What Nursing at NYU Is Really Like as a First-Year Student

These classes are typically shared with students from other majors, which allows you to meet people from different schools.

• Writing the Essay (fall semester): This is a required writing course for all incoming nursing students as well as College of Arts and Science, Silver School of Social Work, and Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development students. You’ll learn how to analyze and interpret written text, develop ideas/arguments, and compose exploratory and argumentative essays. 
• The Advanced College Essay (spring semester): This course is an extension of Writing the Essay. But it is only composed of NYU Steinhardt and NYU Meyers students. Because this course is only tailored to students from these schools, the readings and essay prompts focus on issues that are relevant to them. 
• Text and Ideas (spring semester): In this sequence of humanities courses, you’ll study challenging but influential texts about major ideas. Topics range from freedom, the nature of the soul, and the role of humans in the natural and animal world to citizenship, beauty, morality, and the human imagination. For example, you may take Children and Childhood; Humor and Laughter; or Democracy, Knowledge, and Equality. 

These classes focus on the nursing profession, natural sciences, and the human body.

• Intro to Modern Chemistry (fall semester): You will be exposed to the fundamentals of chemistry, including atomic and molecular structure, chemical bonding, equilibrium, reaction rates, and properties of the states of matter. 
• Intro to Sociology (fall semester): This course will teach you the basic concepts and theories associated with sociology. It will provide you with insights into the social factors of human life. Social interaction, socialization, social structures and institutions, political power, and social change are some topics it may expose you to. 
• Neuroanatomy and Physiology/Communicatoin (spring semester): This is one of THE most important presequence classes. Why? Because it truly introduces you to the human body at a deeper level. It focuses on the structure and function of the human body and how each system interconnects. 
• Intro to Psychology (spring semester): You will not only learn the fundamental principles of psychology in this class but also study the major theoretical areas of research. These areas include thought, memory, perception, development, learning, personality, and the physiological bases of psychology. 

While the classes I listed above are necessary, I believe Nursing Cohort Seminar is the most important class I took during my first year at NYU Meyers. This course really exposed me to the nursing field. It meets every other week and is led by both a professor and nursing cohort leader who also hosts a few outings throughout the semester. The outings allow you to bond with your classmates and ask your cohort leader any questions you have regarding nursing at NYU. Through this class, you will learn more about yourself as a student and explore your social identity as a future nurse. 

I was fortunate enough to be selected as a LEAD (Leading, Engaging, Advancing, Developing) Honors Program scholar. As a first-year student, you can only join this program if selected. But, during the spring semester, there is an application period that opens for all first-year nursing students to apply for a seat. 

LEAD is a four-year program in which students engage in seminars and learning experiences that expose them to health-care disciplines and help them advance their collaborative skills by working with other interprofessional teams. The opportunity to participate in research and complete a capstone project is one of the main benefits of being a LEAD scholar. 

Joining on-campus clubs and organizations is a big part of any first-year experience. NYU Meyers has several nursing-related clubs. During the start of your first semester, you can attend Nursing Club Fest. There, you’ll meet all of the nursing organizations! Each focuses on a different field of nursing. For example, you can join the Geriatric Student Interest Group, Emergency Nursing Student Association, and Nurse Anesthetist and Practitioner Student Interest Group. 

Despite our school being one of the University’s smallest, our sense of community and NYU Violet pride is not! At NYU Meyers, you’ll meet some of the most inspirational and passionate individuals all while growing as a nursing student yourself.