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<p>WHAT financial aid?! NYU is notoriously stingy.</p>
<p>The negatives stated here and elsewhere on this site are eerily similar to those a family friend is experiencing there as a freshman. He has wanted to transfer out pretty much since he arrived. If it were anywhere other than NYC and didn’t have a couple of notable programs, people would be far less forgiving of its shortcomings.</p>
<p>Just sayin’, 5boys, that our experience last summer was different. 
We left with a great impression of NYU…and the student who took us on our tour and who coincidentally happened to be from our state was loving her experience. Another thing she mentioned was the impressive internships she has held as a student. (Sally305, I just skimmed a few of your most recent posts…do you regularly consider your tone?)</p>
<p>EastGrad, I’m glad NYU works for you all (I’m glad when any school works for any kid), but I had to laugh at “(Our) tour guide was clean and charming.” I’ll have to ask my DD, but I think from what I saw of our NYU tour guide (neck, face, wrists, maybe ankles?), that he appeared to be “clean” too. Actually, I don’t recall any of our tour guides needing a bath. :)</p>
<p>Seriously, we very much wanted to love NYU, and expected to do so. We flew across the country to see it and allotted a full 24 hours. We love vacationing in NYC whenever we can afford it (we only have one child so that helps) --seeing shows etc. But NYU the school–no, we did not like it. That’s why visits are important. The really hard thing is no one has the time or money (or the ability to miss unlimited school without consequences) to see every possible school. So these threads are great. You read them and glean info and look for trends–maybe sort out the outlier opinions–and go from there. It’s a big help, really.</p>
<p>haspotential, that comment was in response to the piercings (not to imply that people with piercings are not clean, however!!, should have been more specific and said “clean cut” but can’t edit that post now). I realize your piercing comments referred to the video not the tour guide. 
I will say that though we liked NYU, we did like Columbia more, and also we weren’t specifically looking at theater. I guess we are the outlier on NYU!</p>
<p>Oh and @ Eastgrad, at one point in your post you called me “Haspot.” Hmmm–that would be an entirely different theme than the one I was going for…It’s “Haspotential,” because my DD does MT and has not had a million years of training. And PS, I wish we had more kids as expensive as they are–it just did not work out for us.</p>
<p>NYU is one of the most expensive schools in the country, so it really needs to be great. And, respectfully, we felt that it was not, so it went off our list, and would have gone off even if it were a bargain.</p>
<p>No hard feelings–we just view NYU differently. When visiting and crossing schools off, it sometimes feels that certain schools rely on their reputations. It makes sense on some level, but maybe the reputation is outdated. Or maybe it is just a product of great marketing. We did not tour UT Austin, because we are both alums, but UT can be a place with that sort of attitude as well. “We’re UT–that’s all you need to know.”</p>
<p>Big, big grin about the haspot! I bet your DD has more than just potential given her list! Good luck making all the decisions…we narrowed our list too, and ultimately it didn’t include NYU…still… :)</p>
<p>The president of NYU seems to be having some trouble…
<a href=“N.Y.U.’s Global Leader Is Tested by Faculty at Home - The New York Times”>N.Y.U.’s Global Leader Is Tested by Faculty at Home - The New York Times;
<p>N.Y.U.’s Global Leader Is Tested by Faculty at Home
The faculty of New York University is conducting a no-confidence vote on John Sexton, the university’s president, whom some consider a hero and others an autocrat.</p>
<p>Good luck with the search.</p>
<p>EastGrad, in answer to your question–yes, I do consider my tone (although as you know it can be difficult to convey accurately in writing). The recent posts you are referring to were patently offensive to me and many others–they were making the suggestion that women and minorities don’t “deserve” to be at MIT and are less qualified than white males (even though the facts do not bear this out). Sometimes this sort of rhetoric gets flagged by the moderators; in other cases, it doesn’t.</p>
<p>BTW, I read a few of YOUR recent posts…congrats to your son. He will be way better off where he is going than NYU. :)</p>
<p>This thread is still so interesting. Reading from a different perspective now, for my S. </p>
<p>With regard to the tour guides, yes of course you’ll make some judgments (although not decisions, ideally) based on the personality of the guide; I still think the tour is invaluable. My D wanted to just walk around with a map, as suggested by another poster…not a chance. We learned so much talking with the student guides AND the other prospective applicants. You don’t get a sense of your potential peers on campus, walking around with a map.</p>
<p>At one college, we had a tour guide who was lightly mocking the script she was told to use - I’m supposed to tell you this, but its really not important… we’re supposed to go in that other door, so you see the view of that plaza… </p>
<p>Actually, the end effect was it made the tour seem more honest.</p>
<p>I was really, really interested in U of Colorado - Boulder, so I visited the campus. It quickly became apparent that the college was more concerned with sports and the outdoors than academics, and the campus wasn’t really the right one for me. I’m not considering going there now.</p>
<p>Fair enough, Sally305, and actually, I agreed with the points you were making about MIT and enrollment. Thank you for your congratulations. If you have a chance, glance westward: you’ll see me waving a white flag for a truce as well as the flag of friendship, whatever color that may be.</p>
<p>*At one college, we had a tour guide who was lightly mocking the script she was told to use - I’m supposed to tell you this, but its really not important… we’re supposed to go in that other door, so you see the view of that *</p>
<p>We had a few tour guides like that too.I agree, that wry attitude made them more approachable as a resource to question about campus life, rather than a bored salesman.</p>
<p>I kind of miss college tours now. I wonder if I could tag along on tours of grad schools? I could pretend I am having a change of life- change of career!</p>
<p>DD attended Barnard part of the Columbia family, but a close friend has a stupendous experience at NYU. Just sayin’. DD adored Barnard, but that’s off topic.</p>
<p>Flags of friendship are wonderful to see. Can sure see it from where I’m sitting.</p>
<p>Reiterating this really good comment by charlieschm: [#3746]</p>
<p>“Yes, the first rule of college admissions - look beyond the personality of the tour guide. For that matter, look beyond the personality of the entire admissions staff - after you are accepted, you will never deal with them again as a student at that college.”</p>
<p>EastGrad, I can see the flag from here. Mine is looking a little dingy after a long winter of being snowed and sleeted on, but I will give it a thorough spring cleaning next time the sun comes out. :)</p>
<p>S1 eliminated 3 after visiting
U.Mass Amherst - giant campus
Hampshire College - too unfocused, he really tried to like it
Coby-Swayer - too close to home
He kept 3 on the list:
Montana State U-Bozeman (accepted)
Evergreen State (attending)
Quest U. (Canada) (rejected)</p>
<p>S2 eliminated 2 after visiting
Olin (loved the school, but did not have his major)
Becker College (had nothing to offer outside of his major)
He kept 5 on the list:
MIT - awesome (waiting)
CMU - awesome (waiting)
RPI - liked (accpeted)
RIT - liked (accepted)
WPI - liked (accepted)</p>
<p>DS ruled out two colleges during our east coast swing this summer:</p>
<p>—NYU: Visited the day it was 103 degrees in the city, but that wasn’t the reason. He thought there just wasn’t enough of a campus atmosphere, which is very true. Being in NYC didn’t overcome the lack of a true campus for him.</p>
<p>—Princeton: Came across as too “upper end”. Said he didn’t need four more years of something just like his hometown. The admissions rep that gave the key talk at the beginning even wore a pair of very bright, plaid Rodney Dangerfield-like golf pants to go with his pink I-zod polo shirt.</p>