NYU is a brand name, everyone assumes it is a good school. But truthfully, NYU is not one school; it is many different schools united under one name. Regarding undergraduate programs, their quality is quite different. My recommendations -If you get into...
Tisch (particularly the dance and theater conservatories): very prestigious, great programs, most students don't plan on going to grad school as they are going into the arts, so I say it is worth it for the connections you make
Stern: very hard to get into, known worldwide for its prestige, you get great connections, probably worth the money because most students get incredible jobs that can pay the loans off, but depending on the type of job you seek you may need grad school so keep that in mind
LSP: not worth it at all, I wouldn't be surprised if this program is removed from the university soon, I have not heard one good thing about it
CAS: in my opinion, not worth it. it's basically a typical liberal arts education you could get at any SUNY school
Gallatin: you better know exactly what you want to do, it's very easy to goof off here. plus, you will most likely need to go to grad school if you go to Gallatin, so unless you can for sure afford it, I would advise against it; this prgram tends to attract extremely wealthy people; the plus of this program is that it's the smallest, so you get a better sense of community than the rest of NYU, and you get to take classes in other schools, so you get to socialize with different types of people. but the higher level Tisch and Stern classes are impossible to get into.
Steinhardt: good school, but be realistic; if you're going into education your salary is probably not going to help you pay off loans; only go if money is no issue whatsoever
Poly: great engineering school, and those are the hot jobs to get right now so you can probably land a good job that will pay off the tuition in good time; but keep in mind this school tends to be isolated from the rest of NYU, some people aren't even aware it's part of the school, so social life might be a challenge. I wouldn't know, I have yet to actually meet a Poly student
Shanghai: New program, so far they only have science and business programs. They're giving out good financial aid right now to attract people to come over there, so if you're planning to to into one of those majors and are okay with going that far from home, go for it
Abu Dhabi: by far the hardest program to get into, but I haven't the slightest idea of anything about itMy advice is, unless you got into Tisch or Stern or are wealthy enough for money not to be a concern, to save NYU for grad school: you will no longer crave that college social life, will have a job, and friends so NYU's open campus will be perfect (it tends to depress undergrads) plus the quality of the grad programs is much higher
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