Well, I’ve only ever been to Prague, so I can’t really give an opinion on any of them being the best. The most popular are London, Florence, and Paris and they have a lot of classes for various majors, the rest of the sites are mostly more specific as for what majors have classes offered. Sydney will be opening this fall (I think it’s this Fall but we’ll see if it ever actually opens) and that should be really popular I would think as it’s supposed to be offering more science courses which are only offered in London as of right now.

A friend of mine did the Summer in Paris and she loved it and I know a lot of people who were in Florence and they absolutely loved it (the Villas were they live and study are absolutely gorgeous, and it’s Florence). I know a couple of people that loved Madrid, but they’re Hispanic and that definitely helped them. Ghana is really, really small, I think there was no more than 35 students there this past semester (Prague had like 150-170 or so). Everyone I know that has studied abroad at their respective sites have loved them but I don’t really know of a “best” per say.

And I have not heard anything about the exchange program with Nagoya University, sorry!

This.

In all seriousness though, NYU is different from a lot of colleges on the clothes front. NYU students don’t go to class in sweats; you’re on the streets of New York, you get dressed. I’ve gotten questions about heels, and some girls (not a lot that I’ve seen) wear heels, but by all means you definitely don’t need to to fit in. You just have to look decent enough and presentable, you don’t have to dress for the prom every day.

I can’t really talk for guys, but in the Spring/Summer (and apparently this past “Winter” which I conveniently wasn’t home for), New York gets kind of beautiful, so skirts/dresses/shorts are the way to go. Just through a cardigan/light sweater over it if it’s cooler out. I swear, my cardigan supply has greatly increased since coming here.

Now, Winter. Winter can be the worst thing you’ve ever experienced if you’re not used to it, or even if you are and the earth just feels like screwing you over. You’re going to want a heavy Winter coat/jacket (I have a longish, heavy peacoat). Trust me, there’s a 98% chance you’ll be wearing it, if not in December, then January/February. February is usually the worst month. Bring snow boots/rain boots (rain boots work fine for walking to class so you don’t need snow boots, but to each his own) for when the lovely snow inevitably becomes gross brown slush on the side of the road and sidewalks and you have to tromp through the foot-deep puddles at the curb. You’ll probably want a pair of regular boots or solid shoes to keep your feet dry on the other days and that you won’t fall in, because some sidewalks get super icy and you don’t want to fall/slide. Scarves, mittens/gloves, hat, earmuffs, all of these will keep you warm and dry when it gets cold and snows, and when you learn where the windtunnels are (Astor Pl.), these things will keep your ears from feeling like they’re going to fall off. But most importantly, layer. Layer will keep you warm and that way you don’t have to wear three coats to feel a bit warm. You’ll learn to layer well if you don’t now by the end of the Winter. And if all else fails, go use your dining dollars at Dunkin Donuts and get their hot chocolate.

Also, umbrellas. You’ll want a good, sturdy umbrella, just in general. The sturdy part is really stressed as you’ll notice during the first really windy storm.

Writing the Essay is a required MAP course that almost everyone has to take and no one likes it (I didn’t take it, I took LSP Writing I and II, so I don’t have any opinion on it).

The New Student Seminar (from the Steinhardt website): “During their first term (semester) in residence, incoming freshmen and transfer students must register for the New Student Seminar (SAHS-UE 1 {was E03.0001}). The New Student Seminar is a zero-unit (non-credit) course given on a pass/fail basis, organized by curriculum, to explore professional issues and to provide ongoing orientation and guidance for new students.”

More on the NSS

I don’t know anything about the New Student Seminar, but I know Writing the Essay is a pain, but I don’t think either are really difficult. As for the credits, it’s honestly up to you as to what kind of course load you want to have and what classes you are interesting in taking. Personally, I would take more credits now, because you need a certain amount of credits to graduate/complete your major and you don’t want to come up short at the end.

It works basically the same way it will for the rest of your time at NYU. You’ll be notified of your registration time (mine was June 1st as an incoming Freshman) and, at that time, you log into Albert and sign up for the classes you want that are open. Registration is relatively painless but you can make it easier by signing up for classes ahead of time and putting them in your Shopping Cart, so, if the classes are still open, you just click a button and you’re done with registration. I made a little helper post about that and it clarifies how you do it if you’d like to find out more.

As for MAP courses, you’re not required to take them first, but you do have to take Writing The Essay Freshmen year. This link clarifies the MAP requirements and when you have to take them.

Hey, it works if you need it bad enough.

I got a room with Captain’s beds, so beds with drawers under them and a weird little door they opened up a big space where we stored out suitcases. I did see somewhere that in 3N there are those beds but there are also rooms with dressers where you can put the beds on risers and use the area under your bed as storage. In my experience though, the drawers gave me plenty of space to store clothes and I had a medium-sized storage plastic set of drawers that I bought that fit everything else.

They usually come with a roll or two when you first get there but you’re expected to get your own when that runs out. The resource centers in the dorms give out free toilet paper though, so you can go down there whenever you run out.