New York University

Date: Dec 01 2011
Major: Fine Arts - Painting/Sculpture/Photography/etc (This Major's Salary over time)
I'm a 2nd year student in the Photography program at Tisch. First and foremost, Tisch in general is an amazing school. I've never been around so many sincerely dedicated and enthusiastic artists. It's a pretty intense, competitive atmosphere, but everyone still manages to remain totally supportive of their classmates and peers, which is nice. I'd have to say 93% of Tisch students are only here in hopes of "making it" or becoming famous. We were all taught from day one to never be an asshole to any of our classmates. Because networking and having connections is everything, and they're who we're going to be trying to beat out for jobs or asking for help from in ten years.

The tuition is outrageous and I honestly don't think the Photography & Imaging program in particular is worth the price tag. I'm in the process of transferring into Film right now. It's mediocre, at best. The department is really small, which is actually one of the main benefits of being in this major. You know everyone: every staff member and every classmate from all 4 years. The whole department is always willing to go through whatever means necessary for you to get the image you want or help you with any other problems. I once fainted on a school trip my freshman year, and the department's Dean and three other staff members sat with me in the hospital for 9 hours and took me home when I was released. Again, we're seriously like a family. But most of the growing I've done as an artist so far wasn't done through this program…it's a shame. I have had a couple of useful classes. But they were all critique based and those are hit and miss, depending on what kind of peers you get stuck with. There are just too many time-filler classes. Classes the school made up just because students needed to take a certain amount of hours and they couldn't think of anymore practical photography courses. Things like "Visual Thinking" (it compares to a pretty shitty high school art class, including an assignment that requires students to take pictures of letters to make the alphabet and making something with yarn……) and Culture History Imaging and Photography (a class dedicated to making students learn how to over-analyze a photograph and come off as a total pretentious asshole). Some kids in the program love it though. I just don't think it suits me or my needs. And I DEFINITELY don't think it's worth $60,000 a year. I do think other majors in Tisch, however, are. Like Theater, Acting and Film, what the school is most famous for. Financial aid is alright. With a combination of grants and scholarships from the school, my family and I take out an annual loan of $24,000 to cover the rest of the costs. Not too bad when I know other kids are paying full price. But still. If you're not insanely wealthy or comfortable with insane debt, NYU probably isn't the place for you.

The city is amazing. I know several people who don't particularly like cities, but honestly, I can't think of a better place to be spending my 20's. If you're looking for a traditional school, don't come here. We don't have a legitimate campus. We don't really have sports. I think we have only one sorority/fraternity and they suck. We may not have football games, but we do have things like the Academy Awards. And even though NYU is such a pain in the ass sometimes, I was fucking proud watching a current student win, tons of alumni get nominated and seeing James Franco give us a shout-out. And the social thing is really what you make of it. Everyone is really, really friendly. But these students have adapted the typical New York persona. They put on a hard exterior because it's what's expected, but if you approach anyone, 99% of the time they'll be incredibly friendly. If you're naturally outgoing, you'll have no problem. I'm ridiculously introverted and struggled to make friends my first year. But the more I put myself out there, the more friends I made. It's a lot easier to meet people in Tisch than it is in some of the other schools.