What hoop-jumping is necessary to take or audit classes at NYU?
November 21, 2013 7:08 PM   Subscribe

I graduated from college in 2010, and have lived in downtown NYC ever since. I'm getting the desire to take some classes again, and NYU is a few blocks away. But I can't find any information on how to get into classes there, as a non-student.

I'm primarily interested in two areas right now: Japanese language and graduate-level theoretical physics.

I tried walking into a physics class a few years ago but the building security didn't let me past the front door :(.

I was rejected from grad school at both these places in 2012 and have since decided software development as a day job is my fate, so becoming an actual student is probably not the answer.

Has anyone taken classes as a non-student, or have any advice on how to do it? Maybe directly emailing the relevant instructors?

Columbia seems more lax; I've attended theoretical physics seminars in the middle of the day there and just walked into the right building/room. Would that work better? Much longer commute, of course, so not as preferable.
posted by Jacen Solo to Education (6 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
I think what you're looking for is non-credit continuing education classes.
posted by griphus at 7:15 PM on November 21, 2013


Best answer: Another option is to apply as a non-degree student.
posted by needled at 7:19 PM on November 21, 2013


Best answer: Have a look at Japan Society (east midtown), if you haven't already. They have lots of language classes at different times of day and for different rates of learning. And it's much cheaper than going through a university, if you don't need the credits, just the knowledge.
posted by xo at 7:46 PM on November 21, 2013


Response by poster: Continuing education courses don't seem to be along the lines of stuff I'd like to learn. Applying as a non-degree student at GSAS seems more likely, thanks... I'd love to hear from anyone who's done that how it went, since it seems a bit more of a serious commitment than I was thinking.
posted by Jacen Solo at 8:10 PM on November 21, 2013


Best answer: I don't know about NYU, but you can take courses as a non-degree student at Hunter College, which is part of CUNY. It is located at 68th & Lex, so it's not as long a commute (from the NYU area) as Columbia. You can apply as an undergrad or a grad student.

My adult daughter (21 YO) is a non-degree undergrad student at Hunter College. Her experience in class is the same as regular degree students. I doubt any of them even know she is a non-degree student, unless she has told them directly. She goes to class, does all the assignments, takes all the exams, and has a transcript. If she applies to be a degree student (which she will likely do), her credits are transferable.

Although my daughter has not studied Japanese, I see that it is offered at Hunter.

Neither my daughter nor I know anything about physics, really, but I see online that Hunter does have a graduate program in physics.

So yeah, not NYU, but maybe something to consider?
posted by merejane at 5:11 PM on November 22, 2013


So, unfortunately I think a lot of colleges try to limit this to keep class size down - especially somewhere with a lot of people like New York City, if you just let as many random people as would like to sit in on classes, it could really negatively impact the students who are paying to be there. I will also say - in my experience, even within-university auditors (i.e. students from other departments, faculty members, etc.) who sit in on classes but are not taking it for credit can often be big time/attention sucks. This is particularly going to be the case in something like a language class where you can't just sit in the back of the room - there's lots of participation/speaking for all students, so if auditors are taking up that time, the other students aren't getting to practice their language stills as much.

I think your best bet is to email individual professors and make it clear that you will be a quiet mouse in the back of the room and will not bug them constantly. I think you'll have more luck in lecture-based classes. But, be prepared for them to say no. College is crazy expensive for a reason - it's not just the degree you get at the end.
posted by rainbowbrite at 5:27 PM on November 22, 2013


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