In at NYU: Class of 2015...With Another New Poll! Forum

[Nelson]

Is it feasible to commute from New Jersey to NYU or Columbia?

It's feasible to commute from anywhere that's on PATH. Whether that's desireable depends on your willingness to have a 60-90 minute commute as a 1L.

[Danny Mothers]

Relative to the rest of your debt, will the CoL difference between the dorms and living in Newark really be that much?

[20130312]

Is it feasible to commute from New Jersey to NYU or Columbia?

It's feasible to commute from anywhere that's on Path. Whether that's desireable depends on your willingness to have a 60-90 minute commute as a 1L.

It will not take that long. Blessed, where in NJ are you thinking?

[tamereth]

Is it feasible to commute from New Jersey to NYU or Columbia?

It's feasible to commute from anywhere that's on Path. Whether that's desireable depends on your willingness to have a 60-90 minute commute as a 1L.

60-90 minutes!? I can't imagine getting up in the morning in anticipation of an hour+ commute. In the winter, I'd just want to say eff it and go back to bed.

[curiousgeorgia]

Is it feasible to commute from New Jersey to NYU or Columbia?

I mean, transportation exists, sure. But I bet if you ask any 1L they would recommend strongly against it. The commute would take over an hour, and while the subways run pretty continuously, the trains/buses to and from NJ aren't really available between the hours of 1am and 5am, which could be an inconvenience for late-night library sessions.

[freestallion]

Quoted from the ask a NYU 2L thread...

I live in NJ. Both Hoboken and Jersey City are super convenient. The train takes about 12 minutes, and the stop is located about 5 minutes from NYU. Not to mention that it costs half of what NYU dorms cost. Definitely a great option that I'm surprised more people don't look into.

and..

It runs often at all times. During rush hours, it is every 5 minutes, and usually every 10 min throughout the day. At night, I believe it extends to every 15 min, but it is usually less than that. I don't think I've ever actually waited 15 min for a train except a few times on Saturdays. Best part is that it runs 24 hours a day and is cheaper than a subway ride.

[Blessedassurance]

Is it feasible to commute from New Jersey to NYU or Columbia?

It's feasible to commute from anywhere that's on Path. Whether that's desireable depends on your willingness to have a 60-90 minute commute as a 1L.

It will not take that long. Blessed, where in NJ are you thinking?

like Hoboken? That's the only place I've been in Jersey put I remember it being a really short trip from there to Manhattan.

[tamereth]

Quoted from the ask a NYU 2L thread...

I live in NJ. Both Hoboken and Jersey City are super convenient. The train takes about 12 minutes, and the stop is located about 5 minutes from NYU. Not to mention that it costs half of what NYU dorms cost. Definitely a great option that I'm surprised more people don't look into.

and..

It runs often at all times. During rush hours, it is every 5 minutes, and usually every 10 min throughout the day. At night, I believe it extends to every 15 min, but it is usually less than that. I don't think I've ever actually waited 15 min for a train except a few times on Saturdays. Best part is that it runs 24 hours a day and is cheaper than a subway ride.

+1
Great find, and if it's that fast, commuting doesn't seem like a huge deal.

[20130312]

Is it feasible to commute from New Jersey to NYU or Columbia?

It's feasible to commute from anywhere that's on Path. Whether that's desireable depends on your willingness to have a 60-90 minute commute as a 1L.

It will not take that long. Blessed, where in NJ are you thinking?

like Hoboken? That's the only place I've been in Jersey put I remember it being a really short trip from there to Manhattan.

From Hoboken, you can get to NYU (train and walking time included) in about 20 minutes.

[Blessedassurance]

Quoted from the ask a NYU 2L thread...

I live in NJ. Both Hoboken and Jersey City are super convenient. The train takes about 12 minutes, and the stop is located about 5 minutes from NYU. Not to mention that it costs half of what NYU dorms cost. Definitely a great option that I'm surprised more people don't look into.

and..

It runs often at all times. During rush hours, it is every 5 minutes, and usually every 10 min throughout the day. At night, I believe it extends to every 15 min, but it is usually less than that. I don't think I've ever actually waited 15 min for a train except a few times on Saturdays. Best part is that it runs 24 hours a day and is cheaper than a subway ride.

Yeah Hoboken is what I had in mind. Thanks.

[curiousgeorgia]

Quoted from the ask a NYU 2L thread...

