Right now I'm a junior at NYU and when asked, I spout off about how much I love the school. NYU is definitely not for everyone though. Typically when one thinks about college they think dorms, fraternities, football games, and freedom. Well two out of 4 ain't bad.

Dorms we have. Some great ones too, but don't expect to be in one freshman year. When my sister went to visit NYU a year before me, she came back saying how amazing the dorms were. When I saw my dorm I thought she must have been lying. It looked like something out of a prison or a highschool locker room. Ugly, bland, creamish-yellow walls and tiled floors, my closet had no door: it was just a hole in the wall, and in my shower there was a large hole that was covered up with duct tape...I loved my dorm though. Before the first night was over I knew every single person on my floor's name. I'm not even a friendly person. Not by a long shot, but everyone came and introduced themselves, everyone left their door open too so that when you walked by you had to say hi (to accomplish this, one of the guys on my floor walked around with a screw driver taking the hinges off of everyone's doors.) We did a lot of things as a floor in the first two weeks and this made the whole transition into college that much easier. I didn't have friends but I did have a large group of people that I could do stuff with...and later we learned the pros of having such an ugly dorm (i.e. lighting the toilet on fire and spilling large quantities of alcohol without worrying about messing anything up)

NYU isn't for everyone. Many people really want that football team and fraternities and the school spirit that goes along with it. We have fraternities, they're just not a big part of anything. I really only know of one especially prominent one where the members wear shirts proclaiming that they're a part of that frat.

It's a school for the independent, cause once you're there you're on your own. But I love the city. There's so much to do if you just look. Sure, you can find tons of parties, and there's hundreds of clubs, but if you want more than that out of your whole college experience then check out NYU. You'll learn all the insiders things about New York, like how to get into all the big Broadway shows in the front row for $20, and where to see all your favorite bands play since EVERY band comes to NYC. You'll learn how to see every big movie that comes out in theaters a week early and for free. You'll see tons of concerts put on in parks for free when the MTV music awards roll around or any other big awards show where every band is in the city. You'll learn how and where to go to stalk Matt Damon or the Olsen twins.

And the dorms? oh they get better. Next year I have a one bedroom apartment on the 30th floor with hardwood floors, a bathroom, kitchen, and common room, which I'm sharing with one other person. It's hot. The only downer? I'm going to Madrid second semester to study abroad (NYU has an amazing Study Abroad program that won't cost you anything extra) so I only get to spend one semester in my awesome dorm.

NYU is a school with plenty of money and I would advise everyone to take advantage of that. Most people don't which is sad. If you're a poor college student like myself them you should be happy that they're willing to pay for you to have fun. Every dorm gets a certain amount of money to do with as they see fit, but not a lot of people want to take 20 min out of their week to vote on what the money goes toward. That means that if you have 5 friends on different floors in the building then you're going to take-over the voting, and the money. So if you see fit to go out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen with all your best friends, then so be it. NYU's got the bill. If you want to hire a massage therapist to give 20 min massages, you can be the first in line for free.

Being in New York City provides a wealth of opportunities for internships and summer jobs and everything you need to lead up to your career. No matter your major there's a ton of jobs out there for you cause this is New York City. I'm a finance major. I work on Fifth Avenue, one of my other friends is a musical theater major so he got a job working at the musical Chicago. Maybe neither of us are doing the most prestigious work: I make copies and put together reports, he sells programs, but the contacts you make are priceless.

Ok so bad points...well it's not exactly the cheapest school in the nation. at about $40,000 a year, well that's not exactly chump change. one problem many people complain about at NYU is that it often feels like they're trying to get as much money out of you before you leave as they possibly can. Grated they give a lot of money for you to spend...but i would rather not have to lose so much of it in the first place...One example of their type of extortion is that they turned one of the best places for clubs to have meetings and concerts in, into a starbucks. a starbucks! I mean come on!...don't get me wrong, I love starbucks, but I liked going to a capella concerts and open mic nights at violet cafe much better, and there's really no lack of starbucks already in that part of the city. I didn't mind walking three blocks instead of one to get my expensive coffee fix.

Last of all let me just say, anyone that complains about the food at NYU has never eaten at any other college. First of all we have a good 10 places to eat. I haven't been to all of them but I'll start with my least favorite so far. Hayden Hall. Like just about all the dining halls it has the grill where you can order grilled chicken, burgers, veggieburgers, grilled cheese, hotdogs, and fries, and they make it while you stand there. Hayden is my least favorite hall because most of the stuff there isn't made to order...can you say I'm spoiled? The food is great, not exactly like mom used to make but still great. Of course there's the salad bar too, so if you can't find anything you like, you can get a burger or salad or something. Not too shabby, this one is the worst though.

Next is Weinstein Dining Hall. There's actually 2 places to eat in Weinstein (which is the dorm I lived in, so it's nice that when you want food you just go downstairs.) The upstairs hall has pizza hut and sushi and wraps and burger king. The downstairs has everything. Of course there's the grill. Then there's the Italian section where you pick your noodles and your sauce and your vegetables and they cook it for you right there. There's a section with cold cuts and there's an oriental section where you also pick out what you want in your dish and the chef cooks it up for you. There's the desert bar that usually has two types of pies that are always amazing, plus about 8 different tubs of ice cream and chocolate chips, and sprinkles, and strawberries, and bananas to make banana splits and chocolate sauce, then there's the section with the pre made food which is usually ok but never your only option anyway. The eating area itself was just redone this year and it has an electric jukebox. I'm not kidding about this. songs are a quarter and you can pay with credit card, you can even search for songs online if your favorite remote band isn't available.

The last dining hall I'm going to mention is Faye's Cafe. Now this place is just about everyone's favorite. You haven't had a sandwich till you've had it from Faye's. Every type of bread imaginable. Chabatta, Foccaccia, white, and wheat, and 7 grain, and rye, and rolls, and hoagies, and french bread. Every kind of meat: 3 types of turkey, 2 types of ham, chicken, roast beef, salami, pastrami...you get the point. Cheeses? Brie, provalone, cheddar, american, swiss to name a few...tons of dressings and extras, it's just amazing. I would love NYU for this place alone. So anyone that complains about the food is an idiot. It gets old eating in a dining hall but it's better than most college food places.

There's just so much to do and places to go in this city. You can make the most of it or not. That's entirely up to you. I love dorming. I get to live in a new part of the city every year. From the financial district to the West village. It's amazing.

All in all NYU was the best choice for me and I love it. The things it's lacking are unimportant to me, and coming out with a Finance degree, I'll probably be able to pay off my accumulating student loans in no time at all. If you're going to try to make the most out of your college experience then NYU has the most stuff to make the most out of.


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