Anyone know anything about NYU's deferral policy? Know someone in the thread was able to defer for a really good reason... wish I knew how strict NYU was instead of totally being in the dark.

+1 I'd like to know too.

I'm leaning towards a studio tbh. Just want my little area that I don't have to share.

Just to be clear -- if you want a studio or 1 BR, you will have to get it off campus, unless you are married, correct?

No I think you can get studios but not 1BRs but there is a lottery for current students so you probably won't get one.

Just to emphasize my point about having a private space of your own: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PP5Sw8pLVOc



Edit: You might even be able to get a 1 bedroom? I can't find the page I was looking at.

Edit Edit: http://www.law.nyu.edu/housing/faq/index.htm#1

So 1L's can't get studios? That kind of hampers my plans a bit...

Edit: That link basically confirms it. Damn, damn, damn... Well, with the money I save I'll bump myself up to a spacious 2BR if available...

I'm going to try anyway. I thought it over this weekend and it'd be a fun experiment, living in 180 sq feet for nine months.

Speaking as a current Brooklynite, you can save A TON of money by going straight to off-campus. Craigslist might seem intimidating, but my found my current apartment (that I might keep next year) with patience, as well as using the "narrow down by neighborhood" feature.

If you can organize your life so you can be productive in a non-student apartment, it will pay off in the long run.

Absolutely. I wouldn't go for student housing at NYU...it just doesn't seem worth it, especially when there are so many good options a very short subway ride away. It's just a matter of doing the research on various neighborhoods, etc. Another way to use Craigslist is to search the "rooms/shared" section, and in the search field type "grad student" or "law student" or something. You'll find other people like you with rooms to rent, etc. The obvious disadvantage to off-campus over on-campus is that you'll have less time to make housing arrangements, but I think it's worth it.

That is definitely true. In my neighborhood, stuff gets cheaper and more available as the beginning of the month approaches, so it is possible to find great housing even a week before you want to move in, especially at places that are just rented by landlord and there is no management company involved.

1L's can, and do, get studios. It isn't as easy as being an upperclassman, but I know for a fact that there are a good number of 1L's with a studio.

There is another big disadvantage to living off-campus your first year, and that is the fact that 2/3 of the incoming students do live on-campus. I say that this is a big disadvantage because living off can (but of course, not assuredly will) result in you being outside of an opportunity to really get to know others. There are a lot of happenings going on locally, be they parties, trips to eat, bar hang-outs, colloquia, seminars, etc, that happen all of the time. The further away you are your first year, the harder it is to really get immersed. I think that the money difference is more than made up for by the social and other benefits that come from living with others going through the same experience.

Don't get me wrong, there can be some pitfalls to living in a res hall too, such as the inability to get away from some people, the stress during finals, etc, but overall I think living on is great for first year students.

I guess I'm not familiar with the cost difference, but I'd hate to miss out on all the residence hall socialization. It's really 2/3 of 1L's "on campus"? But isn't "campus" a very loosely defined term for NYU? I'm not at all familiar with NYC geography, but I've been told that the school is relatively spread out. Is this the case for the law school? How close are the residence halls to each other and the law school?

The law school consists of 2 buildings across the street from each other and connected underground. 1 of the residence halls (D'ag) is directly across street, and the other (Mercer) is a little less than a 10 minute walk. I don't think there is any real social advantage to being in one of those specific buildings, but there is an advantage to being in the neighborhood. As long as you live close enough to come back to the Village to socialize at night, though, nothing is lost.

Plenty of people live outside of the Village and still come back to socialize, and there is no social loss. If you're the type of person who will go home after class and then stay there, rather than coming back when people go out or when there are night study groups, there might be some disadvantage in terms of getting to know people. It's entirely based on your personality and preferences, though--it's completely doable to be immersed in the law school culture and not live in the residence halls or in the Village.

Just to add a different perspective to the mix, I already live in Brooklyn and am planning to stay put when we start next fall. I live in southern Brooklyn near the F train so it takes me about 45 minutes to get to NYU. I'm a little older and am married so socializing with classmates more than once a week is not that important to me. What is great, though, is that I have a very nice one bedroom apartment and only pay $1,050 per month. I'm also in a good area and am close enough to Coney Island that I run on the boardwalk in the summer. If I was younger and single I would probably find a place in the city, but for those of us who are a little more budget focused, I think Brooklyn is the way to go.

