soozievt

None of the dorms, including apartment style ones, come with microwaves.

The apartment style dorms have full sized fridges.

If you want a fridge in a traditional style dorm, you could rent or buy. If it were me, coming by car, I would buy it and have it for more than one year. But since you are coming far, lindy, it may make sense to rent one. Also, do wait to coordinate who is bringing what when roomie assignments come out midsummer.

alwaysamom

A mini-fridge definitely is nice to have in a traditional dorm room. I honestly don't recall if my D and her roomie had a microwave or not in freshman year. As Susan says, for those who live close by, it might make sense to buy one, keeping in mind that you will have to move it home at the end of the school year. My D's freshman roomie lived on Long Island so she brought the fridge and my D brought a tv. It's a good idea to wait til August and discuss these issues with the future roomie to determine who brings what. Space is at a premium in a dorm room so you don't want everyone bringing the same items. If neither kid lives close by, or if neither wants to have to deal with a fridge in May, it makes sense to rent. I'm not sure how NYU handles it but another of my Ds did the rental route at her college and all she had to do was to tell the rental group when she was moving in and they delivered it that day right to her room. Same at the end of the year with pick-up. Very easy. I imagine the process is similar at every college.

NotMamaRose

Do most kids bring a tv? At the risk of making our family sound like a pack of freaks in this high tech age, we only have one 19" (not flatscreen or high def) TV in our house. That's it. C'est ca. No extra TV to send with D. In fact, when I said something about a TV, she said "When would I have time to watch television?" However, if this is a staple of college life today and she must have one, someone tell me quickly, as I will have to figure out how to afford that on top of everything else.

soozievt

She truly does not need a TV and it is personal preference and it is true she'll have little time for one and it also takes up space (though in an apt. style dorm there is room). Don't buy one for college! Since your D doesn't care, I see no reason to even have one but since she'll be sharing a unit (if in apt. style) with three others, perhaps one of those girls will bring one. My D says she prefers to not have one and while she has one now only cause she is living in a furnished apartment furnished by someone else, she has a new apartment for next year and announced to me that they don't plan on having a TV. We did have a spare TV in our guest room she had freshman year and she has a teeny one in her bedroom at home too, but frankly, my kids have never watched much TV at all. It could be used for DVDs though but those also can be seen on a computer. Definitely don't buy a TV. Also, contact all the roomies in August and coordinate who is bringing what in terms of shared bigger items.

PS....we don't have flatscreen, high definition or TIVO here either (not even sure what TIVO is!)

alwaysamom

NMR, I don't know about most but certainly lots of NYU kids do have tvs in their dorm rooms. I remember the morning we moved my D into her dorm in freshman year and the number of tvs that were being lugged upstairs. Anyway, it certainly is a personal preference and if your D isn't interested, then that's fine. There is limited time to watch tv but my D enjoyed having the opportunity there if she happened to have some downtime when her favorite shows were on. I know that a group of them used to get together once a week, when possible, to watch The West Wing and it was a nice social event for her 'floor' friends. They also did this periodically with movies, and watching them on a laptop just wasn't going to be the same. Chances are one of your D's roommates will bring one so you shouldn't worry too much about it.

NotMamaRose

Oh, good, thanks. I had to laugh because when I mentioned the whole tv thing, my husband chuckled and said "Gosh, it sounds like she is going to live better in her NYU dorm than we do here in our own house!"

soozievt

NMR....that is not far fetched.....I may have told you that for this one year, we have had to pay for a maid at the apartment my D lives at and I cannot afford a maid for myself. I venture to say she has nicer kitchen applicances than I have too. (this is not in a dorm)

NotMamaRose

sooz, yes, you mentioned that. It's ironic but funny at the same time. I have heard it said to NYU students that they ought to enjoy their time in the dorms, as those dorms may well end up being the best apartments they will ever be able to afford in New York City. (And your D's apartment DOES sound nice: certainly nicer in terms of furniture and amenities than my beloved little brick house here in my city. But heck, I love my house anyway. It's home!) Thanks for all the information.

soozievt

I remember when my D lived in the dorms (in Union Square) for two years and she also said that may be the last time she can afford to live in such a location. She just got an apartment for next year (but starts renting it this summer and her sister is going to live in it and pay for those months since she has an internship in NYC for the summer) and she insisted on Brooklyn and one reason (but not her only one) was that it was cheaper, even though I am willing to pay for whatever the NYU dorms cost for an apartment in the village...but she says that once she graduates in another year, that since she has to pay herself for rent at that point, that it made sense for her to start renting now in Brooklyn and she could opt to stay on there. It is cheaper. I guess I should not complain as she is saving us a bunch next year but it was her idea, not ours. (she won't be having a maid!!...but will have a dishwasher)

travellinghopefully

Anyone know about the upperclassman dorms? my d is going in as a transfer and that is where she will be living

soozievt

I do not know how the housing works for transfers. For upperclassmen, the housing lottery is over for the coming year. You don't necessarily get your first or second choice dorm. There are many dorms and all are apartment style and the locations vary widely. My D only lived in an upperclass dorm for her soph year (plus last summer and this coming summer) but is living off campus for junior and senior years. She preferred the Union Square area and was in CAP21 (which is not your D's studio, I don't think). In soph year, she lived in Carlyle Court which is right in Union Square and then last summer and this summer is living in Palladium right in Union Square and next door to UHall (a freshman dorm). Some upperclass dorms are in the lower number streets. What you need to do is visit the housing site on NYU and read about every dorm option there. Also find out how housing is assigned for transfers.

alwaysamom

I know that transfers, in past years, have traditionally had very little choice about what dorm they're in. As Susan said, all upper classmen have already been assigned to their dorms for next year, so transfers are usually placed in the dorms which have space left. Unfortunately, this often results in them being in the least popular dorms. One of my Ds has a friend who is a junior and when she did her room choice, almost a month ago now, there were no singles left anywhere and only four dorms had ANYthing left. She was not happy.

soozievt

While I truly do not know how transfer housing assignments work, my gut feeling all along with this was that the choices will be limited given that all rising sophs, jrs and srs have already been assigned their housing. (agree with AlwaysAMom) I'm sure a transfer could get housing but the options may not be wide. Again, I suggest reading about the dorms on the housing site and also inquiring how housing assignments work for transfers.