I live in NJ. Both Hoboken and Jersey City are super convenient. The train takes about 12 minutes, and the stop is located about 5 minutes from NYU. Not to mention that it costs half of what NYU dorms cost. Definitely a great option that I'm surprised more people don't look into.

and..

It runs often at all times. During rush hours, it is every 5 minutes, and usually every 10 min throughout the day. At night, I believe it extends to every 15 min, but it is usually less than that. I don't think I've ever actually waited 15 min for a train except a few times on Saturdays. Best part is that it runs 24 hours a day and is cheaper than a subway ride.

I stand corrected. Now I really regret camping out at the bus depot after the bars close to wait for a 5am ride back to NJ.

But transportation ish aside, Hoboken is a great place where a lot of recent grads who are working in NY choose to live.

[addy11]

That, and the debt scares the hell out of me, especially because of COL in NYC.

NYC cost of living is appalling. Looking at those NYU apt prices or thinking about commuting from Bushwick... I think that's why I'm still on the fence and given the opportunity would consider Chicago (even with all of the Republicans) or Penn.

I feel like commuting as a law student would be really tough. For one, I would love the opportunity to live with/near other law students, and would rather not be isolated/alone in some other part of the city. Second, carrying all those huge books, laptop etc to school every day would be a huge pain. And I also think I would want to stay on campus late, use the library, go to meetings, etc and commuting would make it more difficult. Not sure, though, since I have never lived in NYC before.

Agreed, I don't think I would consider commuting for 1L, which means prohibitive COL. And NYU doesn't guarantee housing either.

Not trying to be a downer though, I am really excited about the possibility. COL is really the only qualm I have.

It's important to understand the transportation of NYC when assessing what would really be called "commuting."

Physical proximity is often misleading. There are tons of places in (non-Siberia) Manhattan that take far longer than places in Brooklyn or possibly even Queens regarding getting to NYU law. It's very close to Houston (think "0th" street) roughly in the middle (E vs. W) of the Island, and on the NR (local), pretty close to the 6 (local), 1 (local), and West 4th A/B/D (express) and E/C/M/F (local) stops.

If you lived in (very cheap, albeit less desirable IMO) Sunset Park, you would only be 4 stops away on the N train. Rent would probably be half as much as in Greenwich Village.

Also, re: Chicago rents. I don't find them to be that much cheaper. The differences in price between NYC and Chicago and SF for the best neighborhoods are not really that large, you just get more space and better amenities. That said, the young (especially) student population of NYC is so resigned to giving up such luxuries as elevators, washers and dryers and space that most people forget that they're normal everywhere else, and typically your friends/peers will not have it much better than you.

When I visited UChicago this weekend the person who took me around said they spend about $1500/month in Chicago. My two friends live on the Gold Coast and they have great apartments for around $1300/month. I have no doubt that they all live in much nicer environments than I do, but I live in a pretty safe, pretty hip area of South Brooklyn, I'm 20 minutes from NYU (and about 40 minutes from Columbia) and I pay $700/month. When I lived in Manhattan I could walk to NYU law in 15 minutes, lived in the hip LES/East Village area, was a block from a subway station and had my own bathroom, all for around $1200/month.

If you are frugal, you can absolutely make NYC work.

[Nelson]

Quoted from the ask a NYU 2L thread...

I live in NJ. Both Hoboken and Jersey City are super convenient. The train takes about 12 minutes, and the stop is located about 5 minutes from NYU. Not to mention that it costs half of what NYU dorms cost. Definitely a great option that I'm surprised more people don't look into.

and..

It runs often at all times. During rush hours, it is every 5 minutes, and usually every 10 min throughout the day. At night, I believe it extends to every 15 min, but it is usually less than that. I don't think I've ever actually waited 15 min for a train except a few times on Saturdays. Best part is that it runs 24 hours a day and is cheaper than a subway ride.

Yeah PATH to NYU is not undoable if you're close to a station. But don't count on massive discounts from Manhattan prices on apartments that are right next to stations in NJ. If it was that easy to find cheap convenient apts close to New York, everyone would do it.

[Blessedassurance]

From Hoboken, you can get to NYU (train and walking time included) in about 20 minutes.

Oh thanks. sounds pretty reasonable to me.

[Nelson]

When I visited UChicago this weekend the person who took me around said they spend about $1500/month in Chicago. My two friends live on the Gold Coast and they have great apartments for around $1300/month. I have no doubt that they all live in much nicer environments than I do, but I live in a pretty safe, pretty hip area of South Brooklyn, I'm 20 minutes from NYU (and about 40 minutes from Columbia) and I pay $700/month. When I lived in Manhattan I could walk to NYU law in 15 minutes, lived in the hip LES/East Village area, was a block from a subway station and had my own bathroom, all for around $1200/month.

