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What is being a student at NYU like?

Considering location and cost of living, where should an incoming NYU Steinhardt grad student choose to live: Washington Square Village, Alumni Hall, or off campus? What areas of manhattan are best suited for extroverted young professionals and graduate students living on a budget?

  • WSV studio= $2600/mo, Alumni Hall studio- ~$2000/mo I'm looking for a relatively affordable neighborhood with young, creative, extroverts not too far from NYU's campus. What do you recommend?

  • Answer:

    Here's the best advice I ever received about moving in NYC: Come up with a list of 5 things you absolutely need in an apartment. When you find an apartment that has three of them, take it. Unless you have enough money to build your own place, you're never going to find the perfect spot. From my experience, here's the most important thing for an apartment for someone on a budget: A subway line close by that takes me to directly to school or work. That transfer may not sound so bad, but that extra 10-15 minutes you save everyday is a great thing. Multiply that over a year, and that's a lot of time saved. I save money too because I'm not tempted to take a cab. For the most part it breaks out: if you go to school/ work on the West side, live near the 1-2-3/ A-C-E.  If you live on the East side, live near the 4-5-6. N-Q-R is going to take you right down the middle of the island, so that works for pretty much anywhere, as long as you live south of 60th st (it shoots off into Queens there). Probably the most overrated thing in an apartment? Size of your bedroom.  In NYC, it's a place to sleep, that's it.   Lose an extra 2 feet on your bedroom size length/width and save the extra $200 a month. You won't be sorry, I promise!  Take that $2400 and saved go on a cool vacation. If you'd like, let me know and I could give my opinion on neighborhoods. The above is just general recommendations for wherever you live.

Ryan Kirlin at Quora Visit the source

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I graduated from Steinhardt in 2013. Like others have mentioned, living off campus is cheapest. I lived in the Upper East Side my first year and in Harlem my second year. My friends who attended school with me lived in the Upper East Side, Morningside Heights, Harlem, Astoria, East Village, Financial District, Park Slope. One of my friends lived in Alumni Hall our first year and regretted it since it was so expensive. The major reasons for us choosing apartments in these neighborhoods: convenient subway access to NYU and the best cost vs. benefit ratio in terms of how much you get out of the apartment for what you pay. Honestly, as a poor grad student in NYC, nothing else matters.

Eileen Kim

I definitely recommend Williamsburg! I am a current NYU Steinhardt graduate student and I can't imagine having lived anywhere else. It's really just the best. Nice location and super easy and quick to get to NYU. It takes me less than 30 minutes to get to class (including walking to subway, subway trip, and walking to school). Williamsburg is the home of Smorgasburg in the summer and also the Brooklyn Flea. Just the best!!!!!!! The best food, cheap drinks and fun partying all year round!

Laura Jefrine Hopf

You're not going to find anything affordable for a grad student in Manhattan (those examples you give are ridiculous!). Consider Brooklyn Heights or Downtown Brooklyn.

Dan Lurie

Live off campus. A huge 1 bedroom in Williamsburg runs less than 2k, (near Bedford or Lorimer L) and a sweat lower East Side studio or good one bedroom near Clinton/Rivington (Essex street F) for around 2k. Depending on your aesthetic, you might find Williamsburg and the lower east side among the most desirable neighborhoods to live. Don't bother with Murray hill or hells kitchen. Ever. Chelsea and the west village are nice but  slightly overpriced. Best of luck!

Chad Saville

Choosing something in Manhattan is a whole nother ball game. It will be  incredibly difficult to get lucky and find something affordable close  by. I do like the examples of living on the Upper East Side and Harlem. I  know a few grad students and undergraduate students that commute from  up there without complaint. Because some other Quorans have offered  answers outside of Manhattan, I will follow suit and suggest Jersey City  and Hoboken. My brother went to NYU for grad school and commuted from  Jersey City while I lived in Hell's Kitchen (49th on the West Side). His  commute was shorter than mine! Also, Hoboken and Jersey City are  quickly becoming hot spots for young adults and students (Hoboken is  already entrenched as a hip alternative to NY). The PATH train is clean  and reliable. The only knock on it is that leaving NYC late, after a  night out, it is a bit of a wait to catch the train (like the NYC  Subway). One cool thing about the PATH is that you get to check in the  station exactly what time the next train is arriving so it isn't so much  hoping and waiting.

Anum Ahmed

Living off campus will be significantly cheaper. You probably could share a bigger and better apartment with someone (and have your own room) for half that price. I know students that love Williamsburg (Brookyln), Park Slope (Brookyln), Astoria (Queens), And the Upper East Side (Manhattan)

Paige Ponzeka

Live where it is cheapest and where you are not committed to a span beyond the school year. You're an "Incoming" student... and obviously without roots in NYC ... so therefore you will need to get acclimated.  Whatever you assume about how you will be living is wrong. NYC is a diverse city ... Manhattan is just one location and it is very diverse.  Being extroverted is meaningless ... you will, by definition, meet  wide range of people.  The question is your personal lifestyle interests.  they can drag you to eateries in Brooklyn or Queens -- which have interesting neighborhoods and easy travel to NYU. Brooklyn Heights is an excellent spot from which to reach points in Manhattan that are a drag to reach when you are Manhattan based ... and its a short subway ride to NYU.  On a nice day ... I walked back from class ... and that took me through Tribecca, Little Italy and China Town.  Or walked north toward Time Square ... again a reasonably short ride to the Heights... which can be an extroverts paradise.

Bill Lipton

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