College is often referred to as the “best 4 years of your life” and going to a school in New York City makes it even better. I love going to school in Manhattan, it was 100% the best decision I’ve made college wise. There are definitely some downsides, like not having a traditional campus, but the city has so much more to offer that you barely even notice. I wouldn’t rather go to college anywhere else. So, here are the reasons going to college in NYC is the absolute best!
This is actually a huge plus to not having a real campus. A lot of people that live and work or go to school in the city simply don’t own a car because there’s no need. The subway can get you to and from pretty much anywhere for only $2.75. It may take you a little longer than driving, but it’ll definitely save you the hassle of trying to find a spot 5 minutes before class starts.
Plenty of things are open past midnight or even 24 hours so you can always find something to do or eat. You’ll find the hole in the wall Chinese food places that are open until 3am (because the night before finals is always the best time to explore.) Even just making an after midnight run to the 24 hour CVS for no real reason is something most people can’t do. Most people don’t even leave to go out until after 10 anyway, so of course things need to stay open well into the morning hours. The luxury of actually being able to do things into the wee hours of the morning is a really great perk to have in college.
A lot of shows have student discounts if you just show your ID. While you don’t have t go to a city school to get that discount, it’s just nice to be able to decide the night before or night of that you want to go and not have to empty your bank account. Some schools, like Pace, even offer free tickets to certain shows if you sign up in time. Those are first come first serve, but if you can get on the list in time, definitely take the opportunity. This is a really great perk of going to college in NYC!
New York is one of the fashion capitals of the world, so of course shopping is a huge thing here. There are a variety of places, both high end and lower, when you need to destress and do a little retail therapy. The flagship stores are much bigger than those in normal malls and obviously have more to offer. After finals, interviews, or an especially stressful paper, shopping in the city is the best way to unwind.
On the other end of the shopping spectrum, but equally as amazing, are sample sales and thrifting. Sample sales are pretty self explanatory, brands will do a run of designs as “samples” just to see if everything works out and looks right and will then sell those samples at a much lower rate than what you would pay for the real product itself. Thrifting in the city is better than anywhere else, but I may be a little bias. You can find real designer brand things for more than half the price. Thrifting can be such a great way to find really high quality pieces, on a college kid budget. This is a really cool perk of going to college in NYC!
It would take forever to just name all the different museums you can go to in the city or even just the places to shop. There’s a million of everything in New York, something new is right around every corner. You can get from the city, to the beach, a park, a museum, restaurants, shopping, concerts, plays; everything and anything you could want is in the city. The subway, when it’s fully functioning, is a pretty quick and easy way to get wherever you want. This is super convenient when going to college in NYC!
Concerts and festivals for any kind of music are always happening in the city. NYC has plenty of venues to hold multiple concerts a night. Madison Square Garden is the largest of said venues, but smaller clubs and warehouses across the boroughs hold concerts all throughout the year. Electric Daisy Carnival, one of the most well known raves, comes and goes from the city, as well as Ezoo, Hyperglow, Govs Ball and I’m Shmacked parties. The city is always alive with music, all you have to do is search for your favorite artist. New York is always a stop on everyone’s tour list.
You can see everyone from Gigi Hadid to crazy subway performers all in one day. People watching is a great way to just get a feel for the area your school is in. Pace is so close to Wall Street that we just have a lot of business people, but you can see every kind of person as you travel around the city or just sit and watch the world go by. Seeing famous people in the flesh, doing normal people things, is such a unique, city experience and definitely one of the smaller things that I love.
Along those same lines, you can meet anyone at any time. You can move to the city and go out every night to the same spot and never see the same people. That’s part of the luxury of the city! Meeting new people is never a difficult task as there are 8.5 MILLION people living in New York City. This is the really nice thing about going to college in NYC!
From the wilderness of Central Park, to the boob bounce house inside the Museum of Sex, it isn’t hard to find a spot worthy of a post to the Gram. Walls are covered in beautiful art and there are sculptures everywhere as well, take the time to find these spots and hold them close to your heart but shhhhh, don’t post the location, it’s more fun that way.
Go out, enjoy college, enjoy those late nights out having fun because you’ll never have the same opportunity to do it again!
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