If you are frugal, you can absolutely make NYC work.

I agree with everything you said in your post, but I think you'd admit that the prices you're quoting here are only reasonable in a NYC context (1500/month for Chicago is not normal student rent). I think it's fair to say that someone trying to pare their expenses to the bone in New York vs. someone doing the same anywhere else, is going to spend significantly more. I'm spoiled from living in Philly where the housing market is so much cheaper than NYC. And if you're going to compare to Mich/UVA/Duke the comparison gets starker.

And for those interested in what prices in Hoboken and surrounding suburbs are like these days: http://newjersey.craigslist.org/apa/

[addy11]

I agree with everything you said in your post, but I think you'd admit that the prices you're quoting here are only reasonable in a NYC context (1500/month for Chicago is not normal student rent). I think it's fair to say that someone trying to pare their expenses to the bone in New York vs. someone doing the same anywhere else, is going to spend significantly more. I'm spoiled from living in Philly where the housing market is so much cheaper than NYC. And if you're going to compare to Mich/UVA/Duke the comparison gets starker.

And for those interested in what prices in Hoboken and surrounding suburbs are like these days: http://newjersey.craigslist.org/apa/

Yeah, there's no question that apples to apples, you'll save much more elsewhere. My first year out of NYC I lived in Atlanta, had a giant room, my own bathroom, a balcony, my own refrigerator, washer/dryer, was less than a mile from the city, had my own parking space and paid $500/month. That said, when you factor in how great it is to live in NYC, the $1200/month I paid was a far greater bargain in my opinion.

I was trying to say, though, that in NYC it's completely normal for people to live more ascetic lives. My parents have seen my apartments and know my rent and are like "WTF?" When people look for apartments in other cities they may actually be able to find a place in a cool, safe neighborhood, at a reasonable price, near transportation, with lots of natural light, no roaches/rats, lots of space, a nice kitchen, a doorman, no 3+ floor walk ups, washers and dryers in their apartment. In NYC you either have a trust fund or you just have to weigh some of those things against the others. You have to decide how you personally feel about desirability of location, decent price and amenities, because you will not get all three, and whatever you sacrifice you'll still be paying more than you would in any other city in the country.

I'm just saying that it's far more normal to be successful/intelligent/driven and live in sub-optimal situations in New York than in other cities. My friends who stayed in Atlanta would absolutely recoil at my apartment here, as well as the price I pay to live in it, but it's not really that different from the apartments of either the students or the businesspeople whom I'm friends with here.

[snehpets]

I was trying to say, though, that in NYC it's completely normal for people to live more ascetic lives. My parents have seen my apartments and know my rent and are like "WTF?" When people look for apartments in other cities they may actually be able to find a place in a cool, safe neighborhood, at a reasonable price, near transportation, with lots of natural light, no roaches/rats, lots of space, a nice kitchen, a doorman, no 3+ floor walk ups, washers and dryers in their apartment. In NYC you either have a trust fund or you just have to weigh some of those things against the others. You have to decide how you personally feel about desirability of location, decent price and amenities, because you will not get all three, and whatever you sacrifice you'll still be paying more than you would in any other city in the country.

I'm just saying that it's far more normal to be successful/intelligent/driven and live in sub-optimal situations in New York than in other cities. My friends who stayed in Atlanta would absolutely recoil at my apartment here, as well as the price I pay to live in it, but it's not really that different from the apartments of either the students or the businesspeople whom I'm friends with here.

Cannot deal with roaches/rats. Know they're an inevitable by-product of city life, but will seriously do whatever it takes to find the least roach/rat friendly apt in manhattan.

[addy11]

I was trying to say, though, that in NYC it's completely normal for people to live more ascetic lives. My parents have seen my apartments and know my rent and are like "WTF?" When people look for apartments in other cities they may actually be able to find a place in a cool, safe neighborhood, at a reasonable price, near transportation, with lots of natural light, no roaches/rats, lots of space, a nice kitchen, a doorman, no 3+ floor walk ups, washers and dryers in their apartment. In NYC you either have a trust fund or you just have to weigh some of those things against the others. You have to decide how you personally feel about desirability of location, decent price and amenities, because you will not get all three, and whatever you sacrifice you'll still be paying more than you would in any other city in the country.

