As a college student (especially if you are an incoming freshman), I’m sure you’ve been inundated with tips for success, safety, frugality and fun from the likes of your parents, orientation leaders, teachers, friends, WSN, and college guidebooks. Invariably, however, there are important facets of the NYU experience that other sources might find taboo. These things are often some of the most relevant issues to student life, so it feels only right to address them in hopes of answering some of your questions about NYU and the city in general.

Blackboard is a Panopticon

While the odds of a professor having you submit papers through the dropbox feature on BlackBoard aren’t super high (some faculty have trouble even activating Blackboard), if one prefers this mode of submission, you should be aware that when you submit through this medium the professor will be able to see when the documented was created and when it was last edited. This means that if you write a paper in the 15 minutes before a class, the teacher will know.

How to Deal

If you know you will be using the dropbox, create your document the day the assignment is announced. You don’t have to work on it, but create a file and save it. This way, the teacher will have no idea when you worked on your paper and will have no way to penalize you for it. Grading a paper is an immensely subjective process, and you don’t want a teacher to think you’re slacking.

Don’t Buy Weed in the Park

This is some of the most elementary advice I can give you. It is just a horrible idea to cop your bud from a random dude in the park. I know it’s tempting when you have people telling you they have “big, green buds,” but, trust me, you can resist.  Also, the weed is total garbage.

How to Deal

I’m sure there are plenty of places for you to safely and effectively purchase better product at a better price. You can figure it out.

The Cost of Housing

I applaud the policy of making all freshmen live in NYU housing, but after your first year you may want to consider off-campus options. Monthly, renting an apartment can actually be cheaper than living in a dorm. The downside is that you’ll probably have to sign a twelve month lease, bringing the total cost above that of NYU housing.

How to Deal

Get started early, check whether or not your loans are transferrable (in most cases they are), and be ready to commit before the NYU housing deposit is due in February.

I hope this has been of some help.  If you have any questions you would like answered, please leave a comment and I will be happy to add it to the post.