<p>I had my interview on Friday and it went super super super good! They are definitely interviewing only competitve candidates. One of my closest friend is a freshman and she told me that there are many people who haven’t gotten their interview invitations. </p>
<p>Oh I need to tell you stuff. I’m a student here, and found the staff to be very selective about what they tell you. Be really careful if you’re a science major, the starting class is approaching a 50% withdraw rate.</p>
<p>It should be noted that opinions on the school are very polarized. A few people love it, and deny that anyone has problems. Most other people hate it. To sidestep a bit of this, I’ll give information that I wish I knew before I went here, which is undeniable.
1.Alcohol is essentially the binding social force of the campus. If you don’t drink, and me and my friends don’t, prepare for a boring time.
2.All classes have an attached weekly recitation class which is taught by TAs
3.Food served at the school is very bad, despite claims that they would fix it quickly.
4.The new dorm will be VERY far away from the school. As in too far to walk back if you forget stuff.
5.Classes here are graded on a curve. Staff are instructed to tell you that they are not graded on a curve. Hence why many people have issues with grading. The international students wreck the curve for English and reading-based classes, and the Chinese students wreck the curve for most other classes, so everyone’s struggling in something.
6. Class selection is extremely limited. Only three dozen for this semester, of which many can not be taken be freshmen
6. Foundations of Science is a joke. Last year between 50-70% of students left the science majors. This year looks like it will exceed that. We have no choice over our scheduling until at least junior year, the teachers fail to explain what they’re testing on, and we are left with no time for eating or really anything else. Any schedule where your first class starts at 8AM and your last ends at *PM has issues, and this applies to ALL science majors. Research positions for students are only just now being considered, despite being told during admissions that they were common. And a tiny last nitpick. I received my textbooks for Chem and Calc from the school AFTER midterms.</p>
<p>@Xeros97 so after everything, do you regret coming to nyu sh? im an international from bosnia and herzegovina and i had my interview 2 weeks ago, im feeling very confident and i also wanted to study chemistry and now im really REALLY scared hahah</p>
<p>@Xeros97 and @ClairDeLaLune </p>
<p>I am a student at NYUSH (Class of 2018) and I personally do not regret coming to Shanghai. I like a bit of a challenge and since NYUSH is a “developing” school, I find it to be a really good place for me. </p>
<p>I know people are unhappy with some things, I am too, and I agree that things could be better, but some of the statements here are, in my opinion, pretty bold and completely not on point.
“It should be noted that opinions on the school are very polarized. A few people love it, and deny that anyone has problems. Most other people hate it.”
Maybe I am not familiar enough with the opinions of out student body, but I’m pretty sure that a big portion of it does not hate the school (I am not saying they are perfectly content and happy with it, either).</p>
<p>1) I don’t think alcohol is the binding social force of campus. As someone who very VERY rarely drinks and has friends who don’t drink at all, I can say that we are definitely not having a boring time. If someone directly ties alcohol consumption with “not having a boring time” then they have a problem.</p>
<p>2) Not all classes have recitation. I am taking Intro to Int Politics this semester and we don’t have recitation. Some classes do have recitations, not all of them, and some recitation professors don’t even make them mandatory so you don’t have to go [e.g. precalculus] . On the other hand, recitations can sometimes be helpful, so no need to portray them as sth bad. (I have Barry Hashimoto for my G{B}PS Recitation, and whilst it’s not the most amazing thing that has happened to me, it’s not the worst either).FOS students have mandatory recitations since they have quizzes at that period. </p>
<p>3) Food in cafeteria improved a lot since the first time we started complaining and it was made sure we can share our feedback on it, so there is still room for improvement. I, personally, do not think it’s bad, but everyone is entitled to their own opinion.</p>
<p>4) Yes, the new dorm will be far away, but it’s not like anyone told us it will be right next to the AB either. And frankly, no one knows where exactly it is going to be, so saying anything about the location could potentially be misleading. </p>
<p>5) Not all classes are graded on a curve. Yes, sometimes you are not entirely sure what your professor is grading you on and that is not okay at all, but you go and talk to them. Talking helps, trust me (again, my experience with BPS) . GPS Lecture and recitation are graded on a curve (and professors have stated that many times), just like most of FOS classes and apparently calculus too. As for Chinese, it’s not, just like some other classes (Intro to Int Politics from my experience).</p>
<p>6) I agree that class selection is limited, but considering it’s our second year I don’t think approx. 30 classes to choose from is not enough. Just think about the fact that class of 2017 had even less to chose from. And the school is already working on hiring more professors next year, after all, somebody’s gotta teach the Integrated Soc Science and IR students, right?</p>
<p>7) [which is another 6 in the original comment]
I’m not entirely sure how is FOS a joke if so many people are leaving it? Though, they might be leaving it, not because FOS is too hard for them, but because they had realized that is not what they want to do. I, myself, am not an FOS student so I cannot say anything from my own experience. What I can say, is that I am friends with some FOS students , and whilst they all think the track is very time consuming and intense (lab reports every week and whatnot) I’m pretty sure they still have time for themselves. Sometimes their schedule is so messed up that they don’t have time to eat, but it’s the same for me sometimes. I think it’s a part of college experience. I’m not trying to undermine their hard work and dedication and the fact they spend more time in class than non-FOS students usually do, but I would not say all of them are utterly miserable and that that is the ONLY reason as to why they are leaving FOS.</p>
<p>I’m not trying to say the person posting the original comment is entirely wrong and should be crucified, I am just posting my own opinion on the matter. To be honest, the comment that most of the people hate it here shocked me and I am super interested in knowing more about it. </p>
<p>If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me! </p>
<p>I’m also a science (FoS) student at NYUSH. Going point by point:</p>
<p>“It should be noted that opinions on the school are very polarized. A few people love it, and deny that anyone has problems. Most other people hate it.”