I'm just saying that it's far more normal to be successful/intelligent/driven and live in sub-optimal situations in New York than in other cities. My friends who stayed in Atlanta would absolutely recoil at my apartment here, as well as the price I pay to live in it, but it's not really that different from the apartments of either the students or the businesspeople whom I'm friends with here.

Cannot deal with roaches/rats. Know they're an inevitable by-product of city life, but will seriously do whatever it takes to find the least roach/rat friendly apt in manhattan.

Those apartments absolutely exist, but I would recommend trying for a newer building, and nothing that is above a restaurant (especially a cheaper restaurant).

Rats are everywhere, but I have never seen/heard of one in someone's apartment. The shitty thing about roaches is that you really have no idea where they'll be... One of my friends lived in a really nice apartment in SoHo (desirable location, very close to NYU) and she had roaches, whereas my crappy apartment in the Lower East Side never had one during the two years we lived there. When you're checking places out, there's really no way to tell.

[snehpets]

Those apartments absolutely exist, but I would recommend trying for a newer building, and nothing that is above a restaurant (especially a cheaper restaurant).

Rats are everywhere, but I have never seen/heard of one in someone's apartment. The shitty thing about roaches is that you really have no idea where they'll be... One of my friends lived in a really nice apartment in SoHo (desirable location, very close to NYU) and she had roaches, whereas my crappy apartment in the Lower East Side never had one during the two years we lived there. When you're checking places out, there's really no way to tell.[/quote]

Ugh, when I lived abroad we had mice/rats in the walls so we always heard them running around. Nicest neighborhood in the city, but so disgusting.

[jellybean8]

I know housing isn't guaranteed, but does anyone know if it's reasonable to live in the dorms for 3 years? Or would it be most likely for 1Ls..

[gloriouscause]

I know housing isn't guaranteed, but does anyone know if it's reasonable to live in the dorms for 3 years? Or would it be most likely for 1Ls..

My guess (with no facts to back this up) is that you could find a way to make that work.

[kaiser]

Quoted from the ask a NYU 2L thread...

I live in NJ. Both Hoboken and Jersey City are super convenient. The train takes about 12 minutes, and the stop is located about 5 minutes from NYU. Not to mention that it costs half of what NYU dorms cost. Definitely a great option that I'm surprised more people don't look into.

and..

It runs often at all times. During rush hours, it is every 5 minutes, and usually every 10 min throughout the day. At night, I believe it extends to every 15 min, but it is usually less than that. I don't think I've ever actually waited 15 min for a train except a few times on Saturdays. Best part is that it runs 24 hours a day and is cheaper than a subway ride.

Yeah PATH to NYU is not undoable if you're close to a station. But don't count on massive discounts from Manhattan prices on apartments that are right next to stations in NJ. If it was that easy to find cheap convenient apts close to New York, everyone would do it.

Totally disagree. If you just need to rent out a room in an apartment, it can easily be found by a PATH station in NJ for half of what they charge to live by NYU. The cheapest NYU dorm is something like 1350 per month. I came across a bunch of apartments (shared, so I have a few roomeis) with a per person rate in the 600-900 range. Not everyone would do it because most kids are from far away, have no idea where to look, what neighborhoods are good, etc. So they essentially by default just choose the closest thing without much regard for cost (which would be the on-campus dorms, which are obviously convenient, but very expensive).

[curiousgeorgia]

Also something to keep in mind when debating costs is that NYU dorm pricing includes utilities, cable, internet, security guards, etc. while other housing options would need to factor these costs in on top of the rent rate.

Plus transportation, while relatively inexpensive, can add up pretty quickly. Not that this is an exorbitant cost, but it still should be taken into consideration.

[tamereth]

Also something to keep in mind when debating costs is that NYU dorm pricing includes utilities, cable, internet, security guards, etc. while other housing options would need to factor these costs in on top of the rent rate.

Plus transportation, while relatively inexpensive, can add up pretty quickly. Not that this is an exorbitant cost, but it still should be taken into consideration.

What are utility costs like up there?

[kaiser]

Also something to keep in mind when debating costs is that NYU dorm pricing includes utilities, cable, internet, security guards, etc. while other housing options would need to factor these costs in on top of the rent rate.

Plus transportation, while relatively inexpensive, can add up pretty quickly. Not that this is an exorbitant cost, but it still should be taken into consideration.

Unlimited monthly pass for path is 65 a month. So an entire academic year's worth of train costs barely even covers the difference between a single month of rent between Jersey City apartment and NYU form.