A Spread Out City full of Love

Instead of being able to sleep in, the entire cohort woke up early to go to the downtown section of Manhattan to see New York University. New York University does not have a formal campus, so I was a little vary of where we were going, but we made it to the admissions office in enough time to go to the information session. Then we took the tour, where we made lots of stops in air-conditioned buildings. This was a relief because the temperature had reached a scorching 100 degrees.

Brochure we received before entering the information session

New York University buildings are designated with purple and white flags 

Interesting Facts about New York University:

1. New York University was described to be a "big cultural experience with many opportunities." NYU has three campuses: one in NYC, another in Abu Dhabi that opened in 2010, and a Shanghai campus that will open in 2013. NYU is truly a "global network" of a university. Study Abroad is also extremely popular at NYU and students take advantage of the 11 international programs of study that are offered.

2. NYU has ten colleges within it and has 230+ areas of study. The most populated school within NYU is the College of Arts and Sciences, and there are other schools such as the Tisch School of Arts and the College of Nursing. There are also core programs, such as the Liberal Studies program, which I was really interested in.  

 

3. There are 400 student clubs/organizations, along with Division III and club sports. Since NYU isn't a formal campus (refer to number 4), many suspect that it isn't a formal community. But our tour guide Phoebe really stressed that NYU gives its students the incentive to put themselves out there and really meet people. Students also really focus on getting a "real world" experience through internships and work-study. 

4. NYU's NYC campus is located in downtown Greenwich Village, which is pretty urban but also has a very nice feel to it. NYU's founder didn't want students to be gated in; he really wanted the students to explore the city and make better connections. However, most of the colleges within the university are in their own "section" of sorts, along with dorm and dining halls. There are 21 residence halls and housing is guaranteed for all four years. There are two types of meal plans, the week-plan and the semester-plan (Phoebe really suggested the semester plan).

5. Even though NYU has over 20,000 students, majority of the classes are less than 30 people. If students choose to do the Liberal Studies program, their classes will be even smaller, mainly capping at fifteen students. This really appeals to me because if I went to NYU, I would be in a big university but still have small classes, which would be absolutely great. 

6. NYU offers three types of admission plans: Early Decision I & II and Regular Decision. In terms of Early Decision, there is no deferral to the regular decision admission pool, admission officers don't want to make students wait. There are no interviews offered for NYU due to the high amount of applications sent in. In terms of standardized testing, students can either send in the SAT, ACT with writing, or three SAT subject tests - even all three! 

I absolutely loved NYU. It was the most urban campus we saw, and I really liked the feel of it and the different opportunities offered there. At first I wasn't very open to a school without a formal campus, but I realized that that is what makes NYU unique. They really force students to get out of their comfort zones, meet new people, and experience new things.

After visiting NYU, we took the subway, had lunch at a pizza place, and then walked to the World Trade Center. To be honest, looking around and seeing...nothing was somewhat terrifying. Ms. L told us when she saw the attacks on television it didn't seem real. Just looking around and seeing pools where the twin towers used to be was so...sad. There's not other way to describe it except for that it was just very saddening and extremely eerie. I got chills as we left.

United States flag with names of those killed in the 9/11 attacks

South Pool

North pool

Only tree that survived the 9/11 attacks

When we got back to Columbia, we had about two hours before our Vassar dinner. I spent this time doing research for my paper and beginning to write it. By the time I had to stop to get ready, I was three pages in. I'm happy that I'm getting along well so far.

The Vassar Dinner:

Before this dinner, I had already set my mind on not applying to Vassar. After this dinner, I can still say I have no plans on applying to Vassar. That is not to say I did not have a good time at the dinner or did not enjoy the alumni's company. But at the end of the day, I still don't feel like Vassar is a fit for me. The two alum that came were absolutely great, though, and I appreciate that they came out to tell us more about themselves and Vassar. I feel like if Vassar was in a more urban location, then it would be a great school for me. As for the alum, Ken graduated early from Vassar in 2007 due to personal reasons, but he is content with his decision. He graduated with a major in political science and works with NBC. Alexandria graduated from Vassar in 2009 with a major in psychology and a minor (or "correlate" as Vassar calls it) in economics - public policy. 

Filet Mignon!

We went to a really fancy restaurant named Oceana

All of us! Fancy, fancy

Tomorrow is going to be more a free day since we have nothing formal planned. I plan to work on my research paper by getting the first draft done, have someone edit it, and then write the final draft. Should be a fun day!