16 thoughts on “I’m Graduating From NYU… now where are these jobs I was promised?”

1. So you graduated from NYU’s SCPS? Isn’t that one of the university’s lower tier schools? I mean who really has heard of SCPS besides anoynmous working adults outside of campus who enroll in non credit courses that seem fun, interesting or a step ladder to a MBA that sort of thing….And besides, there is no energy to the school. All the bubbly youngsters are by Washington Sq Park and not some boring NYU building in midtown.

   Kinda thought Hillarious was bad choice for a speaker in the grad ceremony!

   Anyone who spends money on NYU or an Ivy League school in vocational training is flushing money down the toilet. There are many technical/business schools that charge much less and offer better job placement than any of them. Universities were meant for higher learning – learning to think and effectively solve problems, not for graphic design or business for dummies. Our education system is in an absolute mess and many people act and think like morons because of it.

   NYU especially has inferior technology and poorly designed facilities. The computers are everything but user friendly. It’s really hard to learn and study around campus, there is so much distraction with the young kids, and the library and computer labs are a complete abomination for students who pay top dollar to be in an expensive school.

2. Well, SCPS allowed me to get me MA over the course of several years while working full time. The costs were offset by generous grants and scholarships so that was nice too. Thanks for your insights though… anonymous.

3. Great to hear that you attended NYU with grants and scholarships. I can’t imagine how anyone can pay full price out of pocket to an institution such as NYU. Everything about the university seems subpar for its reputation. Many of its buildings are old and crusty, and haven’t been upgraded for years. The computer labs are nightmarish in many ways possible, and the Bobst library is not only outdated, it is a bit crampy and noisy for its students. They are even some SCPS classes held inside the library which I don’t understand at all. Does the school need to be that tight fisted with its budget, and can’t spend a dime to make it better? Why is that each school cannot have their own library to house their books, and students during exam time?

   I do have to say that the school does have its good points. It is non elitist unlike the more superior Columbia (a school which I also attended besides NYU), and so it welcomes everyone with open arms. It’s a great place to meet people, if you’re willing to make the effort, and learning is easily accessible as well. Many professors allow you to sit in their classes as a “guest” to hear them rant, granted you ask them beforehand and make attempts to tackle the assignments. Don’t try this with SCPS tho…I’m talking about the classes on campus.

4. It’s unfortunate that you seemed to have had a bad experience at NYU. I am a graduate of SCPS and doing very well… I know many others with similar experiences… and like Mr. Ivan said, it allowed me to study while working full time. SCPS affords an entire group of people [not as fortunate as others] the opportunity of higher-education at different times in their lives. There will always be good and bad about facilities of this size… life in general for that matter, but isn’t it great that we live in a democracy where people, like yourself, have a choice to accept or reject anything life has to offer them.

   I am fortunate to be one able to see the good SCPS has done [and continues to do] to better the lives of many; and I will agree with you that there are some old aspects still there, the school is not elitist and is much more welcoming than many schools like Columbia, Baruch and Hunter – all of which were either snobbish or appeared to not have a clue about treating people with respect. However, is old such a bad thing? NYU has been around for a decades and so the more modern aspects like Tisch will always be surrounded by the older ones like Bobst. I personally see nothing wrong with that mix, but respect your seeming dislike of it.

   An SCPS educated mind is a great asset. It develops human-beings into well-rounded individuals with a wide scope of thought as opposed to a single-minded one. It teaches students to be multifaceted and to not just consider their thoughts, but how they’re thoughts and actions affect others. It reinforces the fact that people may not remember your name, or what you do for a living, but they will always remember how you made them feel by your words and actions; so SCPS graduands know to think before we speak or type. Hence, a graduated SCPS student would likely recognize the honor in having the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speak at a graduation, because she worked hard and “earned” her degree just as we did, and look at where she is today; and with that mutual respect we would never disrespect her [or anyone for that matter] by calling them names other than the ones given them by their honorable parents.

   I will however agree with you that there is much more to be done by our education systems. So may I suggest exploring the possibilities of contributing your educated mind to the greater good of changing all the negatives, as opposed to making blanket criticisms with no solutions as to how positive change may be effected.

   Just so you know, this educated mind paid out of pocket for my education and when I flushed my “money down the toilet” it was recycled into a degree which I now hold. On the playing field of commerce my NYU degree has stood out amongst the rest and regurgitated that flushed money into boundless opportunities, a renewed confidence and rewards not readily available to me before earning my SCPS degree.

5. Jay, It’s great to hear that you enjoyed SCPS and got your money’s worth from the school. My experiences with NYU weren’t the worst. I just had issues with how the school was run. I think it is terribly mismanaged as a whole, and I’m wondering how they are able to last so long. With it’s steep price, I would assume they provided us with better facilities, equipment, a friendlier staff, and overall a more efficient administration. I really don’t know much about SCPS as a working adult who is pursuing a degree at the same time, it seems like a good alternative to the traditional high school grad here comes college process. I have taken some casual classes from the school, yet it has never struck me as it was part of the family with the other schools on campus. SCPS seems like a remote and unsung division of the university. A testament to this is to ask any undergrad by Washington Square Park about SCPS and they seem almost dumbfounded.

   There is a growing number of young adults who believe this whole idea of getting a college degree right after high school seems absurd and a complete waste of resources, especially when it involves a large investment of monetary terms, and the small return it brings after graduation. To call SPCS students unfortunate should not register. College should be for mature individuals, not an extension of high school or a form of daycare that provides learning with another level of difficulty. I see all these aloof and happy youngsters experimenting in college with great expectations only to be disappointed in their last year. They ponder that learning and studying is not what the real world is about. It was all fun and games, and now they’re paying the price. Blame it on our faulty education system, and our crass materialism and consumerism which has clouded our judgment. I’m glad this awful recession has awaken us, we need to ask ourselves is this the type of culture we want, and can we sustain it longer if we are to embrace it. I think the answer is NO….