Would it really be cheaper to live "off-campus" but in the village?

Are you a multi-millionaire?

Not only not cheaper, but not possible! The entire village is now NYU housing.


Not really, but I think the people talking about living off campus are talking about East Village or Brooklyn, both places where it is possible to live more cheaply or not share an apartment.

Just wanted to check in, got my purple envelope! I am blown away. I live on the west coast now but I'm going to try and make it out to check out the campus and come to some events. NYU is the front runner in my cycle so far, congrats to everyone!

I wish!!! Ohhh, got it.

This was really helpful! Quick question then -- so, living off campus won't hurt my experience as long as I am willing to make the commute back at night for the social stuff, right? Also, how hard would it be to live in Brooklyn Heights in terms of timing. To clarify, does it help to have a place nearby to run to between classes or is that not really a problem? How late do people typically stay? If I'm going to be in the library till 11 PM regularly, I don't know if I'd be comfortable taking the subway that late in which case I'd need a closer place.

You can be completely fine living in Brooklyn Heights--a lot of people do it.

Schedules vary, but there are general trends:

People who live in Mercer/D'ag are more likely to go back to their apartment for lunch or between classes, but not everyone goes back to their place nor is it necessarily good to--you're more likely to be distracted in your own apartment, as opposed to people who go to the library between classes.

As the semester progresses, people stay in the library later, but there are always people who are going to stay in the library late every night, and those people might prefer to be closer so they don't have to subway late. People who live farther away tend to go home after class or around dinnertime and do their work from home (or the really virtuous that manage their time well during the day might not need to work after dinner).

If you live in Brooklyn Heights, you are more likely than Mercer/D'ag people to stay in the law building all day, and go home around dinnertime. It seems like a nice way to live; some commuters do all of their work at school, leave their books in their locker, and home can be a complete sanctuary. Rent is better, and the separation from the law school might be nice, particularly during finals. That being said, you could always do Mercer/D'ag for a year, and then move to Brooklyn, if you're concerned--the first year is the only time most students live in the residence halls.

Sorry this post is all over the place--it's reflective of the fact that people's schedules are all over the place.

Just checking in/tagging this link. In and one of my top choices

Have lived in Austin, DC, and Japan, and visited NYC, so very interested in all of the discussion of living situations/pricing!

I still think the toughest decision I'll have is living alone vs living with 1 roommate. I feel like I'll get very lonely alone (only time I ever lived alone I was in a relationship the entire year and I was alone like 10% of the time, so I don't know how I'll fare with that + the sometimes overbearing pressure of NYC). On the other hand, it would be nice to be free to watch TV, have people over, be able to have overnight guests/family visit, etc. whenever I want, and not be subject to the whims of my roommate during finals. I guess I just have this nightmare that I'll move all the way to NYC and have absolutely no human contact outside of class-time. That, and if I have family visit a few times a semester (I have a big family who I'm sure will use this as an excuse to visit NYC frequently), the money saved via hotels for just a few nights will kind of outweigh the savings of living with a roommate... Obviously there's no straightforward answer but is anyone else really wondering about this?

Are you talking about within Mercer or D'Ag? I was under the impression that 1) 1 BR's were virtually impossible for 1L's to secure and 2) the atmosphere in the dorms, and especially at D'Ag, is pretty social.

D'ag. And I'll make a push for a studio if I can. Good to know it's social. I met a ton of people in the dorms in college but once I moved to a real apartment complex, I really met nobody new, so I'm not sure if that "meet everybody woo!" college dorm mentality or "we already have friends cuz we be adults and stuff so lets all just ignore theres an apartment next door" mentality carries onto to law school apartments.

Ugh. No roommate for me again, ever. I lived alone one year in college and then in college-extended (aka Teach for America-- where you have a built in social network) and I never feel lonely. I have lived surrounded by friends both times, and I'd imagine law school- or really any school- is the same way. It's a nice transition to "adulthood."

Then again, I might like a little more alone time than others..