A very small number of people hate it. Just about everyone recognizes there are issues. A small vocal minority make the issues sound a lot worse than they are. I personally love it here, despite the problems. I cannot emphasize enough how much the good things outweigh the bad.</p>
<p>“To sidestep a bit of this, I’ll give information that I wish I knew before I went here, which is undeniable.”
This ‘information’ is not undeniable.</p>
<p>“1.Alcohol is essentially the binding social force of the campus. If you don’t drink, and me and my friends don’t, prepare for a boring time.”
Alcohol is not the binding force of the campus. Alcohol is a part of just about any college, but the location of this one just happens to make it extremely available. There are plenty of people who don’t drink; the great part about being in Shanghai is there’s just about a never ending list of stuff to do, regardless of whether or not you drink. If you’re bored, that’s your fault. Excitement won’t always come to you, sometimes you have to go to the excitement.</p>
<p>“2.All classes have an attached weekly recitation class which is taught by TAs”
This isn’t true. All FoS classes have weekly recitation meetings, but just about all other classes do not. </p>
<p>“3.Food served at the school is very bad, despite claims that they would fix it quickly.”
If you don’t like the Chinese food here, that sucks. The “Western” food is not great, I won’t deny that, but I eat in the cafeteria every single day and I haven’t gone hungry yet.</p>
<p>“4.The new dorm will be VERY far away from the school. As in too far to walk back if you forget stuff.”
It’s inconvenient, I won’t deny that.</p>
<p>“5.Classes here are graded on a curve. Staff are instructed to tell you that they are not graded on a curve. Hence why many people have issues with grading. The international students wreck the curve for English and reading-based classes, and the Chinese students wreck the curve for most other classes, so everyone’s struggling in something.”
Not all classes are graded on a curve. International students don’t hurt the grades of the Chinese students in writing classes, and if International students studied as hard as the Chinese students did for math and science, we would have comparable if not better grades. My Chinese roommate’s scores on the last midterm for his writing class were identical to mine.</p>
<p>“6. Class selection is extremely limited. Only three dozen for this semester, of which many can not be taken be freshmen”
A problem that is inherent with a school of 600 people + study away. If you are looking for a large selection of classes, go to a larger school. As an FoS major this problem doesn’t really effect me.</p>
<p>*“6. Foundations of Science is a joke. Last year between 50-70% of students left the science majors. This year looks like it will exceed that.” *
I don’t know where you’re getting that information. I know maybe 8 people who are actually dropping FoS, and a couple who aren’t required to take 3&4.</p>
<p>*"We have no choice over our scheduling until at least junior year, the teachers fail to explain what they’re testing on, and we are left with no time for eating or really anything else. Any schedule where your first class starts at 8AM and your last ends at PM has issues, and this applies to ALL science majors."
On Mondays I have 30 minutes for lunch. It sucks. I don’t know what you mean by teachers failing to explain what they’re testing on. If you go to recitations and lectures, do the homework diligently and read the syllabus, you should know what will be tested.</p>
<p>“Research positions for students are only just now being considered, despite being told during admissions that they were common. And a tiny last nitpick. I received my textbooks for Chem and Calc from the school AFTER midterms.”
I don’t know a lot about research positions, so I won’t comment. I was in a similar boat for textbooks, but our chemistry professor posted PDFs of the first 5 or so relevant chapters online. I also had to borrow textbooks from friends, but that really wasn’t a big deal outside of the fact that I couldn’t annotate inside the book.
