<p>consider tuition, broad, daily expenses, and small travels, is NYC really THAT MORE expensive than other states surrounding it?</p>
<p>The thing that’s most out of line for NYC schools is the cost of housing, whether on campus or off. The city is just a place where good housing isn’t cheap. Tuition at city and state schools is (for residents) below that of surrounding states. Tuition at privates is comparable to anywhere else. No cost for a car and cheap bus/subway. </p>
<p>And there’s tons of cheap eats and entertainment, probably more so than in other places, and tons of discount stores for food, clothes and daily living stuff. As a student it takes some time to find them however.</p>
<p>A lot depends on student lifestyle, over which you have some control. The very most expensive item in NYC is housing because property is valuable and scarce in a small geographic area. So, relative to other parts of NY State or the USA, NYCity has a pricetag on housing that is much worse.</p>
<p>For a student, however, there are different options. If you live in student housing, that price is set and established. While it might cost more than if the same university were located in a rural area, you can balance that with some other savings.</p>
<p>For example: NYC has superior public transportation, so you and your classmates would never want or need to own a car in that city. Big savings compared to students whose universities (after freshman year or so) make them either buy or regret not having private (automobile) transportation. Buying and maintaining a car is a BIG expense for a student, and you’ll never have to face that in NYC. </p>
<p>NYC Subways cost $80/month for unlimited # of rides for the general public. (If that’s different for students, please advise!) As a student you are most likely to live within walking distance of your school, so perhaps you want to only walk and take the occasional subway ride ($2. per ride anywhere in the city).</p>
<p>It’s true that apartment rentals are expensive per square foot. The pattern in NYC is for students to share apartments, during or after college. This brings down costs of rent and utilities by sharing. Each has their own bedroom but all share common rooms (living room and kitchen) and divide utility bills equally. That applies to people who outgrow or are no longer eligible for housing managed by the college itself. </p>
<p>Adding: so you might pay $700/month rent to get one little bedroom in a shared apartment with 3 others. Meanwhile, if you went to upstate New York (way outside the city area) or to a different state, you might find that $700 would let you rent an apartment with just one other person. You’d have more space elsewhere but most people who love NYC are reconciled to having smaller space IN ORDER to be in NYC where it’s active and exciting throughout the city. </p>
<p>The big item I see for many college students is their STYLE OF PERSONAL ENTERTAINMENT. Sorry to scream capitals, but it’s really important. A lot of college students spend personal time and money in NYC restaurants and clubs, especially on weekends. Some first “met” NYC when travelling with parents or school trips so when they arrive there as students, that’s the fun they remember. But it’s expensive fun.</p>
<p>Not so. NYC is also full of free or low-cost options to enjoy, from neighborhood fairs to free concerts in parks. The famous Broadway shows are expensive – and some students get half-priced discounts or wait in lines for deep discounts on tickets. But there is also a category called Independent Theater (or “Off-Off-Broadway”) with much smaller-sized audiences that sell tickets for $18 and have excellent quality (takes research to find it, though). Concerts at Lincoln Center are magnificent and costly, while student or faculty recitals at Julliard or many other colleges/universities are free to attend. </p>
<p>You have to be ready to research and choose more reasonable entertainment AND not feel bad when some of your classmates think nothing of running out and dropping $100 for a night to eat, drink and dance at a club.</p>
<p>It depends. First question, expensive for whom? As parents we are paying tuition, books, fees, and campus dorm and food rates. So for us as parents the ony item a little higher is the room and board but frankly the difference is noise in the overall cost of college. For our daughter there could be much more variance … if she decides to move off campus and pay the increment over dorm costs that could hurt A LOT, same for going off the meal plan (although that also can be done cheaper than the school plan), the big gotcha for the students is what they do off campus … if they like to go clubbing than living in NYC can darn expensive … if they like to get CheapTix for theatre or go hang out at Central Park or etc than the expense is not a lot more than other schools</p>
<p>“so you might pay $700/month rent to get one little bedroom in a shared apartment with 3 others”</p>
<p>$2800 for a four bedroom apartment in new york city?!?!?!?!</p>
<p>please tell me where that is right now!</p>
<p>I think she meant 4 people in a one bedroom. That seems a little more realistic.</p>
