Convenient office locations: Midtown versus Downtown

Wow. Just wow.

Seriously, if you really can't tell the difference between two offers and the only thing you have to go on is location, flip a coin.

There are so very many factors that should go into a decision, most importantly do you like the people and culture at a firm, that the question just seems ridiculous to anyone who could give you information.

As I've already mentioned, I am indifferent between offers - otherwise, I obviously would not have posed the question.

Office location does play a part in my decision because I would prefer to work in a location that either has very low commute time or is close to more affordable housing. When I go home at 3AM after working 19 hours a day, the last thing I want to do is sit on a subway for an hour before getting back to my apartment. If I can get 5 hours of sleep instead of 3 hours of sleep and 2 hours of commute, which do you think I would choose?

Then again, I'm still waiting to hear back from a number of superdays, and I may end up with an attractive enough offer where office location becomes negated.

you cant be indifferent. pick based on people or the firm/group. location should be the last of your concerns.

for example id take JPM or Leh anyday over C

if u are more specific, people on here can help you choose for the right reasons

but to answer your question, housing is cheap downtown near wall st bc it sucks and nobody wants to live there

As mentioned in one of my other threads, I would like to save a bit of money so I can spend some time in a low COL part of Asia. This means either, rent has to be low or I have to live somewhere to where I can easily commute from NJ (I can live rent-free in NJ, but it might be a hassle). I have offers or pending results from the firms that I listed, and I obviously can't make a completely informed decision until all information is finalized (also have yet to complete my most important superday, where, if I get the offer, I would definitely take it).

As of right now, I am debating b/w JPM and MER. I have strong contacts in each bank's top groups, although nothing is guaranteed.

You're less likely to go wrong if you pick Midtown because it's right in the middle of everything... restaurants, bars, galleries, shopping, public transport, near the UES/UWS, the Village, etc. You can then live just about anywhere on Manhattan and still get to work quickly (though I'd stick from about 8th to 72nd St).

From midtown, affordable yet close housing is available in the upper east side. A couple of stops on the 6 train will bring your to 51st street, which is pretty close to all the midtown investment banks. I would avoid Queens/anything further away because the cost/distance trade off doesn't work. UES has a lot of bars/restaurants at night, so you can still enjoy NYC. If you're working downtown, the financial district is relatively cheap. Don't commute from jersey, you'll be working enough hours that the additional commute/reduced social life might just make you more bitter.

The analyst position is a tough time demanding position. Live in a place where you can enjoy your life. Whether you work midtown/downtown, you can find a relatively affordable (remember it's NYC) and close apartment.

Focus on superday and worry about finding a place to live later. You've got tons of time.

Midtown for convenience to New Jersey because you can just take the path train at the 34th street station or even grand central.

Ah... thanks! The Path Train, that's the one I was thinking of. (Not Hoboken... doh. Don't know where I got that from). I stayed at a friends place over winter (who lives in NJ, hence living rent-free) and I would take the path-train in every morning. It didn't seem too bad over winter, but then again, I wasn't going home at 2AM and going in at 8AM... I'm sure w/ banking hours, I would probably prefer something within a few minutes, preferably walking distance (despite the trade-off w/ waived rent). I'll try to visit the city and do some due diligence to make a more informed decision.

honestly, commuting would be terrible. i live 45 minutes - 1 hr outside of the city via train but when i intern in the summers i suck it up and pay rent there. it doesnt make sense if you get a call saying ' we need you to come in ' to go find a train, high tail it there, and then possibly not have a train home depending on how late you're working. don't live in new jersey, find cheap housing (under 3000 for the summer) and consider yourself lucky. they pay the relocation bonus, and i know you want to save up to be in asia, but you also want to sleep and not be traveling further than that 10 min cab ride you can expense.

CityGirl - thanks for advice. I was leaning towards living in the city anyway, as I'd imagined that the commute would be brutal.

Still deciding b/w NY and Asia... I am heavily leaning towards NY because Asia seems too IPO-centric, although subsidized housing is quite tempting....

