A hidden gem that punches above its weight - Stern provides a pipeline to the street

Anonymous wrote:There is no campus. There is little community. For suburban rural kids who want to experience NYC but didn't get in Columbia or Barnard, it's an obvious option. Also the culture is internship internship internship. Tons of international students.

Not true for all programs. Would say NYU generally ahead of Barnard from an academics perspective. Columbia is btr except for certain programs like Tisch and Stern...I would not consider NYU's 8% overall acceptance rate and with certain programs less than 5% as an obvious option to Columbia or Bernard. Its a reach for most.

My DS is starting spring semester at NYU in January, so I can't answer a lot of your questions. I can, however, provide a little insight as to why I think he decided to go there, which may help you. You may already know a lot of this, but here goes.

DS really enjoys being in a high stimulus diverse urban setting, and liked his high school which had over 2000 students. Almost all of the colleges to which he applied were in large cities, or close to them. He would have wilted at a SLAC or small Catholic one. I assume your DC has visited, because they shouldn't consider going there unless they have had some experience with the day to day experience of cacophonous noise, congestion and throngs of people one encounters in NYC.

There are a lot of NYU reddit threads about going there, making friends and creating community. NYU lacks the infrastructure of a traditional campus, like sports and Greek life, but there is still a lot to do. School spirit isn't a thing there.

Some say that students tend to get segregated by the school within NYU that they attend because they go to classes within different buildings dispersed throughout Manhattan (and Brooklyn, if engineering). My impression is that it is a university for outgoing, engaging kids who aren't afraid of putting themselves out there to make friends and find activities outside of class. If you DC is more introverted, I'd give it some thought as to how he would adapt before applying ED there.

NYU is a majority non-white school, with a lot of international students, so if DC is more comfortable with an UMC suburban setting, you might want to think about that as well. Students range from wealthy to FGLI. It was a draw for my DS, but may not be for your DC.

As for green space, Manhattan actually has a lot of parks, the High Line isn't far from NYU and there is, of course, Central Park.

Lastly, NYU isn't a much of a STEM school, under 25% of the students are STEM, and if your DC is applying to an engineering program, it is across the river in Brooklyn, the Tandon School of Engineering. It is, however, great for an eclectic, interdisciplinary education in the social sciences and humanities, which is one of the reasons my DS choose it. He will get what he puts into it.

A friend’s child just started their sophomore year at NYU. She’s admitted freshman year was really tough. It’s such a huge school and easy to feel lost in the shuffle and big city environment. I think there are definitely aspects they enjoy that make for a unique experience, but it’s good to know the downsides and be realistic.

Anonymous wrote:There is this incredible space, it is called Central Park. It is 2.5 miles long and .5 mile wide. Its a total of 843 acres.

GREEN SPACE.

Also there are rivers and you can boat on them and sit by the shore.

I just visited and saw an article about free kayaking offered regularly to the public.

You can also take free rides on the Staten Island ferry to see the city at night from the water.

There is this incredible space, it is called Central Park. It is 2.5 miles long and .5 mile wide. Its a total of 843 acres.

GREEN SPACE.

Anonymous wrote:There is no campus. There is little community. For suburban rural kids who want to experience NYC but didn't get in Columbia or Barnard, it's an obvious option. Also the culture is internship internship internship. Tons of international students.

Did you have a student who went there?

There is no campus. There is little community. For suburban rural kids who want to experience NYC but didn't get in Columbia or Barnard, it's an obvious option. Also the culture is internship internship internship. Tons of international students.

Bump

If your child is going to NYU or went there, do you mind sharing their experiences? My DC is considering ED'ing there. It's a very different campus experience than many schools. How did they adjust to it? Were they able to build a community? How did they do with the traffic, lack of green space, etc.? Thanks for any insights.