NYUstu1492

Freshman Housing

Every dorm at NYU has a bathroom in the room, usually one bathroom to every 3 or 4 people if it's a suite, one to every 2 if it's a double. Everyone will say their freshman residence hall is the best, but it all depends on what YOU want in a dorm. Here's the upsides/downsides of the freshman halls:

Third North: only freshman dorm with kitchens (stove, refrigerator) and common room (table, chairs), only one that allows you to have less than a 14-meal-per-week meal plan, also has a dining hall and a courtyard. Downside: 10 blocks from campus, kind of run-down, also every suite is a different size; some are minuscule & some are enormous.

Rubin: used to be a hotel, closer than Third North to campus, has a dining hall. Downside: dining hall sucks, tiny elevators really slow, no air conditioning.

Weinstein: On campus, two dining halls (one of which is open till 3AM, also has the only Chik-fil-A in NYC). Downside: the rooms suck, cinder-block feeling a lot of people hate, no air-conditioning.

Hayden: Pretty much on campus, basically average in every way, just your typical dorm.

Goddard: ENORMOUS rooms with really high ceilings; RIGHT on campus, directly above the Starbucks that accepts Dining Dollars, a lot of dorm and floor activities, good sense of community. Downside: you have to do an application to be in Goddard, no dining hall.

Founders: Big rooms, great views of the village, newest dorm, cleanest dorm. Downside: no dining hall, people often complain it feels "clinical," as far as Third North is from campus.

If you can't decide which dorm to request, Third North and Goddard are basically on opposite ends of the spectrum. If you want independence, better access to the city, a small meal plan, a kitchen, a common area with furniture, and plan to do most studying in your room, request Third North (aka 3N). On the other hand, if you want community, activities with floor and dorm mates, unbeatable proximity to campus (less than a 2 minute walk to the park, the library, and 90% of classrooms), you plan to do most eating in the dining halls and most studying in the library, apply to Goddard. If neither of these appeals to you, the rest of the dorms are somewhere in between, although it is generally accepted that Weinstein and Rubin are two of the worst halls and Hayden and Founders are two of the most-loved.

It's THE City

Can't be beat; amazing, day and night, but the nonstop noise at night can be unbearable to people who haven't lived in a city before

Don't Be Lazy

Don't live in Rubin. Study abroad is amazing. TAKE ADVANTAGE of free trips and activities and movie screenings, etc that are offered at your dorm; the tuition is ridiculous DON'T WASTE these opportunities.

There Is No Financial Aid

Financial aid here is a joke. They don't give it to anyone. If you are from the city, you can get some serious scholarships but those have nothing to do with the school's financial aid. You have to be rich or get student loans; that's it.