<p>My older son never spent a dime in Pittsburgh - he’s Mr. Anti-social - he did get a library card from the local library! Younger son in the Boston area does more, but he’ll go to inexpensive concerts or out for ethnic meals. His high school friends had a range of incomes and they were always willing to drive further to bowl for $6 a game rather than in town for more than twice that much.</p>
<p>"Obviously, every kid is different, but I think my D would have been miserable at a small campus in a small town (like the college I went to!) "
-not miserable at all in our D’s case. Her campus was gorgeous, very far from miserable, nobody was miserable there. Tons of opportunites. Interining in Med. Research lab for 2-3 years (do not remember), awesome job as SI for Chem. prof. for 3 years, great trip to NZ (life long dream), did not have a chance to be in her college Europian campus though, but it was available. D. misses her tiny college town a lot.
She turned down NwU (one reason, although not the most important is Chicago, a bit too much), withdrew from Pittsburgh - could not see herself being there at all. She still is in big city but at least in her home state. So, it depends very much on a person. However, I do not see much difference in expenses between small town and huge city. Actually the last one seems to be less. However, D. is much more busy academically at Med. School than in UG, so this could be the reason. In addtion, she is still getting to know people, having been there only for about 3 months. She is very outgoing, but everybody is very busy.</p>
<p>^^^ That’s exactly why I said “Every child is different.” I’m glad your daughter enjoyed her experience at her college and thrived there; that same kind of school would have driven my D crazy.</p>
<p>My D is going to school in Boston - she is finding it to be very expensive when you add in late night transportation (cabs for saftey reasons) as well as any off campus enjoyment. Going to the movies costs $15-20…the school she is at really does not have alot of oncampus activities like more rural schools. The school does not bring in concerts or have lots of sporting events that would typically occupy some of the student’s free time as well as bring people together which is important for freshman. My D is social and has made alot of connections but they are having a hard time finding things to do outside hanging around dorms/apts due to cost and the fact they are underage.</p>
<p>momofboston- all the concert halls and theatrical venues hire ushers-- the pay is minimal but you see the shows for free. Your D should go on Craigslist and get on a couple of email lists from performing arts organizations. There is tons of cheap or free things to do in Boston! I would not encourage a young woman to use public transportation late at night by herself- but in a group of 3-5 friends? I don’t think a cab is necessary- as long as they take out the darn ear buds and act as if they are aware of their surroundings, the bus and T should be very safe for a small group.</p>
<p>blossom - I also did not think that taking cabs would be the norm but what I have learned is that most parties/gatherings happen off campus in the city…there is a very finite number of people that are allowed in. The other night my D went to one with three other girls that live on her floor - the three were allowed into the party and my D was not (not sure why but I suspect they were at the limit)…the other girls stayed at the party and left my D by herself outside in the middle of the city alone. She had a difficult time at midnight finding a cab by herself…it was expensive…these are the things that hs seniors do not think about when they are applying to urban schools.</p>
<p>The Boston T also stops running terribly early for college student schedules…S2 went to see Rocky Horror with S1 at Kendall Square and wound up camping on the floor with S1’s friends at MIT because the T had already stopped running.</p>
<p>In DC, the Metro expanded to run til 3 am on weekends 5-6 years ago, which makes a whole lotta sense, whether one is just downtown and one wants to come home at 2 am or in encouraging folks who have been imbibing off the roads.</p>
<p>Interesting thread. My D attends college in DC, earns nice money working part time, and is often frustrated that many of her friends are on such tight budgets (putting their job earnings toward tuition) that they can’t afford to eat out or spend anything on entertainment. But they find ways to entertain themselves on the cheap, which can range from watching a video from the library to window shopping to visiting a museum. Bottom line, it’s quite possible to live frugally in an urban area–you adjust your lifestyle to your budget, not the other way around. As for needing any particular type or quality of clothing–you see college kids wearing everything and everything in major cities. If either of my kids had told me they needed better clothes to fit in at their respective campuses, I would have first have gotten control over my rolling eyeballs and then graciously told them to allocate their job earnings to apparel.</p>
<p>Hi my D is a freshman at NYU. The question about the spending money has to be decided beforehand. I think we need to give them an allowance and then ask them to write down their spending for 1-2 months to figure out the amount that has been agreed by both parties is sufficient. After all when we agree on sending them to college in big city we need to acknowledge there will be expenses. Sure I would also like this to be an opportunity for the young lady to learn money management which would include carrying and using a card, withdrawing money from ATM, paying her phone bills etc. Since each family is different and therefore the budget would vary accordingly.</p>
<p>The point of going to NYC or any other big city is to have the cultural experience as well. It should not be difficult once you figure out what part of that experience should be more about absorbing the sights and sounds, exploring the parks and zoos and catching 1-2 movies a month, to discovering the world cuisine (which is in plenty and reasonably priced for students) and tickets for various events are available at great discounts. I believe the museums are free. All this is possible within a limited budget.</p>
<p>Also please remember the first 2 weeks the expenses can get out of hand but once they settle into a routine, the expenses also come down. For our D we began with a limit of 200-300 per month ,and she managed to keep it below 200 the first month. But this is only for weekly eating out, movies, water, toiletries and coffee. Hopefully she will continue to be within this budget. Also party scene for these guys is hanging around and having fun chatting and going out for a late night bite. Drinking as far as I know is limited. My D is not even 18 and I would like to believe and pray that she will use the wisdom that we have been rambling to her forever.</p>
<p>We took care of all big expense like books, printer and room furnishing. All the clothes shopping was done beforehand but if she needs to buy something that is absolutely unavoidable, she is in the business school, she has emergency funds for that. The emergency fund is also to take care of unforeseen medical and other expenses.</p>
<p>Regarding alcohol the parents were told that at NYU if your child gets caught for drinking it will be more likely by NYPD than Campus police. And there is not much one can do while dealing with NYPD, period.</p>
<p>My D is a freshman in a very urban environment in Chicago. I’ll see her next weekend and will enquire more about money. I do know that I want her to be able to take advantage of being in the city. But the money is not unlimited. The school has had some fun activites - a free Cubs game, a free Cupcake Crawl.</p>
<p>BTW, do not spend too much $$ on books, make them shop at half.com. Science books are particularly very expensive. My D. has spent ton of $$ her freshman year buying used books at bookstore. Then she learned.</p>
<p>NJSue, if you know what to do & where to go (and don’t worry, college students find thse out very quickly!) NYC is one of the best cities in the world to have cheap fun!</p>
<p>College IDs often get you cheaper admission, there are the “rush” tickets mentioned, there are free hours in the museums and many of them are “pay what you can” anyway, just walking around with friends is a pretty good diversion. It’s New York. </p>
<p>My D is in Baltimore, entertainment money is hers to supply — & she is doing things with friends such as watching movies & TV shows they love, streaming, on their computers. And taking advantge of free & cheap things the college offers. On Talk Like a Pirate Day I sent her a Yarrbucks card (doctored a Starbucks one), but we are not suplying “fun money.”</p>
<p>My D has discovered an easy way to earn a little extra $. She works for the Disabilities office as a note-taker. They notify her if there is anyone in her classes (that she’s already registered for) that needs notes due to a disablity and she just posts them after every class on Blackboard. She earns $100 per class. She had a go to a training workshop and was recommended by a professor. Worth looking into at other campuses.</p>
<p>^Interesting job and reinforces one’s own learning too.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the replies.</p>
<p>Lots of college profs post their own notes on-line.</p>