New York University

Date: May 30 2009
Major: Perfomance Arts (This Major's Salary over time)
I've been reading reviews on this website to really see if I belong at NYU…and yet I'm going to be a sophmore. My first year was pretty bad in terms of what I expected and what I thought the NYU experience would be. You go to Welcome Week thinking

oh boy, I go to NYU and I'm the luckiest person in the world.

It took about a month before I realize this perceived perfection was nothing more than an illusion of some sort.

A little background information, I was a drama student (I'm now transfering to music to see if that will work)at Tisch at the Stella Adler Conservatory, and let me tell you, Stella Adler is a brilliant school filled with great teachers and I'm thinking of taking classes separate from the university…however the NYU part of my program was horrendous. I took four other classes apart from studio-Intro To Theater Studies, Writing The Essay, Intro To Theater Production and I took a course in physics that was available through CAS. My theater studies class was a joke, an easy A. The kids in that class I just wanted to punch in the face. There were either incredibly snooty and dumb or incredibly hipster and condescending. Whenever I made a comment about something, there would be someone who would joke about it or someone who would immediately shoot it down as if I was beneath them. College is meant to foster discussion, not fighting.

My Writing The Essay class was probably the worst class I have ever taken. My first professor was a ditz who wanted my essay to sound more carbon copy and my second professor was an anti-Christian, totally liberal asshole. In fact, I had a scuffle with the latter professor after he started making comments about my religion (I am Catholic), something I feel is very personal. And when I thought I had it won by actually firing back at him, students started backing him up. I felt cornered, to say the least.

Intro To Theater Production was a highlight because I got to do some woodworking, which is always fun and my professors were very down to earth. My physics class was also a highlight, as the professor was great and available and there was enough work to feel like I was learning something important.

The rest of NYU is bust. Anything said about the administration is true, including the health administration. I was diagnosed with panic attacks when I was in high school, and when it started up again, I went to health services. I asked if they had a psychiatrist on call I could speak to or a psychologist for some sessions, but they said they only did a six-session plan and after that, you're on your own. I took the six-session plan and my psychologist did absolutely nothing. She told me to read a book about panic attacks, but I found that did nothing. I was eventually admitted to a hospital nearby after a severe panic attack left me freaking out in Bobst. I had to leave for two weeks simply because no one there really helped me. They just left me alone, which is the worst for someone with panic attacks. I applied for disability, but I never heard back from then. Now that I finally met with a private psychiatrist and readjusted my medication, I'm better, but boy did NYU drop the ball on that one.

Other aspects about the school: there is no school spirit, which is very disheartening. I thought being in a place where the most exciting research and art is being exhibited would have some sort of pride. But no, there is absolutely none. I found most students very unhappy with their lives, usually over the little things. I tried to be cheerful and nice, but I guess that doesn't cut it. Pessimism is rampant at the school. There is barely any sports, as I attended some basketball games and those were fun, but when I'd try to talk to someone about it, they would leave with a blank expression.

The friends I did make at this school I keep in touch in with and I would say are pretty good friends of mine. There are good people at this school, you just have to search REALLY hard.

And the whole no campus thing is also a bust because of the aesthetic of the school: cold, calculating and leeching off New York. While Washington Square Park gives the illusion of a quad, it becomes crowded very quickly, especially mid-day. Bobst is a great facility, but it also gets crowded very easily. I would say that generally, the school is overcrowded. Every building, there are delays because of the amount of people an elevator is carrying, and walking up the stairs in the building may be great exercise, but becomes painful after a while. Honestly, the school could use a lot of trimming when it comes to who they admit.

For me, I feel gipped. I thought that while the school is expensive, it would be worth it, but it really isn't. Sure, you may get great job opportunities coming out of college and maybe NYU does attract a certain type of student. But if you just want to study something that really interests you, make friends and feel some pride about where you are spending your money, do not go to NYU. They fool you into this "community aspect" of the school that is practically non-existant. This is coming from someone who joined three clubs, worked a job on-campus and someone who is a big fan of New York. But the school itself just isn't worth it. I'm considering transfering either to University of Virginia or Northwestern, where I feel there is a better campus life and where academics are as on-par, nay, even better than NYU. But I don't know. The problem is NYU knows how to bring people in, tempting them with the city, with "great" professors, and with job opportunities. It's tempting me right now, and that's why I'm not sure if I'm transfering. NYU could've been a great school if only the school would recognize certain aspects of it are really bad. It's one thing if the food is bad, or if the girls aren't as attractive, but where NYU fails, it fails completely, especially in areas of school pride, administration and the conduct of professors. I've been let down, and I sure hope you reconsider before you go calling it a "dream school".