   In regards to Columbia, there is a real irony to its existence, it is as welcoming of a school like NYU, except you must be inclusive of the exclusive. This could be said of any prestigious Ivy League status university Although bringing Columbia to the discussion is another topic altogether, I will briefly elaborate what the school is about in relation to NYU. Columbia can boast a much more efficient streamlined administration than that of NYU’s. The staff with the school’s classy facilities and resources are top notch, and students are guided properly and treated with respect unlike the cold and tight fisted directive found in NYU’s management. With this said, there is an irony to NYU’s existence in being an open institution.

6. Thank you for the clarification “NYU Not so Grad”. Your initial comments did not quite give the impression of respect now noted in your latter comments. Life and its challenges are different for every individual, and while college is a worthwhile prospect it is unfortunately not an immediately feasible option for everyone leaving high school.

   I agree with you on most of your points, especially those regarding our uninformed youth, hence why I am exploring the possibilities of how I may be a part of any program to change the experimental ideas of college into the rewarding prospect is could be. Our education systems could do with a good overhaul and I hope to see that day sooner rather than later. In the meantime we should all be grateful for schools like SCPS that at least afford an option for those who need it at differing times in their lives.

   The real point of my initial response to you was simply to offer you another view other than those of the negatives you noted. Thanks again for sharing.

7. Jay ,

   May I ask your age?
   I just applied to SCPS , and in waiting mode. I’m in my mid 30′s.

8. I studied at SCPS and NYU School of Education, and I can say it’s not the school but people who make a difference. I’ve see some professors who are world class scholars and they inspire you to think, explore and grow. They also have some professors who are experts in empty talk and photocopy of useless articles. If not for the NYU logo no one would take their classes. The same is true for administrators, some of them as caring as your mother and some look down on students. It’s still amazing experience which makes you grow whether it was positive or negative.
   As far as jobs, graduate degree helps you to meet people and get some knowledge and better self confidence but it may not guarantee a dream job. That’s the problem with education system, it did not figure out yet how to make everyone rich and famous or happy :-)

9. The headline i used for this article was a little tongue-in-cheek… poking fun at the timing of my graduation and the state of the economy.

   Going into SCPS no one is “promised” any jobs only the opportunity to be immersed in a learning environment.

10. Jay, I do think Gen Ys and Gen Xs are/were misled about colleges. My parents never had a college education and many others I have come across do not as well. Many of them did well without them. You can argue that today’s jobs require a college degree and so forth, but the truth is that higher learning was never meant to teach people to “get a job”. It was for the wealthy and the elite to become well rounded through the pursuit of humanistic endeavors (aka liberal arts). In this way, they would be come leaders and visionaries, and not engage in the occupations and trades that were suited for the lower rungs of society. This trend was in place for centuries, which began in the late Middle Ages in Europe to the tail end of the 20th century. For some reason, colleges and universities took on a different meaning and I believe this has been a “recent” phenomenon that started in the 80s, where there was an emphasis on a college degree opening up all kinds of opportunities even for the poor. Higher learning ironically then became a vocational pursuit for the masses, where studying in a college or university was supposed to be a stepping stone to a job or career. For many naive students who majored in subjects like English or History and imagined that their degrees would lock themselves in a decent paying job were in it for a surprise. Not only were they laden with debt since college is expensive, they could not find a job of their particular liking and were stuck with a big bill and a low paying job. It does not have to be like this, if we tell young people that hey, if you go into college and not study something pragmatic, then you might suffer the consequences. Let’s be honest right here!

    I do agree, our education needs a reform. In some countries, a high school education is very rigorous, almost equivalent to our college curriculm. College is an option for them, not a must, as we seem to put it.

    And even academia in this country needs an overhaul. There is so much politics and liberal bias involved that scholarship among our professors has become subpar. Just to let you know that I have come across professors of European background whose ideas were just much more brilliant and well thought out than the ones here.

11. I think NYU is an excellent school and you get to live/study in one of the greatest cities in the world. NYU Not so Grad, I completely disagree with your statements about NYU’s “inferior technology.” We have state of the art computers in most of our buildings. There’s new computer lab. Free printing. Free copying. Poorly designed facilities? Hello…Kimmel? Bobst? The Stern building is going under a renovation. Yes, the school is costly, but it’s your choice to attend NYU. If you put in the effort and network and truly utilize all the resources the school has to offer, NYU is worth the investment.

12. Job update:

    I just received an appointment to teach “Interactive Media” at my local community college beginning in the Fall.

13. Nyu-scps kicks ass. Only an ignorant child would think otherwise.

14. OP is what you call a hater. Idiot who always drove daddys caddy I’m sure

15. Not a hater and definately not here to bash NYU completely. I’m attending Columbia and so one makes the comparision. Come check out the computer labs in my current school and you will say otherwise. I do know about the Kimmel Lab, and there’s nothing spectacular about it. Many of the NYU facilities give you a feeling that you’re in a tank with artificial air, almost like a vacuum. Ok, maybe I’m spoiled because I now have the privilege to be part of the 2 “so called” great NYC learning institutions which leads me to do a comparative. NYU has given me the opportunity to move forward and now it’s time to tackle bigger things in Columbia. Life is a series of progression…..

    For your information, one does not need to attend any specific institution here in the city to reap the benefits of it.

    Rob – Congratulations! I hope you enjoy teaching those kids in the 13th grade.

16. NYU Not so Grad, what do you like about NYU? Everything you write reeks of negativity and sarcasm.