NYU
is a case study in architecture and design effecting social
life or lack thereof... i.e., NOT HAVING A CAMPUS REALLY DOES MATTER... I knew a few kids at NYU while
I was there and I maybe bumped into these friends
once over the course of many years. NYU is like
a monster with 10,000 heads. It's way too big. Bigger
is not better. You would have to be a “social
animal” and very high on the popularity scale to feel
happy their in terms of social life. Loneliness in the
Big City in the hands of a young 18 year
old kid is dangerous, quite frankly. For me it meant
making “friends” wherever I could- in raves/nightclubs with druggie street
kid types- hey, it was “better than being alone”.
At least 60% of the men their are gay
Half of the school is Un-assimilated Asian-American immigrants in
business suits (ah-hem, Stern).
I dislike NYU so much
I would do anything in my power to prevent my
child (I don't have one yet) from going there. You
can experience internships/work etc in “the big city” all you
want during the summers off and when you get older,
like the “ripe old age” of 22. You do not
need to be there when you're 18.
Also, do
you know how hard it is to STUDY and FOCUS
in the most overcrowded and distracting place on earth? Their
dorm rooms and “study halls” are disgusting by the way.
No place to think.
If I could have done
it all over again, I would have attended a college
in California or Oregon or in the suburbs, where one
can at least focus at the task at hand.
I
came from a wealthy background too, but do you know
how silly it is to attend college in the MOST EXPENSIVE PART (THE EAST VILLAGE) OF THE MOST EXPENSIVE CITY ON EARTH? Especially if you intend to live close to
“campus” (oh, wait, there is no campus) for social reasons.
If you think this is just the ravings of one
lone loser, don't forget NYU has one of the highest
transfer out/attrition rates, one of the lowest Alumni donation rates,
one of the highest suicide /drug abuse rates, etc...
I knew kids from a wide spectrum of ethnic /socio-economic
backgrounds/personality profiles who hated NYU. I knew of at least
2 really popular kids from my former high school who
were also really attractive and really artistically and/or musically gifted,
from the tri-state area (NYC locals) who warned me not
to go to NYU due to the rough social scene,
or rather the absence of a social scene.
If you
want to earnestly try to have a social life freshman
year, you MUST go down to the dorm courtyard area
during Orientation week and like hand out your phone #
to people, and socially flirt with them to make friends.
I missed out on this because I was too intimidated
by it.
I did have a few friends, btw,
one girl was nice enough to approach me from next
door and include me in her social scene. That being
said, the “friends” I had those first 2 years I
had no emotional bond or connection with- there was no
time for that... they just used me to go out
and drink with and to party and such. That was
it. I had a boyfriend who was an NYU drop-out
from Tisch Film School who had a full blown Narcissistic
Personality Disorder (what do you know, he was very “popular”)
who used me for money and housing. This was during
the raver days, and one of the only ways I,
and many people like me, knew how to socialize and
break through social barriers was through drug use...
You
must understand that the physical separation between dorms, the chaotic
streets, the overwhelming amount of “things to do”, the lack
of campus/community are literally BARRIERS TO SOCIAL LIFE... God damn,
they even removed the benches kids used to sit and
smoke cigarettes on outside of Tisch building... it's like they
do everything to destroy social life.
The classes had 100's
of kids in them, and I, nor anyone else seemed
to know each other or carry on conversation- no one
to say “hello” to even in class. I could have
sent a robot in with a recorder to get the
same effect.
Oh, and the whole purple and grey
color scheme and the formica grey walls, the sterile building
designs are so depressing.
This school is only appealing
to Tisch Narcissists (actors, filmmakers, etc, and their experience is
more social, because they work in groups), un-assimilated immigrants, and
Gays... who love the anonymity of NYC and being in
the city and area with the highest concentration of gay
men on earth.
I MISSED OUT ON A COLLEGE EXPERIENCE THANKS TO NYU. I HAVE NO “OLD COLLEGE BUDDIES”, just
ephemeral memories.
Let me end this with the note
that I ATTENDED NYU FOR FREE because a family member
worked there- and I STILL regret going... I'd be mad
as hell if I paid a dime for it. Totally
over-rated place.