NYU: An Honest Review by a Current NYU Junior

jackhammer25
Sat, 15 Feb 2014 01:47:47 +0000

Hello all,

I feel like around this time of year even though your admissions decisions aren’t out yet, many questions about NYU start to pop up. I thought I would give an honest review of my time at NYU.

A little background about myself so you have some perspective on what types of views I have.

NYU CAS Junior majoring in Econ. No Financial Aid (so I know very little about this topic). Have studied abroad. Not in Greek life. Not really involved in any extracurriculars anymore. Straight dude.

If you have any questions after, feel free to ask.

So with that, let me tell you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly about NYU:

The GOOD:

Not many people can say they went to college in the greatest city in the world. There’s something unique to going to college in the city. Incredible nightlife scene (get a great fake. You need it here). Your friends will be so jealous of all the places you go. You will not get bored on the weekends unless you bore yourself on purpose. Tons of sports games, all the food and restaurants in New York, Broadway plays, SNL, Movie screenings, art galleries, jazz clubs, etc…the list goes on and on. Basically any type of entertainment or hobbies that interest you is in New York. There’s so much to do. And on top of that NYU is in arguably the best part of NYC. You’ll realize how lucky you are when you’re staring at the Empire State Building changing colors on a rooftop of someone’s apartment.

Great academic reputation. Most schools within NYU and majors have top notch professors who are experts within their respective fields. NYU’s brand name to employers is really strong. It is not too hard to find jobs or internships during the year. NYU is really good from that aspect. It’s up to you to boost your resume and get the most of out what you pick to study, but all the resources are there for you.

For all you parents, the Career Center is terrific. I’ve landed a couple job offers directly through Wasserman. They critique your resume, help you with interviewing, and most importantly get a lot of employers to come down and offer job opportunities to students. Again, for job and career opportunities, everything is there. No matter what major or field you want to go into, you’re in New York City after all.

Tons of study abroad opportunities as well. There’s at least 7 or 8 different campuses globally and virtually anyone from any major can do it. Definitely take advantage of it. Even if you don’t go here, I would still recommend studying abroad.

In terms of community, I think NYU is somewhat improving although I’m not saying by any means that it’s good. I’m pretty sure Greek life involvement and membership in a number of different extracurriculars has increased.

The BAD:

On the flip side, the community and sense of school spirit is incredibly low. The sports teams are essentially non-existent in terms of their presence and spirit on campus. It’s incredible how distant people are at NYU, especially if you go and visit other schools when you’re in college. After you go tailgating for a fall football game at another school and have a blast, you’ll wonder ■■■ is wrong with us and why we’re not tight at all.

There is no campus of any sort. Washington Square Park does not constitute a campus. If you’re looking for a place where you can sit under a tree and read a book, steer far and clear from NYU. Nothing we have even resembles this image.

Making friends here takes some effort. Many people here are not the open-door policy type of people and tend to keep to themselves. You’ll feel like you want to shoot yourself when you see how many people here sit in their room and play computer games. You have to find your type of friends and not get drawn into a crowd that you’ll get bored of or regret. Most of my friends I made are from Welcome Week, my freshman year dorm hall, and through mutual friends. So you gotta make your friends early and often.

As a straight dude who likes everything a typical guy is into, this hasn’t exactly been a school where I run into guys on the daily who I want to chill with. No doubt that it’s important to diversify your friend groups. I love that part about NYU. But to find guys who you want to chill with it’s more of a challenge. I’d recommend doing things like playing a sport or intramurals, finding someone with a mutual interest such as going to the gym, maybe joining a fraternity or club that you like.

This leads me to my next point. Some people here are weird. I mean REALLY WEIRD. From the Asian kid in Stern freaking out about his next test to the Tisch girl screaming (or singing) at the top of her lungs in her dorm room at 1 AM, I’ve seen a lot. Maybe not all but I’ve seen a lot.

The UGLY:

For how good an NYU degree is supposed to be, the class size and quality isn’t really all that much better than a large state school. There’s this myth out there that only a small percentage of classes are large and many rosy statistics are thrown out to you during your admissions visits, but I would say at least 80% of my classes at NYU have had over 100 students. At CAS, many of these large classes are just lectures where the professor goes on like a parrot for over an hour. And NYU for whatever reason has a ton of required courses, which are difficult to sit through to say the least.

I have had both good and bad professors. WATCH OUT FOR THE BAD PROFESSORS. Do you homework on them. Choosing a decent professor is so important in college, both for grading and learning reasons.

New York City as a whole is incredibly expensive. Maybe the most expensive city in America. The $14 mixed drinks and cab rides all start to add up. As if the cost of NYU wasn’t already an insult, don’t expect your personal expenses to be any cheaper if you want to have a bit of fun here.

The cost of NYU is just downright dirty. The sad reality of it is that for likely at least half of NYU, the payoff is simply not there. You’re paying $250,000 without any type of future guarantee. If you’ve got a substantial amount of loans, the cost is difficult to justify. Unless you’re majoring in something quantitative like Computer Science, Finance, or Applied Math, I would definitely recommend not taking on 200k+ in loans. If you’re majoring in something like English or History, think realistically about what the payoff for you is down the road.

CONCLUSION:

For all its flaws, I’ve had a blast here the past 3 years. Yes, I do think once in a while about what it would have been like to go to another school and have the more typical college experience. It hasn’t all been roses but at the same time, I’ve made a ton of friends, seen a lot of what NYC has to offer, and had experiences that will last a lifetime.

You have to be proactive to have a great time here. This isn’t necessarily a school where you can sit back and expect to have the good time that you paid NYU to have. This probably applies to both school and socially. NYU is definitely not the right school for everyone. NYU does have an 8-10% transfer rate after freshman year, so some people have obviously have issues with it for whatever reason. At the same time, NYU is really good fit for a lot of people. If you love the feel of the city and can imagine yourself being in New York, then go for it.

Just as with any other school, you have to be willing to put yourself out there. Take some chances, hang out with some new people, go to that extra club meeting. You never know who you will meet or what you will enjoy.

After all, how many people can say they went to college in New York City.