The OP is not asking how intellectual NYU is, he's a Gallatin applicant who's considering SCPS as an alternative. To be honest, I think far too many people who are "intellectuals" would benefit by entering reality and realizing that although spending $200,000 to study art history for 4 years sounds like fun, it's not always a good idea, and although they will be well educated in that subject, they will also most likely be poor and suffer from massive debt. And that's not an intelligent thing to do. Keep in mind that no matter what school you go to, in the end, to NYU you are merely another way to get money.
I do agree with you that Stern is the most difficult of the schools, which is why it's the most selective. Pre-med is also really difficult, as is engineering, and I hear computer science isn't a walk in the park.
Sorry if you feel the rest of our SAT scores are bringing NYU down. I got a 2130, which I think is probably midrange for CAS, and I'm not in it. It's not like the rest of the school got 1800's on their SAT. And if NYU is realllllly easy, than 95% of colleges in the U.S must be really easy...trust me, to the average Joe out there, it's not really easy...unless you're majoring in art history
(sorry I keep picking on those poor kids)