<p>A college campus is important to many people–I wouldn’t belittle your concern at all. </p>
<p>I don’t think that the student body is as “independent, isolated and distant” as some claim. </p>
<p>Independence: by virtue of living in NYC, I think you develop a lot of people/communication/life skills which makes you a more independent person, which is completely different from the entire student body being independent. For example, you learn to adjust to some of the problems living in a city brings–walking more, taking the subway, being careful at night, finding housing, dealing with housing problems, etc. </p>
<p>I’ve never felt that I was completely alone in the city and I’ve always had friends who I’ve enjoyed hanging out in the city with & going to all of the different things going on. </p>
<p>It’s true that it’s a lot different than a campus with a quad, where people just hang out. I’ve never had that experience, but from my perspective I don’t really know how common it is that people who don’t know each other will just hang out or greet each other on the quad. I think more typically people have their own friend groups anyways. So in that sense, and correct me if I’m wrong, you’re also worried about the fact that there isn’t a place where everyone sort of congregates & you can see everyone? </p>
<p>If so, then I want to point out that freshman year, all of the NYU dorms are very close to Washington Square Park and the school does its best to organize plenty of events for freshmen. </p>
<p>I don’t regret picking NYU over schools with quads at all. College only happens once, and I’m immensely glad that I’ve been able to have four relatively care-free years in one of America’s most vibrant cities and have been able to go to different sporting, theater & other entertainment events as well as meet people from all over.</p>