What Makes NYU Special: A Graduating Senior’s Perspective

One of the very first things you will experience when you come to NYU is NYU Welcome. This is a series of 500+ events with the goals of helping you acclimate to living in the city and supporting you in finding your community at NYU! Some of the fun events include: paint nights, professional comedy shows, and drag bingo. There are also often excursions to cool places in the city, like DUMBO and Coney Island. My favorite NYU Welcome activity was the Presidential Welcome and Reality Show, which was held in Radio City Music Hall.

During the Spring semester each year, NYU hosts a spirit week! These activities include a concert, All-University games, and the Violet Ball! The ball is held in our own Bobst Library. It’s so much fun to party with all of your friends in the place where you usually spend time studying. Spirit Week is also a great way to see and celebrate the NYU community. One of my favorite Spirit Week traditions is Ultraviolet Live. This is a talent show hosted by NYU’s Inter-Residence Hall Council. The NYU community is full of so many talented people so it’s always fun to go and cheer everyone on! (Check out this TikTok to get a sense of what Spirit Week is like.)

Over 4000 students participate in study away at NYU each year, which is more than any other college in the country. Our study away program is truly unique, as NYU has their own global academic centers worldwide! This means that you have the option to study at an NYU-owned facility, with NYU staff and classmates. No matter what school you are a part of, NYU makes study away readily available. While I personally did not study away, fellow ambassador Eshika (Tandon ’23) did in Florence, Italy and had a fantastic experience! (She wrote about it here!)

This one is an obvious one but it truly does not get old. Being integrated in New York City makes for a unique college experience.  I love being able to learn things in the classroom and then step outside to apply what I have learned. City living has made me more independent. I have grown more as an individual than I could have imagined.

While it may sound a little bit cheesy, I really love the community at NYU. When I first started here, I was worried that the city atmosphere and large student body would make it hard for me to find a home. I was completely wrong. There are so many ways to meet people: in class, through student housing, clubs and organizations, etc. I always find myself bumping into friends while walking around campus.  Also, NYU is such a diverse institution. I’ve gotten to meet people from all over the world, and that has been something truly special.

The biggest piece of advice I have for students starting their journey at NYU is to be open minded and say “yes” to trying new things! That’s what I did during my four years and I have no regrets about not having taken advantage of the uniqueness of NYU. This university pushes you to explore and you will grow immensely as a result!