NYU: Post-Graduation Lifestyle in Your Freshman Year

Introduction
The biggest piece of advice I could give is do not think you are going to suddenly going to be swept away into a Sex and the City or Friends lifestyle. You are living in a full-blown city - one person out of 8 million. Your days do not involve shopping on 5th Avenue, rather searching for cheap eats and going to class.

NYU is for independent people. Everyone likes to view themselves as independent, but you really need to evaluate yourself before coming here - can you really survive it on your own? By this I mean:

Can you make friends in a generally unfriendly environment?
Can you deal with NYU's red-tape covered administration?
Can you balance partying up NYC while maintaining a good GPA?
Can you deal with not having a centralized community filled with school spirit?

I chose NYU because I thrive on NYC. I thrive on getting out there and scoring some amazing internships. I thrive on learning the subway system and taking daily trips up to Yankee Stadium. I thrive on being given a wide variety of club options and putting myself out there to meet people. Make sure you identify with this before you come because a surprising amount of students transfer after the first year.

Campus Life and Social Life
If you do not put yourself out there, nobody will notice you. You MUST join a club - you MUST get involved in order to gain friends here. You have to realize that everyone is in the same position as you, wanting to make friends, in an environment that does not facillitate meeting people.

Your free time can involve whatever you want. Museum? Movie? Dance Club? Hookah Bar? Fancy Restaurant? Shopping? Small Dorm Party? Bar Hopping?

Unfortunately all these things cost money, so make sure your finances are in order before coming here. NYC is an expensive city - beware! Academics
The academics at NYU are very diverse. You can be a Film and TV major in Tisch or completely make up your major in Gallatin. All the department are very solid, with Stern and Tisch being the usual standout schools.

CAS is very big and easy to get lost in, while Gallatin is small and has a tight-knit community, despite being the school for individualized study. Steinhardt has all the random departments in it (Music Business, Education, Studio Art etc.) but all are pretty solid.

All my professors at NYU have been absolutely amazing. I am a second semester sophomore and not have ONE bad professor - that's saying a lot.

Student Body
There is no typical student at NYU. Some people like to complain that it's full of rich kids (there are a good number of them), but everyone seems to find their own path within NYC, given a good amount of effort. Everyone can find their niche if they set out to find it.

In Closing...
NYU fosters an environment that is usually found in graduate schools. They expect you to do the soul searching - they are not going to serve it to you on a silver platter.

It's up to you to join clubs and find internships and get involved. Overall NYU is a great school, but it's not for everybody. We don't have grassy fields on our campus, rather dog poop filled concrete sidewalks. I find a gritty charm in that - others don't. Make sure you know what you are getting yourself into and hopefully this review has helped!