab. The Sternie (lovingly christened “Slytherins” of NYU) labors through some calculus with study breaks composed of Disney singalongs (don’t tell recruiters at Goldman Sachs), while the Gallatinites seem to never have class at all. Some days you’re bored to death holed up in the Silver Center or Bobst, other days you run into the Kardashians in Washington Square Park and glimpse Jennifer Aniston in a caf</p>
<p>Alyx, Love your post. Keep them coming. Entertaining and informative. :)</p>
<p>yah that was really helpful, thank you everyone…anyone else??</p>
<p>A voice of reason to counter the unbridled optimism the other person posted . . .</p>
<p>Definitely agreed on the maturity point, I don’t believe there’s any other school that will require you to be more self-reliant, resourceful, and initiative as NYU. Even other schools in the city don’t do it as well (they’re either far smaller (FIT, Pace, CUNY), located in less vibrant of a neighborhood (Columbia, Fordham), or just not as well run). My first year was miserable. I failed to take advantage of the vast resources at my disposal and ended up not doing well in school without even having a ton of fun in the city, double fail as if it were. You need to be incredibly entrepreneurial to succeed here, in the sense that you have to handle many challenging things all at once on your own.</p>
<p>The globality of our curriculum is indeed impressive. With more than a dozen studyabroad programs of our own, a number of exchange options, and short-term international exposure opportunities, I don’t think any other school can boast of as well-rounded a program.</p>
<p>Opportunities outside of school are diverse, numerous, and accessible. The city is your playground. That being said, it’s easy to let academics slip in the pursuit of other things. Be careful that you don’t get distracted or try to do it all right at once. You have eight semesters and the summers in between if you choose to stay.</p>
<p>The part that really has to be addressed is “NYU has been the number ONE dream school in America for years.” I’m sorry, but this is blatantly false. No one in their right mind would ever compare NYU to the holy trinity, HYP. It hasn’t “slipped a few notches.” The uber-tier Ivies have and will always be the elite of the elite. We are barely a top-35 school (32 in 2009, 33 this past year), and it shows. There’s a bit of a difference between Tisch/Stern and the rest of the school though, as they’re the only top-5 schools we have here. People all around the world have long known of the Ivies. Anyone you meet will know what Harvard is. There are people who don’t know what NYU is.</p>
<p>It’s definitely true that you can make some of the strongest relationships here you’ll ever have. Make friends, meet people, foster relationships. I don’t mean to sound like a sourpuss at all, but everyone needs to hear a bit of reason along with the hype.</p>
<p>well she was probably talking about the princeton review dream school rankings… NYU was the number one dream school for about three years in a row, that was a few years ago though. It’s still in the top five though. The actual academic rankings are different though and of course HYP tops that list.</p>
<p>Yeah, even then, “dream school” rankings are a bit wonky just because by their theory, someone could end up attending HYP but still “dream” of NYU, which at least to me makes no sense at all.</p>
<p>It’s like how BusinessWeek can release its grad and undergrad business program rankings and no one really listens to them because they put McIntire at UVA and Mendoza at Notre Dame ahead of all-time leader Wharton and it’s real competitors Stern, Ross, and Haas. There’s too much subjectivity in the criteria they use to calculate that metric.</p>
<p>What about NYU for the sciences - bio, neural, and physics? Most posts on CC are focused on Stern and visual arts. What about the rest of NYU? Can’t get a good feel for them.</p>
<p>NYU is great for Math and Econ. At least, that’s why I’m applying. My friend got in ED for History and jumps around every day, so I’m guessing all of the school’s departments are awesome.</p>
<p>I would have applied ED as well, if it weren’t for their stingy financial aid.</p>
<p>If you are talking about NYU CAS econ, then academically it is good, but recruiting-wise, it is horrible. If you really are interested in learning econ for the sake of econ, then I’d recommend elsewhere. If you are interested in breaking into the finance industry, then either apply to Stern or again, look elsewhere. Not hating on NYU CAS econ, but you’re better off spending your tuition money elsewhere.</p>
<p>On the other hand, NYU’s Math department is pretty solid, and well recognized.</p>
<p>Just to clarify: yes, I was only referring to the “Dream School” rankings and certainly not the official academic ones. I won’t pretend that NYU has the most prestigious academic program out there, but it is pretty solid and anyone who wants an elite education and is willing to work for it can get it here. It’s also true that Stern and Tisch are widely considered higher-tier schools within their respective realms than the College of Arts and Science, but again, I’ll take NYU’s location and opportunities over Yale’s prestige (also, trying to drive in New Haven scares the hell out of me). 
</p>
<p>As a definite humanities girl, I’m afraid I can’t really comment on the hard sciences here - except that my pre-med friends all seem to be surviving thus far. Given that they suffer through four hour long labs on a regular basis, I guess something must be going right.</p>
<p>At least as far as my major goes (musical theater), the location just gives us an incredible advantage in terms of teachers and resources. Tony winner Sutton Foster was one of our teachers last term, and we had the following people sit in on our final projects: Anthony Rapp, Cheyenne Jackson, Mandy Gonzalez, Karen Olivo, and Shoshana Bean. You just couldn’t get that anywhere else. I imagine a number of other programs benefit from this as well- I know Jon Stewart lectured some Steinhardt students last term, etc. The resources and people that we get to work with are really, really spectacular and I think both the location and prestige of the university play a part in that.</p>
<p>@shuffleace
Oh, that’s great then! I’m really interested in a job for econ academia, and a solid math background is exactly what I need for consideration into strong econ PhD programs. 
Yeah, it’s not my top choice because of the tuition costs and that there are stronger programs elsewhere, like UChicago, but I applied in case I don’t get into any of my dream schools. </p>
<p>I grew up in the city and love NYU’s atmosphere. So, if fate makes it so I go to NYU, I’ll be having a fine education in the city that I love. That’s why I think NYU’s great!</p>
<p>You also have to consider that one of the main reasons NYU is not pushing the top 25s on most of the various college rankings was due to the fact it lacked solid programs in many areas of applied sciences. Polytech in the late 80s to mid 90s, according to people who studied engineering in that time period, was a contender with caltech in terms of program strength but fell from grace due to poor management of fiscal and human resources. With the absorption of polytech, it is very likely the NYU degree will be worth even more than it currently is within a decade</p>