Troy Hoddick, ‘14, is majoring in finance at the Stern School of Business at New York University.
Q: Why finance?
A: Stern’s finance program is amazing. And most of the undergrads go into finance, so it was a good opportunity.
Q: How was orientation?
A: Busy. Some of the other schools were more laidback. For Stern there was a bunch of mandatory meetings. We got put in cohorts of 60 people that we are still in. I’ll be going to a baseball game soon. I have a scavenger hunt today. We have team-building games in Central Park.
Q: What do you think of your classes?
A: I have an English class that has about 15 people, a history class with about 120 people, a math lecture with about 100 people and a statistics class with about 60.
The history and math both have recitation classes. It’s basically the same class but in smaller groups, so I don’t feel the size at all as being negative.
Statistics is the most interesting class. History is a weird, fun class.
Q: What’s your dorm like?
A: I have three suitemates and two roommates. I stay in an apartment-style dorm. We have a common room, kitchen and a full bathroom. And I have a bedroom with one roommate. There is tons of room; it’s great.
Q: What is your overall impression of NYU?
A: I really like the urban environment. I feel like when I leave NYU I will have made a transfer into being an adult. It’s something I looked for in my colleges. If I had gone to a small liberal arts college or a college in the middle of nowhere, I feel like I would still be a kid when I left. In the city I can do whatever I want.
Q: What do you think of New York City?
A: It’s one of my favorite cities. I do like London more. I will get to study a semester in London. NYU has a campus in like 20 different locations around the world where you can take classes. It’s one of my favorite things about NYU. I also want to go to Florence and Shanghai.
Q: Is there anything you don’t like?
A: Stern tries to put you in a separate bubble than all the other NYU students. They promote elitism and competition. I don’t want to be separated from all the other interesting people here.
Q: Are you participating in any extracurriculars?
A: I signed up for a bunch of business clubs, but none of them fit into my schedule. Next semester I can fix that. Basically there is one hour when all the clubs meet, and I have a class during that hour.
I am in an archery club. I am in a video game club and I am in a cheese club, where we do cheese tasting once a month. Oh, and badminton just because my roommate and I want to play it.
Q: What about Greek life?
A: I plan on joining a business fraternity. It’s the alpha chapter of my parents’ fraternity. It’s not really a big fraternity. My parents joined the chapter at USC.
Q: How has the weather been?
A: I’m about to get a taste of the frigid winter. But until now it’s been great.
Q: Anything else you want to share about NYU?
A: The food. It’s amazing! I have never had so much good food in my life. In the Palladium dining hall they bake pizzas from scratch. They have sushi chefs right there for you. Whether it’s NYU or NYC, the food is amazing.
Q: Any advice for the class of ‘15?
A: You’ve got this idea in your mind of what the right college is for you, like Stanford or whatever. NYU is the best university out of any in the world I wanted to go to. It’s great that I found it and I’m here now.
It’s important to try your best to get into the school that you want to go to. Have some faith that you will end up in the right college. Take a little bit of comfort that there is a good chance that you will be in the right place for you.
