NewYork, Florida, Virginia - where would you go?

[PussyCatDoll]

i'm still in the early thoughts of doing my last year abroad. my choices are:

hunters college - NY
uni. of miami - Florida
Uni. of richmond - Virginia

which is the best? i'm doing chemistry based course.
which city is better? what are they like? if i decide to go i'll be out there from september- january.

anyone live round these states? is NY really that ghetto? i would love to see NY at christmas.

[DoesntMatter]

Yeah I live in New York, from Rochester but live in Ithaca (college)

If by NY you mean the city, NYC is a lot less ghetto than say Rochester or the non-tourist Niagara Falls. NYC is actually quite nice except for the arrogant / annoying people

[PussyCatDoll]

ithaca from american pie? lol

manhattan NY is where the college is.

[DoesntMatter]

Ithaca as in Ithaca NY lol

Haha Manhattan is not ghetto

[PussyCatDoll]

well whats it like?
how are the schools?
is it really congested?
and does it snow quite bad?

[DoesntMatter]

The school is good, I go to Cornell University and we're ranked about 12th internationally overall but our strengths are in the sciences and engineering (such as our engineering physics programs which are ranked 1)

We get a lot less snow than Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, etc, because of being so far from Lake Ontario / Erie. It was funny when people saw a 6 inch snowfall for the first time

During winter the high is usually in the upper 20s and low in the mid to low teens, but it can get into the 40s or even 50s and can dip below -10

In the summer it can get into the 90s and stay there, such as this last August and September it was in the 90s quite a bit

It is not congested. Of course Manhattan will be congested, but that is because it's a city

[PussyCatDoll]

whats there to see in NY? apart from Niagra falls.

what i know about America is what I've seen from the movies and heard from you guys.

[DoesntMatter]

Where are you from?

[PussyCatDoll]

England

[DoesntMatter]

Well most of the US has better weather I can tell you that right now lol

But you ask what there is to see in NY... A lot

In NYC there is a huge list of tourist attractions, like the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Chinatown, Empire State Building, Brooklyn Bridge, etc. You can go to a Broadway show, visit lots of different restaurants, go to clubs if that's your thing, etc...

Upstate you can go to the Adirondacks (mountains) and camp. Or stay in a hotel and hike during the day, go fishing, bird watch, canoe, go to a water park during the summer, ski during the winter.

In the Ithaca (Fingerlakes) region there are a lot of wineries that you can visit

Rochester doesn't have much for tourists because the city was built on engineers working for Kodak, Xerox, and Bausch and Lomb and doesn't give a shit about tourists

Buffalo has the best chicken wings on this earth. The quality of wings decreases exponentially as you get farther from Buffalo. Buffalo is like 10 minutes from Niagara Falls and Canada. In Orchard Park of Buffalo the Buffalo Bills (American football) team plays

The Erie Canal runs through my town, I never thought anything of it but some people have heard of it and wanted pictures when they came here, idk....

And then you can just do things normal people do. Go to a paintball place, the movies, some event or festival, etc..

[PussyCatDoll]

wow thanks DM

[GrkScorp]

i'm still in the early thoughts of doing my last year abroad. my choices are:

hunters college - NY
uni. of miami - Florida

Uni. of Miami has great-looking girls, for some reason the state doesn't have that many good-looking guys.. strange..

The Hunter College area is great.. it's expensive though, not the college, but the area is Lexington Ave, Park Ave, 68th Street.. Short of Fashion, Madison, Broadway, or 5th Ave; Lex & Park are of the more famous and popular hot-spots in NYC.. Crime rates are practically zero around that area.. (I'm on 63rd & 3rd which isn't too far away, about a 3 to 4 minute walk)..

I'm not sure how the "chemistry" program is at Hunter College, although they have a great Pre-Med/Pre-Dental program under "Biochemistry".. but I think the Biochemistry major is probably under the Chemistry department anyway.. They have connections and contacts with the school of Public Health, and the school of Nursing.. and I know Hunter's alumni network is friendly with NYU..

As far as what there is to do around that area.. Anything short of going to the beach.. Some of the world's top chefs are found in NYC, from quiet places like the Boathouse in the middle of Central Park, to Tao, to an endless list of steak-houses, french/italian places, sushi, or asian fusion.. Go over to Broadway to see a play, visit one of the many art galleries or museums, go down and get lost in the Financial capital of the world; Wall Street.. or if landmarks is your thing, you can explore them to your heart's content.. coffee shops, cafe'/lounges, book stores, music stores, any company you want, they have a store that you can go into, Manhattan is shopper's heaven..

The older-crowd is usually a mix of, for guys, successful doctors, investment bankers, corporate lawyers, partners of accounting or law firms, dentists, or business owners.. When we're talking about the arrogant crowd, this is who we're talking about.. for women, the arrogant crowd is composed of magazine editors, fashion designers, and you guessed it.. models.. NYC is full of them.. These are people in the Upper-East/West side, that's the Hunter College area.. (All earning $500,000+ annually, so the prices directly around Hunter College reflect that.. $10 for a salad, $7 for a coffee, $9 for a drink, and those are just the cheap places, without tax.. Forget the $1,000 bagle with white truffles, or paying $18 for a 375ml bottle of water at Level V, or $126 for a bottle of designer water at a water tasting boutique.. let's not talk about Real-Estate prices, we get the idea).. This is why this area is also a celebrity favorite.. no, your eyes aren't fooling you, that's really ____.. walking his/her dog, eating next to you, or shopping at the iPod store..

The younger crowd in terms of guys is a group of students, musicians, actors, and artists; aswell as upcomming models.. That's a little further away from Hunter, more towards down-town.. Ludlow Street, South-Street Seaport, Chelsea, Soho, St. Mark's Place..

It's a social playground, a shopping heaven, a financial capital, and art & entertainment powerhouse, and landmark & history gold-mine.. and with a Starbucks on every other corner, you'll never run out of coffee in the hours before the exam..

But that's NYC for you..

[IndiReloaded]

Hi PCD,

I've been to all of the places you mention. Also England

I would agree w/DM that NYC is your best choice. In addition to all he mentioned, its also relatively close to places like Boston, Cape Cod, etc if you want to escape the city.

Manhattan is nice (tho very crowded & expensive to live). I dunno the college you mention, but the Rockerfeller Institute is close & the museums, nightlife, culture... a wonderful experience for a visiting student.

Florida & Virginia will require you get a car if you want to go anywhere interesting. Not so for NYC. Hope this helps.

[PussyCatDoll]

thanks for all your help guys.
first of all i need permission from my head of depratment which is currently pending.

secondly if i get it, accomodation is not provided. so if NY is really expensive i may have to pass on it.

[Illusional]

shit, i thought you were going to travel... heck i haven't got the slightest clues about which colleges are great for chemistry. however, i would go to new york because it's somewhere that i want to travel to.

raverboy