Tips for College Freshmen at New York University
-Join a club that interests you. It’s easy to find a club that suits you, just ask your RA when the club fair will be (it’s usually the first or second week in September). That’s when all the clubs tell you what they’re about, and entice you to join. Sure, you’ll probably make a bunch of friends in your dorm your freshman year, but after that, dorms are not very social and chances are your freshmen dorm buddies won’t be living near you anymore. The friends you make in a club you enjoy, however, may very well be with you all four years and beyond. The best piece of advice you can get in college is to choose your friends wisely because the friends you make freshman year could be your friends the rest of your life.
-Don’t try to take on too much your first year. The workload you get in high school is much different from the workload in college and it could take a year before you’ve become fully adjusted. So for your first semester, if you’re joining the magic club and hockey team, accepting a part time job and partying every weekend – your grades will suffer the consequences.
-Enjoy your meal plan while you have it. Every freshman must have a meal plan, which entitles you to a selected number of meals at campus dining halls. After freshman year, most students do not keep a meal plan. This means going out and paying for all your meals yourself, and perhaps cooking a few as well.
-Any sort of stereotypes you had in high school leave at the door. The NYU community is just as diverse as Manhattan’s residents. This includes NYU’s students, faculty, administrators and other university employees.
-Welcome Week is a great opportunity for Freshmen. You’ll find out about it on move-in day. It’s a chance to meet new people. Since classes haven’t started yet, you’ll have plenty of time to check out the karaoke, poetry slams, casino night, midnight movie and even a hypnotist performance all taking place on campus. But don’t be fooled – that is the only time all year those events are so packed together and easy to find. If you want to find stuff like that again, you’ll probably have to go off campus and it will cost a pretty penny. Besides Welcome Week (mostly for Freshmen), other big school-wide events include Ultra Violet Live, an NYU student talent showcase in February, and the Strawberry Fest, featuring NYC’s longest Strawberry Shortcake, in April. Be sure to check out NYU’s event’s calendar (events.nyu.edu).
-It’s New York! There’s always something to do if you know where to look. Ticket Central (www.nyu.edu/ticketcentral) is a convenient place to get discount tickets to Broadway shows, movies and sporting events off-campus, and to venues like the Kimmel Center, on campus at Washington Square South and La Guardia Place. The L Magazine (www.thelmagazine.com) lists a lot of fun and local events.
-Enroll in the new class titled “Success in College: Thriving at NYU.” You’ll learn how to adjust to college life. This class is taught by Dr. Jess Shatkin and aimed at freshmen. It’s offered through the Steinhardt School of Education, but any student at NYU can take it. This class is only 1 credit which works great because as a fulltime student you are allowed to take 18 credits a semester. Most classes are 4 credits so if you take four classes you’ll still have two unused credits. It also ends about halfway through the actual semester so you don’t have to worry about the class interfering with finals.
-You can personalize your NYU email. On the back of your NYU ID card, you’ll find your NetID which is your initials followed by a few numbers. NetID@nyu.edu is your email, but you can personalize your email by logging into NYU Home, clicking “Preferences” and clicking “Edit” next to “Personal Address.” Don’t worry, email sent to your original NetID@nyu.edu will still be sent to your account after you create a personal email address.
-Be careful who you talk to in the park. On any given day, when you walk through Washington Square Park, you’ll probably be approached by drug dealers. They are very paranoid and assume anyone could be an undercover cop, so when they approach you to buy drugs they won’t say, “Do you want some weed?” What they’ll do is whisper gibberish to you and/or rub their nose. Stay away from these guys!
-If you’re really stressed out, there’s always the Wellness Center. This is a free service to all NYU students. You can call them 24/7 at (212) 443-9999.
