FAQs

In the fall of 2019, we moved into our space at 370 Jay Street, with state-of-the-art facilities.  This will be the location for any courses which require our facilities, such as production or musicianship courses.  However, our student body will still be taking courses in Manhattan, close to 50% depending on their academic level.  As such, we encourage first-year students looking for a residence hall experience to consider the Manhattan offerings.  Many students find their first year residence hall experience to be crucial to their extra-curricular life at NYU.

As far as commuting and transportation, NYU offers a free bus service as well as an after-hours Safe Ride service to students. Students can also opt to take the subway. With a commute time of about 20 minutes, students can easily move between Manhattan and Brooklyn, and can normally plan their schedules accordingly.

While this is not a frequently asked question, it's become more a common misconception of our program. The aim of our program is to teach creative entrepreneurship in the popular music world.  It is not to put students in front of famous producers to "break" them as artists, although that has happened.  Our culture is about teaching students all aspects of their business and empowering them to find a way to make a product or service in an ever-changing industry.  If you are hoping to be introduced to people rather than making your own connections, hoping for shortcuts instead of building your brand and neglecting aspects of our holistic curriculum, this is not the program for you.

That being said, we do have some instances where students can workshop your songs with faculty, students, and outside executives during your time in the program.

During the winter and summer sessions, all Clive Davis Institute classes are open to visiting and non-matriculating students.

During the academic year, NYU Tisch offers a semester long, visiting student program called Semester at Tisch. The semester at Tisch Clive Davis Institute program is open to visiting undergraduate sophomores, juniors, and seniors. For one semester (fall or spring), a student can matriculate at Tisch and take 12 to 18 credits including some of our core curriculum. Internships are also available through this program. For more information, please visit the Special Programs site.

We also offer a limited selection of classes each semester that are open to all currently matriculated NYU students. You may refer to our Non-Major Enrollment page for additional information and our Open Access list, which lists which courses are open to non-majors for each semester.

No. Because of the participatory and creative nature of many courses at Tisch, none of the departments permit prospective students to observe classes. However, students are welcome to come and visit other NYU classes throughout the year. Classroom visits are offered Monday through Thursday during the Fall and Spring semesters. If you are interested in sitting in on a class, visit the Jeffrey S. Gould Welcome Center, 50 West Fourth Street, for a list of classes that are open for visitation. You may also call 212.998.4524 for more information.  

The Clive Davis Institute offers two wonderful high school programs, the Future Music Moguls Workshop during the spring and the four-week intensive Summer High School Program. The Future Music Moguls workshop is a FREE 12-week Saturday program designed to introduce talented high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors to all aspects of the contemporary music business, with a special focus on developing entrepreneurial skills. The Summer H.S. Program is a four-week intensive program that allows rising juniors and seniors to earn six college credits while in residence at NYU. Students will become entrepreneurs-in-training by studying how music is recorded, produced and distributed to consumers.

The administrative staff within the Clive Davis Institute are more than qualified to answer any questions you have about the department. In the case that they cannot, you will be referred to the proper faculty member.