Usually when someone says “college town,” you picture a small town in the middle of nowhere with little to do or offer. Rarely is NYC thought of as a college town, but in fact there are more graduate and undergraduate students living in the Big Apple than there are people living in Boston. Here are nine reasons NYC makes the absolute best place to attend college.
1. 24-hour everything.
When 3 a.m. rolls around and you can’t get pizza off your mind, you can make it happen and it can be delivered. Pizza isn’t the only food, though; you can find just about anything you can dream of at any hour in NYC. Forget just one local joint that stretches their hours until 2 a.m. just to please the college kids: New York provides you with anything you could want.
2. Almost every concert tour stops in NYC.
Unlike the colloquial small college town, New York is a destination for leading artists. If you’re interested in music, there is no better place to plant yourself than in New York City.
3. The shopping opportunities are endless.
An upcoming neon party or formal dance doesn’t require you to scour websites for the perfect outfit and calculate how many shipping days it will take to arrive when you live in a shopping capital. You can find something amazing for every occasion, whether it be a masquerade mask for the unexpected theme party or a conservative suit for the interview you have coming up.
4. Homework assignments often include exploring the city.
Forget sitting in a library cubicle searching Google images for your art history class when you could go see the pieces for yourself in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. There is no better way to learn than to interact with the history itself, and NYC offers tons of museums for this experience.
5. If a library is what you need, New York Public Library has you covered with more than 15 locations.
Sometimes you need a break from the stark walls and social scene of your college library. Aside from gorgeous study rooms, these public libraries offer extensive collections of books. There is no better place to hunker down and study for finals than the Public Library at Bryant Park’s reading room.
6. The word “bored” is not used.
Each weekend rolls around presenting a new adventure. From a bike ride to the Brooklyn Bridge, a hot dog at Coney Island, or a boat ride on the lake in Central Park, this city has too much to offer for you to ever proclaim yourself as being bored.
7. The word “free” grabs a college student’s attention like no other.
Luckily, you can find a free event in NYC every day of the week. A quick Google search will bring up endless options. A movie on the lawn of Bryant Park, a fashion show on the Hudson River, and an exhibit at the Fashion Institute of Technology are just a few examples of free events.
8. Some college kids consider their great lawn to be the ultimate spot to tan or to toss a Frisbee, but when you’re in New York City the park options are a dime a dozen.
If a park isn’t where you want to be, you could always head to the Hudson River, Rockaway beach, or your favorite hotel rooftop for some outdoor time. What could be better than spending the afternoon of a gorgeous day at the rooftop pool of the standard hotel? (Don’t worry if you forget your swimsuit—they have a vending machine for that.)
9. NYC makes you miss it more than anything while you’re away.
Not in the way that others might miss the quirky little details of their college towns, though, because NYC makes you miss an energy. Hearing anyone talk about New York makes you feel like you’re missing out by not being there. It becomes your city, not just the town that you’ll reminisce on old memories without ever feeling the desire to return.
