NYU Shanghai Is NYU's "Bad School" Right?

alex2213
Sun, 05 Apr 2015 08:41:26 +0000

Hello, everyone!

I am also a student at NYU Shanghai. Let me begin by saying that not everything is perfect here. But is it anywhere? Certain aspects are still not well organized. But I doubt that most universities can change and improve at the speed NYU Shanghai does. Several people did indeed transfer. Yet, most of them had health or family issues. Some students are unhappy with the science curriculum. But not because the courses are not good or because the professors are not dedicated: but because it is too hard. And yet, MIT’s reputation or standards are not questioned when students commit suicide because of stress.

The main reason NYU Shanghai is facing so much criticism and speculation is its uniqueness and its age. When I say “uniqueness”, I do not mean to say it is “extraordinary”, just unique. Why? Because it is an American university in China. That is pretty unique. And because it is part of NYU’s Global Network. That is also pretty special. Combined with its existence of only 2 years, the result is that people still do not know what it is, what to expect. It has not yet created a tradition, it has not yet defined itself as a school. Choosing to come here may seem to be a gamble, but it is not. It is just a risk that you should only take if you know it is not too big for you.

As far as academic standards go, I would like to remind you that NYU Shanghai students also receive a New York University degree. Also, students from New York, Abu Dhabi and Shanghai can all study at any of the other campuses. That being considered, it would have been impossible for NYU not to have ensured that the standards are equally high everywhere. In contrast, for those of you who believe an NYU degree is not “worth” much, I have two things to say: 1. The “value” of an NYU Shanghai degree is not yet known. It could be huge. After all, nobody has one yet. 2. If all you care about is a piece of paper, then look no further than the first ranking you can find online. That should be enough to help you make a decision.

In response to the last questions posted, I don’t have a good overview of who will be interning where, but I do have two friends who have received internships from Google. Also, I did not apply to either Dartmouth or Duke, but I did reject Imperial, UCL and NYU New York (among others) in order to come here. I do not regret my decision.