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<p>I think that would be quite a find! An actor friend is currently looking for someone to sublet his 650 sq.ft. 1 bedroom apartment for $2200. :)</p>
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that’s very true. some kids from certain families think they can go out 3-4 times a week spending $100 each night ordering drink after drink (at $15 per drink). That’s about $20k/yr on daddy’s credit card. Regular kids find out quickly they can’t afford to run with that crowd.,… at ANY campus.</p>
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<p>I know someone who did this in a lower key city. She wanted to eat out and her friends could not afford it. She used to pick up the tab for all of her friends on daddy’s credit card, but she did not have permission to do so! The parents complained years later about and that is when I learned about it. They did not pull the card, I guess, because they could well afford it. My point is that one can run up daddy’s credit card anywhere, but it is probably tougher to stick with a student’s budget in NYC.</p>
<p>“…if they like to go clubbing than living in NYC can darn expensive”</p>
<p>The issue, as it was relayed to me, was sort of what are the alternatives to clubbing, they really didn’t have the kind of house parties at D2s first school, in NYC, that they have routinely in her current, campus-centered school. And their campus offered virtually nothing to keep them there. So they all trouped downtown on weekends and it cost. Going anyplace there costs, I guess you can buy monthly subway passes or something, but still. They would share cabs coming back at night, shared but not free.</p>
<p>D2 now goes to house parties on weekends, goes to cheap movies, does stuff on campus, the cost is far lower than what she was doing in NYC. And she likes it better too. The “cheaptix” she was finding still cost a fortune, on a student budget. There is less available to her now, but what there is she can afford.</p>
<p>BTW, we have here proof positive that paying3tuitions and 3togo are two different people.
I always get you confused, my bad, sorry. Senility keeps my focus limited to the
number “3”. Evidently.</p>
<p>It doesn’t have to be expensive, but the temptations are great. If going out to eat is a slice of pizza or a falafel, okay. A sit down meal, no. My daughter and her friends have taken to eating at home, then meeting up to hang out for the evening. Also, everyone is wearing such great clothes, so how can you resist buying some? And for those theater majors who plan to see a lot of great plays, forget it. Even same day half price tickets are a lot. Although my d did find some deal when she was in high school where she could go to the box office right before the performance was to start and get (sometimes fabulous) seats for almost nothing.</p>
<p>You can do more in NYC for free or under $10 than you can for any amount of money in most other places in the world. No, it doesn’t have to be expensive and there are many ways that costs can be very controlled while still have the most amazing time.</p>
<p>Maybe, but those things weren’t the things D2 wanted to do, evidently.</p>
<p>I live in NYC. It can be expensive. (For the record, the 30 day pass is $89 and will almost certainly go up substantially within the next couple of months.) </p>
<p>There are a lot of cheap and free things to do in NYC, but it usually takes a fair amount of planning. If you just feel like “going out” at the last minute, even a movie with a popcorn and soda is going to set you back about $20-25. Heading to a bar costs a lot too, especially the bars that aren’t particular about ID. </p>
<p>So, a lot of it is about the particular crowd your kid hangs out with and what they do for fun.</p>
<p>It’s not only expensive, it’s boring. I know because I went to college in NYC. I was bored to tears.</p>
<p>expenses is based on lifestyle</p>
<p>Thank you everyone! very helpful advice!</p>
<p>my d has found groceries to be very expensive in nyc. Just the run of the mill grocery stores like Gresdites, etc. are about fifty percent higher than the Philadelphia area. It’s funny because the price of takeout is about the same.
There are great little cheap fruit and vegetable stands on the corners though.</p>
<p>While there are some free and cheap things to do in NYC, I didn’t like being a poor student there during the '80’s. Yes, I could get standing room tickets, wait for free evenings for museums and the once a semester “Urban New York” opportunity (free tickets to an activity paid for by alumni or the college), but it’s hard when you are conscious of so many things going on and you just can’t afford to do/see them. After I got off the meal plan, my parents were shocked at how much it cost for me to cook for myself. They couldn’t imagine 6 people sharing a fridge and freezer and buying the expensive small sizes of basic foods. A college student’s groceries are much more expensive than 1/4 or 1/6 of her family food budget - especially if she is going to school in a gentrified area without a real supermarket.</p>