I spend an hour+ commuting each day now and I HATE IT. Yes, some people have worse commutes, and yes I've actually had worse commutes before too, but 5-10 minutes vs. an hour each day makes a huge difference, especially when you have 18 hour workdays.

If everything else about the offers is truly identical, I would go with the shortest commute time one, even if the housing is a bit more expensive.

Going out is actually not nearly as relevant as you think, because most of the time you will be so exhausted you just want to sleep on weekends. No models and bottles for you.

A shorter commute time will have a way bigger impact on your life than any of the other factors, unless the cost is $3,000/month vs. $1,500/month or something.

I highly recommend NOT living in the same neighborhood or nearby where you work. As long as you're within 20 mins commute to the office (very doable almost anywhere in manhattan) the psychological benefit of being able to go "home", i.e. someplace other than work even if it's only for a few hours a day, is priceless.

boss8, maybe for FT, but for SA, I feel that I want to be as close to the office as possible, as 1.) I will probably get called in a lot, even when I'm at home, and 2.) I will probably be working more hrs than FT and would like to minimize commute to maximize sleep. I just did a bit of reading... didn't realize that NYU had dorms scattered all over Manhattan. The downtown Water St. one or the Palladium one seem like a good ideas...

I completely did not ask about housing when I got the offer. I am supposed to get the paperwork sometime this week (hopefully), which might clarify some of my questions. I just spoke with one of my friends who did LEH last year. He told me that LEH set up a hotel for all of its summers. Can anyone tell me which firms do this? There was another thread that said that ML also has housing set up for interns. I'm considering signing up for NYU housing, but would like to review the paperwork and possible housing policies before making a deposit.

ML and many other banks have arrangements w/ NYU for summer housing

As NYU housing fills up quickly, do I need to apply for the housing separately (in which case, I would submit my immediately) or are there spots reserved specifically for the firm? If I were to accept Merrill, I would want to live in a single in the Water St. facility. I know that singles are hard to get; is there any benefit to preemptively applying to maximize the likelihood of getting a single? Or does the firm get a discounted rate through its agreement with NYU, in which case I should wait for the paperwork? Thanks...

If you're with ML - you're almost guaranteed to be put in the Water St. facility. They'll reserve spots for their interns, but getting a single is more of an issue. If you're that dead set on getting a single, go ahead and apply separately. You can get a full refund up until a month or so before you're set to move in.

Why dead set on the single? You're hardly ever there, and you'll get to know another SA in another group. Not to mention you'll save a pretty good sum of money.

nystateofmind beat me to it, PowerMonkey's got you well covered here.

Also, sure it largely depends on group but across several, our SAs didnt really work over the weekend (maybe once or twice the entire summer? and certainly not the whole day). I wouldnt be too concerned about missing weekends too much. And an "easy" friday should be more than enough recovery time for you considering your age.

I second the "close as possible" if you expect to be working a lot, but either way dont go over a 15-20 commute unless youre a very patient person and you dont require much sleep to function (in which case you WILL be using the weekends to rest up), it really is the breaking point for being on a subway/train. 25min max.

Lastly, dont worry about shopping, nightlife, etc. All of that is very accessible once youre in essential Manhattan. You should get excited though. You have a great opp here. To experience NYC first hand for a couple of months AND boost your resume/future earning power by working at a bulge bracket. A lot of people dont get to do that at your age. Be very diligent expense-wise about picking an apartment, but after that make sure you live it up. Dont have any regrets come summer's end.

I guess it's not essential that I get a single... saving $750 would be nice (assuming that firms don't get a discount from NYU). Nonetheless, a triple (I'm assuming means 3 people to 1 room and not 3 separate rooms in a suite) seems a bit crowded to me (not sure how big NYU dorms are though).

It just seems that a single would be nice to come home to, have some free time to myself, relax for a bit, spend time with the girlfriend, family might visit, etc. I enjoy meeting other people, but for me, it's difficult never having any alone time.

Side question: For people who have summered (or familiar with the SA process) how much time did you actually spend at home/out of the office?