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I went to NYU, and I disagree. I am not from a rich family. No one in my family earned a college degree before me and they immigrated to the States with little

I went to NYU, and I disagree. I am not from a rich family. No one in my family earned a college degree before me and they immigrated to the States with little to nothing. They were smart enough to start saving early for my education so I wouldn't have to pay a dime, but despite that, I still have loans. Thankfully I'm well on my way to paying them off, and early, because of the skills and the network I think I could have only built at NYU and NYC at large. I have the job I have because I went to NYU. It's true that this is not the ideal place to become a hermit and focus on maximizing your GPA. I argue that higher education is far more involved than your studies - it's about exposing yourself to new experiences, honing your social senses and building a strong network, among other soft skills that are not summarized by your transcript. There are few better places in the world to do so than in NYC and specifically within NYU as a college student. Lastly, going through NYU was not a vacation. I was very aware - as well as everyone else I knew was as well - that NYU was a ridiculously expensive place to be going to: nearly a quarter of a million dollars for an education with everything accounted for. If I screwed this up, all that money would be wasted, so study up. Not only that, study up, but resist the weakness to indulge in the "distractions" of the city and let your grades suffer. In short, to say that NYU students are all rich kids is overgeneralizing, to think that studying in college is your one priority is myopic, and to call an NYU experience a "vacation" is just insulting. Have a little faith.

joonix 13y ago
I never said NYU is all rich kids. That's obviously not the case given so many are going into debt to attend. What I'm trying to say is it's "intended for rich kids." People who have to borrow $200k just for tuition and books to attend should NOT GO. Period! Go to the best public school in your state. NYU is not superior to UCLA, UT, Berkeley, etc for undergrad.
- sklice 13y ago
  You are still overgeneralizing. I went to NYU over UC Berkeley and don't regret it one bit. Sure, if you are premed or prelaw and have the intention of going straight to grad school after finishing undergrad, your argument holds great weight. But that's not everyone; people have different goals. Some people want to go into finance and work on Wall Street, others want to act on broadway, etc. And for people with these types of ambitions, NYU is hands down the better option. Nowhere else can you have the opportunity to intern at pretty much any type of company imaginable, network, and have such rich cultural experiences all while being a college student (well, other than Columbia). Sure, NYU is more expensive, but it's an investment that can yield higher dividends. Case in point, NYU was substantially more expensive for me to attend than UC Berkeley; however, I will be starting work at a major Wall Street investment bank in the fall. Berkeley's placement onto Wall Street is nowhere near comparable, so the likelihood of me landing such a job had I went to Berkeley would have been pretty much nonexistent. So, while the cost of attending NYU was higher, the future cash flows I am generating as a result of attending NYU are much higher than what Berkeley would have generated, justifying the cost. And that doesn't even take into account intangible assets, like my overall happiness and how much I've grown from living in NYC. At the end of the day, you can't generalize; it comes down to the individual, his/her goals, and whether he/she takes full advantage of the opportunities presented to them.

joonix 13y ago

I never said NYU is all rich kids. That's obviously not the case given so many are going into debt to attend. What I'm trying to say is it's "intended for rich kids." People who have to borrow $200k just for tuition and books to attend should NOT GO. Period! Go to the best public school in your state. NYU is not superior to UCLA, UT, Berkeley, etc for undergrad.

sklice 13y ago
You are still overgeneralizing. I went to NYU over UC Berkeley and don't regret it one bit. Sure, if you are premed or prelaw and have the intention of going straight to grad school after finishing undergrad, your argument holds great weight. But that's not everyone; people have different goals. Some people want to go into finance and work on Wall Street, others want to act on broadway, etc. And for people with these types of ambitions, NYU is hands down the better option. Nowhere else can you have the opportunity to intern at pretty much any type of company imaginable, network, and have such rich cultural experiences all while being a college student (well, other than Columbia). Sure, NYU is more expensive, but it's an investment that can yield higher dividends. Case in point, NYU was substantially more expensive for me to attend than UC Berkeley; however, I will be starting work at a major Wall Street investment bank in the fall. Berkeley's placement onto Wall Street is nowhere near comparable, so the likelihood of me landing such a job had I went to Berkeley would have been pretty much nonexistent. So, while the cost of attending NYU was higher, the future cash flows I am generating as a result of attending NYU are much higher than what Berkeley would have generated, justifying the cost. And that doesn't even take into account intangible assets, like my overall happiness and how much I've grown from living in NYC. At the end of the day, you can't generalize; it comes down to the individual, his/her goals, and whether he/she takes full advantage of the opportunities presented to them.