If you could do it all over again, which city would you move to out of undergrad?

Hey there, I am completing my undergrad in Montreal - and grew up in a small town in N.H, therefore my exposure to U.S cities is relatively limited.

I’m actively recruiting for strategy consulting (off cycle) and NYC seems to be the hub, while Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston tail just behind.

While working in NYC sounds like a great experience - I’m curious to know the opinions of people who have actually done it.

In terms of compensation to cost of living, lifestyle opportunity, B school attractiveness, and overall standard of living which city would you choose if you had the opportunity to do it over again?

Any and all advice is welcome, thank you in advance.

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I would've gone to Chicago. I know hindsight is 20/20, but I do regret not living in NYC/Chicago in my early-20s when I was more comfortable living in shittier apartments and with roommates. I chose to maximize savings/sq foot of rent, which has certainly been extremely beneficial now since I'm sitting on a sizable net worth from the bull market run we had, despite having a relatively crappy job compared to most on this forum, versus going where I had more friends and a bigger network. IME, you can always make more money, but you never get back time, especially your youth, and I think I would have had a lot more fun living in cities like NYC/Chicago/LA/SF where I knew a lot more people and that have a more type-A crowd on average than I did living in a luxury 1BDR in the Southeast. No hate on the SE, but it just wasn't for me, personally. 

Frankly, I'm kind of doing my 30s wrong because I'm thinking about taking some of the savings I have accumulated last deacde and NOW considering going to a bigger city. 

 

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