Go to College in a City

I both agree and disagree, it really comes down to the person and what you want out of you college experience. I do agree with you that access to a city is hugely important for networking, job opportunities, and generally just fun/optionality. If you go to school in NYC, you have an unlimited amount of cultural and social experiences you can have. Basically you're partially a student/citizen of the city rather than just the school you go to and if you're ready to take advantage of that, you can go to conferences, networking events, etc that can all help enhance your education beyond school, which frankly, isn't always the best way to learn.

My counterargument is that the years that one goes to college, so somewhere between 18-22 are years in which students are largely still trying to 1. Figure out what they like/who they are 2. focus on studying to some extent. A more traditional college campus is a safer and easier environment for students to thrive versus a city, which can frankly be overwhelming. Yes, some students who are perhaps more extraverted or ambitious might find themselves well suited to the optionality, but for many, it's likely too much. Is it easier for an 18 year old freshman just to show up to class each day, see the same people, make friends in a dorm, and go to some on campus events and parties and enjoy that, versus someone who is living on their own (or realistically in NYC, with a group of strangers/roommates), commutes to school, and is more responsible for fending for themselves? Depends on the person. Also, brings me to another point which is money. Being a professional in a city is very different than being a student. Cities are expensive and doing everything for yourself at 18, with little to no money, is an additional challenge on top of school. On a campus, everything is provided for you, you don't have to worry as much about cleaning, cooking, repairs etc. Same goes for social events, I went to a traditional college and moved to a city directly after. I was always shocked by some of the college students eating out at restaurants I was at with my friends, or at the bars/clubs I was at. There was no way they were making enough to eat at those places, so they were either going into debt or using family money. It was also just mind boggling to me that at 19, I was drinking beers with my friends and playing FIFA whereas some of these kids were at premier nightclubs or the likes. In comparison, I almost never went out to eat during college besides fast casual types of places just because we had dining hall food and there weren't many great, high end options around. It's just a different vibe and way more costly, not to mention, it's just much more of a distraction if you're trying to balance studying with that lifestyle.

Anyways, just my quick thoughts on the situation. For the right person, yes, cities are great, you can grow up a lot faster, but I'd argue it's way better/easier if you have means and are ready to be independent and can manage your life well. For many others, there's nothing wrong with going to a good university to actually study and learn and be able to grow without dealing with various life pressures. I'm not the biggest fan of traditional education systems, but there is something to be said for learning how to buckle down and grind through some academic work and that's much easier to do on campus versus in a city. Last point I'll mention, you can really only have the college experience once, having a campus quad, going to greek parties, playing on intramural teams, etc but you can live in a city for the rest of your life.