I would like to move to NY for reasons. Doesn’t have to be the city, thought in or near (or generally metropolitan) preferred, and I would like to move as soon as realistically and feasibly possible (I’m not getting rid of all my shit, hopping on a plane, and arriving in NYC, even if that is as soon as possible).
I’m not really sure how to do this. I know I need to look into apartments or places to stay in general, and also look into getting a job once I’m up there or before I arrive. I am currently in college, so I would also need to look into colleges to transfer into. The thing is, I don’t know where to start looking. I mean, sure I could look up “apartments in NY” and “community colleges in NY” but the internet is AI generated nowadays and listicles and apartments.com doesn’t give the whole story. When I moved into my current city, I asked for advice and suggestions on Reddit and got a lot of help (been staying in the same apartment complex for the last 4 years that someone from there recommended actually), so I figured, fuck it let me do the same here.
I guess my more solid questions would be:
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What apartments should I look into? Any suggestions for it?
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What colleges should I check out that would be covered by FAFSA and offer bachelors in Computer Science or related (tangentially or otherwise) fields?
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I’m aware that NY in general is a more expensive state in cost-of-living but I’ve heard wages there are also higher. Would I be able to exist there off a part-time or full-time retail/food-service job? Also, I do currently have an Associate’s degree, would I be able to get a better paying job through that or is it not enough?
Any other advice would be very much appreciated, and if I come up with more questions I’ll edit them in ig.
I would say to not move to nyc for the sake of moving there. It sounds like you’re trying to force your life to fit into the idea. If you’re still hell bent on it, you’ll need to make some friends first that will let you move into their apartment ( so room mates), until then, the rest of your list does not really matter. You will have a really hard time trying to juggle going to school, working and affording a life.
Ya know, that’s a completely fair analysis. Tbh I probably am trying to force it, I just quite like the idea of living in a massive sprawling city and Mamdani. In general I want to get the fuck out of the country, but since that likely won’t happen for a while, I want to at least move to a decent city in a decent state.
Mamdani is for sure drawing in even more people.
I would say you are not familiar with the city and if you have any connections at all, start by finding people who will let you couch surf so you start getting the lay of the land and the feel for the different boroughs.
If you really have no money you’ll probably end up living in the worse parts of the Bronx or Brooklyn, which can be dicey. The places to most people want to be are Midtown (Manhattan), Williamsburg (Brooklyn) or Astoria (Queens) and they can be very pricey.
A lot of people are being priced out and now moving to Jersey City, which is very close by to Manhattan. Depending on what school you go to, living in Jersey may rule you out for certain types of aid for living outside of the state. I had college mates that went this route, they eventually dropped their chance at aid and all roomed together in Hoboken. Keep in mind a con with public transport between states is that it costs more.
I’ve heard a lot of people live in Jersey and commute to NYC for work. This is all solid advice though! Thanks
It feels like a reasonable goal, especially for someone in OP’s assumed age range. The question just comes across as someone who hasn’t had too much experience in planning this kind of move, which fair enough that very few people would have that much experience with and it is a sign of maturity that OP is asking the question.
If OP goes with the college first approach, it will likely help narrow down answers to other questions they have.
The thing is many people want to come to new york. Colleges are very particular about handing out free money given the amount of people who apply. I’ve seen many people come on a whim and having a bad time. Even if you get aid there is no guarantee you’ll keep getting it each semester and you could wind up in a bit of a bind.
For reference, I am in my mid 20s, and the most experience I have with this kind of move is moving from my parent’s rural house to a much, much smaller city than NY. Though, college first approach is a good point. I do already have my associate’s and not many credits left in my bachelor’s (I think another year?), but I have no career experience in my chosen field and finding good internships in my area is basically impossible because there are no internships in my area really.