NYC is quite an adjustment coming from the Pittsburgh area, but it is well worth it. Be sure to read New York Magazine which will be in your university library.

I went to a college with a campus in Pennsylvania and all there was to do was drink beer. It was limited and boring after a while. The guys were not interested in dating. They just wanted to pick up girls at parties and girls would get a reputation if they did this too many times. I went to grad school in NYC, so I know about the campus situation. My NYC schools did offer social experiences such as lectures and I got to hear some of the most famous people in the world speak.

NYC is a gold mine. It takes years to experience all of it. Most of the colleges there are just like business buildings because the land is valuable, so you could go to Baruch for a few years and then live on a college campus. The advantage of going to a commuter school is that all of the students are on equal footing with you. Where I went in Pennsylvania, the commuters were left out of the picture.

Everyone is stuffed into a small apartment in New York City and they pay more in rent than I do for my huge house out in the boonies. New York City is so fascinating that it is in demand and therefore, people are squished in. The time in life to sacrifice space and experience the city is when you are single. You’ll probably want more room when you have a family.

As for getting along with your mother, keep as clear of her space as possible. There are free libraries all over NYC and you can spend time in these.

Best of luck.

You are going about this right in that you are comparing all of your pros and cons. But, hoping someone here can make the decision for you is probably not in your own best interests.

My first reaction was to pick the school with the smaller classes, but that’s a pretty heavy commute, and I know PA in the winter can be messy.

Have you picked a major? Does one offer a better curriculum than the other?

Where do you think you would like to work when you graduate? If either location then that school should get more points in the pro column as many schools have an inside line on area jobs.