My take on NYU

Last month when I was back in NY, I saw a pretty wide-eyed girl on the 6 train with her parents with NYU brochures in hand. It was around college decision time, so I figured they took a trip from a small town in the midwest to see if NYU is the right school for the girl. I was in my California-mode i.e. smiling at everyone on the street and wanting to have human interaction - so I was compelled to talk to the family. Unfortunately, they got off - so never had that conversation. This blog entry that conversation I never had with that family - and anyone else out there asking the question: "Is NYU for me?"

• If you are accepted to NYU, that's probably one indicator that NYU IS for you. I beileve that the college admissions process is about "fit." Definitely more at NYU than any other school. It's really not just all about academics i.e. if you get a 2400 on your SATs with straight A's - doesn't mean you will get into NYU. If you got in, that means the admissions office saw that you have "an edge" making you a good fit for NYU.
• NYU is not a traditional college experience. It's literally "in and of the city." There are no walls to enclose the campus. There actually IS a campus. It's just within the city, and there are non-college students within that campus as well. It's not a bubble, where all you encounter are people affliated with the University. With that said, being around Washington Square Park still felt like school - and our buildings were definitely our campus.
• You will meet the most interesting people - ever. There is such a hodgepodge of different people - striving for different things in life. This will especially happen freshmen year where people are just making new friends and all freshmen are in the same dorms. There was a professional piano player on my floor, right next to the nerdy econ major, and also film production majors. I know this is true of some other colleges as well - but like I said, NYU students all have some sort of edge that makes them interesting.
• You will get tons of travel experience. I know at least for Stern, they encourage you to study abroad 2 semester in different places. Plus, there's the junior year ISP trip, where the school pays for your international trip during Spring Break. Just in my 4 years, I've been to Athens (scholars trip), Rome / Florence (scholars trip), London (studied abroad), Buenos Aires (ISP trip), Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon, Milan, Paris, Nice, and Cannes (study abroad travels).
• You will probably work at a really legit internship during school. I was able to work at the larger financial services company - since that's the field I'm in. I have friends that worked at Vogue, LV, Madison Square Garden - whatever industry you are interested in, you can have opportunities to be exposed to the field. NYC is literally the mecca of (beside basketball :)) finance, fashion, media, journalism, and literature. My friends that have not gone to NYU think that my resume is stacked, but they need to see the resume of some other Stern students.
• Be prepared to grow up - really quickly. Not being in the bubble of a campus, and being in the real world, let a lone NYC, forces you to grow up. I have a friend that was accepted to NYU, but chose to go somewhere else because she didn't want to grow up too quickly. I think that is completely true. I had friends that had to work 3 jobs - to pay for college and living expenses. Also, the interaction with really smart, cynical, experienced, and jaded New Yorkers will also make you grow up.
• You will know more about the world - culture and current events. This also relates to the fact that NYU is "in and of" NYC. There are people from all over the world living in NYC. You are just exposed to a lot more about what is happening around the world - a stark contrast from California. Also, being amongst people of different backgrounds breeds familiarity with different cultures.
• Princeton Review's Dream School: "2004-2007" and always placing amongst Ivys. (3rd after Stanford and Harvard in 2011 - only really because of the financial aid factor being better at Ivy League Schools).
• Graduation at Yankee Stadium is kinda of amazing. And also - 2010 Graduation Speaker: Alec Baldwin, 2011 Graduation Speak: Bill Clinton

Anyway - these are just some thought off the top of my head. I'll definitely add to this later. In conclusion, my time at NYU was the best experience of my life. I know this is the case for most people and their college experience, but I would not change my experience for anything. Knowing what I know now about NYU, I wouldn't trade going to NYU for any other school in the world - no matter how prestigious. Plus, I know my college experience was unique and is not comparable to any other college in the world, even other colleges in NY.