Not only was NYU a safety, after getting some of my D other acceptances I actually told her she was NOT ALLOWED to go to NYU. I consider myself an academic snob…and it was the LSP/GLS program that convinced us to choose NYU over other acceptances including Princeton, University of Edinburgh, King’s College London, Univ of Chicago, St. Andrews, UCLA, etc… it’s actually very difficult to get into LSP. You have to show an aptitude for a foreign language (given) and global awareness. Here is write up I did on another thread. I hope it’s helpful.
Almost everything I could think to share about NYU, NYU London, GLS and transferring out of GLS. I hope this LONG post helps!
Acceptance:
The reason they ask what city is to see if you “would be willing” to live in another city Freshman year. Think of it this way, they have limited space to educate and house students in NYC, with multiple locations around the world, they can accept more students because they can start them “off campus” so-to-speak. There is attrition from year to year, so starting students in Florence, Paris and London gives NYU time to experience some attrition and still keep their numbers high… that’s my take anyway.
My daughter was given an acceptance on the CONDITION that she spend her first year in London… it may seem that you could do the GLS Program and start in NYC, but I think the majority of students start in either London, Paris or Florence. Year 2 is in NYC. Year 3 is split between 2 locations and you can choose from a pretty big list including: Berlin, Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv, Florence, Madrid, Paris, Shanghai, etc. Then Year 4 is back in NYC. Now, that said, you can apply to study abroad Sophomore year and there is an accelerated BA/MA that could have you abroad again for all/part (?) of Senior+ year.
In short if you start in London, it might look like this:
F: London
S: NYC
J: Madrid/Paris
S: NYC
Location Update:
It does seem that NYU will start some students in NYC freshman year now.
Budget:
Once in London, it’s more expensive that you think. Even after all of her tuition and housing is paid for… on an EXTREME budget it is costing about £140 a week for food, laundry, tube, and minimal fun. This does not include travel, pubs, major clothing or extra tube trips to other neighborhoods. So… make sure you are well financed. Do NOT use their “estimate of what is costs to live in London” I have NO IDEA where they got that!
The GLS Program is extremely expensive in a number of ways, first, if you receive “room & board” in your financial aid, you don’t get any “board” or food. At least not in London. You pay for all your food, shopping, etc. My daughter is living sparingly on about £140/week. Keep in mind, when you are located in London that Paris is a 3 hr train ride away, Scotland is a bus ride and everywhere in the UK/Europe is in your backyard so you’ll want to factor in those expenses.
Also, factor in the 5 weeks they have off for winter break. That is either a trip home or travel, housing and food for 35 days…
Budget Update March 2015:
Also, just a money head’s up… living in London is much more expensive (about $8k) over the financial allowance for NYC. However, if you have aid, scholarships, grants, Parent Loans, etc… NYU adjusts for your living expenses and increases your aid. Also, completely as a surprise, my daughter received an additional $4k scholarship weeks before classes started so don’t decide to not pursue the GLS program simply because of money. If you are trying to budget… realistically above housing… it has cost her about £20 A DAY to live. This covers food (which you have to pay for separately), transportation (Cab, Uber or Oyster card for tube/buses), clothing, personal care, laundry, books, etc. It’s not inexpensive to go there… but knowing it was £20/DAY would have been really valuable information. A lot of the nightlife (yes, parents they will go out) is free for girls and about £20 to get in for boys…so the fellas might need a bit more money. Finally, there is a fall King Arthur trip which I highly recommend, that is $225 extra and then there is the Fall break - my daughter traveled to Glasgow and Edinburgh (budget about £40/DAY with bus fare, airbnb, food, tickets, etc. There is winter break, we flew her home… $1200 RT, but many kids travel throughout Europe, then there is Spring Break for 10 days so another £40/DAY - she chose Krakow and visiting Auschwitz… then there is staying for the first month of summer for Glastonbury. Her total expenses for SCHOOL were $76,100 Freshman year. We sent an additional £600 PER MONTH (about $1000) and she’s been frugal but had a VERY good time. We were lucky and she received a lot of financial aid, but even a FULL RIDE (which she didn’t get) leaves about $10,000 in daily living expenses. I imagine ALL of the other campuses are less (except perhaps Paris) but it was worth it to us to have live, really LIVE in the UK and Europe for her Freshman year. After all, at what other point in her life would this be possible. If it makes it easier to see how this is affordable, she received a full scholarship for tuition ($36k) and scholarships/grants (NOT LOANS) for $56k of the $76k. We did take out loans for $20k and send her $10k in monthly money… but we felt the $30k was worth it for the experience. It’s a family decision… but I found it impossible to get this transparent of information when we were looking, so I hope this helps!
Re: Internships
My daughter just started her position in London at a web brokerage company but she found this on her own. There doesn’t seem to be anything set up at the London location to facilitate internships, but there doesn’t seem to be much time for them (at least as a freshman). You are doing your classes not only in the historic Bloomsbury campus, but in the National Gallery, Parliament, and taking several trips to UK historic sites.
Re: Academics
For my daughter who was IR but is switching to Philosophy, staying the GLS Program wasn’t really an option, so if you are afraid of that, don’t be. That said, I sort of wish she would stay in there (not possible for Pre-Health, IR, etc) because the GLS Program has a concentration called Politics, Rights and Development which may be right up her alley and she can do cross-school minor in Philosophy or Econ… but alas, she gets to choose! It is a tough decision to walk away from Paris, Madrid, etc. and spend 3 winters in NYC… but it’s all good. NYU has done an exception job putting together this global program, but also making it easy for students to transfer out if they WANT and stay in and find a close major if they WANT. For my daughter, the IR Major is an Honors major and she not only would have to transfer out but take required electives her freshman year in order to transfer out and NYU London made sure she knew about those electives and she took them. They really have this process wired. My daughter’s advisor in the GLS Program is very knowledgable about the IR Major and what they look for when you apply… so it seemed she would have been well-positioned. Many of her friends are Communication or Journalism majors, many, many are Pre-Health and yes, they have the prerequisite classes in London anyway. Basically, I don’t believe doing the GLS CORE Program the first two years will in anyway adversely impact your overall educational goals unless you have your heart set on Tisch or Stern, those are more difficult to transfer into, but it’s not impossible. Happy to answer any other questions on London or the GLS Program from our limited knowledge and experience so far.