You said in the beginning to “prepare for a boring time” but over and over again you mention how busy you are. Are you bored all the time or are you busy? </p>
<p>@LaPanacee Are Integrated Soc Science and IR definitely going to be new majors then? My interviewer mentioned that students were petitioning for an IR major - it’s happened? And if so, do you know when it’d start?</p>
<p>I apologize, I’m apparently not a very clear writer at 2 in the morning. You’re right, I shouldn’t have said most people hate it. Most people think the school has a lot of flaws, and then there is a small number of students who try to shut down any one with any issues. FoS is deeply flawed when such a large chunk of the class is failing, and such a large majority hate it. So many people are transferring because of the crushing workload or because they hate how the class is taught, which are both real issues for it.</p>
<p>So the Social Science major did get approved. There is a professor who has been really amazing in getting the major going. Although we do not know for certain about when the major will be ready to go, it is possible to take classes that could apply to that major so when it’s ready, you can slide right into it. Your freshman year, you will not really be taking major-related courses unless your FoS. It will be a lot of Common Core. So you have plenty of time to figure out a major. Don’t worry!</p>
<p>I just wanted to account for the Humanities layer of this school.
I am an Integrated Humanities major and although there have been plenty of flaws and bumps, it is definitely worth it. In the US (which is where I am from) a Humanities major is basically useless. At NYUSH I can study what I am passionate about, and have that edge that sets me apart from the generic English or History major back home. As I am a member of the first class, I can attest to a lot of course broadening. First semesters was limited, as you can only offer so many classes to a group of 300 students, less if you account for FoS. As we have had more students and faculty has fluctuated, the classes have improved SUBSTANTIALLY. Plus, the professors are extremely interesting, from Cornell, NYUNY, NYUSH, elsewhere, and all have amazing perspectives on their fields. Academically, the Humanities track is great at NYUSH. Not to say we don’t have problems, but it’s a unique angle on a generic major, and I would certainly recommend it to all the adventurous souls out there. </p>
<p>Additionally, as for the outside of school life, everyone can find their niche at NYUSH. It might be hard at first, but there’s a place for everyone, trust me. I am a book lover who doesn’t drink, party or anything. There are music clubs, book clubs, finance clubs etc. to show the diverse community we are. Yes, alcohol is cheap here. Yes, several students like to go out drinking and enjoy the booming Shanghai night life. No, not everyone is focused on that. In fact, most students aren’t, to be honest. I would say it’s more boring for people who only drink than for the people who do other things with variety in their life. Nevermind the fact that US schools are substantially heavier in the party scene, and the drinking age elsewhere is generally 18, so this is not a problem specific to NYUSH. </p>
<p>Lastly, as a student who struggled for a bit in finding my place here last year, and who had a lot of problems I can tell you all confidently that there are plenty of people here who have your best interest at heart and will tirelessly help to make sure you feel happy here. There are so many resources to exploit both inside and outside the academic scene. It is generally understood that we are all taking a risk by putting our faith in NYUSH, and the school tries to make up for that and help with adjustment and improvement. </p>
<p>Please feel free to talk to me with any questions. It’s not that I see this school with rose colored glasses, but I think it is important to note that for what it is trying to be (and taking into account that we all know this is a developing school) the payback is phenomenal. </p>
<p>I apologize, I’m apparently not a very clear writer at 2 in the morning. You’re right, I shouldn’t have said most people hate it. Most people think the school has a lot of flaws, and then there is a small number of students who try to shut down any one with any issues. FoS is deeply flawed when such a large chunk of the class is failing, and such a large majority hate it. So many people are transferring because of the crushing workload or because they hate how the class is taught, which are both real issues for it.</p>
<p>Most people don’t think the school has a lot of flaws.
FoS is not deeply flawed.
A large majority does not hate FoS.
A majority doesn’t hate FoS!
So many people are not transferring. I think I know maybe 6 people who are switching majors.</p>
<p>Stop making all of these hyperbolic generalizations and presenting them as fact. Just because you hate FoS, you think it’s deeply flawed, you know a couple people who are switching majors because of the workload, and a small number of students shut you down when you make these wildly inaccurate statements about the majority opinion of a group of people you claim to represent, that doesn’t make FoS or this school in general terrible. I would bet my lunch that you don’t even know the first names of over half of the 47 people in FoS 1&2.
I recognize that there are problems with FoS and the school in general, but instead of slandering it online, and I say slandering because the dictionary definition of slander is what you are doing, do something productive. Make a petition, get people to sign it, and present it to Avraham Parola. Go to the professors office hours and share your concerns with them. There are so many things you could do instead of whining and grossly misrepresenting the opinion of 46 other people.</p>
<p>what are the dorms like in general?</p>
<p>Any fellow early decision 2 applicants lurking?</p>
<p>i’m applying RD but idk if I should put this as my primary or stern :p</p>
<p>@Musktard It depends on if you really want the cultural experience or not I guess.</p>
<p>if I’m offered a scholarship, that means I’m accepted right?</p>
Does Shangai conduct interviews for regular decisions too?
For regular admission does Shangai take interviews?
All competitive applicants are interviewed.