Party > Career?

So I'm about to graduate and I have an offer for a good FT position. The problem is I'd have to move back to my boring hometown to take it. I think I'm going to turn it down and find a lesser position here so I can live up my early 20's. Anyone else in the mindset of fun over work? I mean, you only get one chance at being young.

14 Comments
 
HoogersSo I'm about to graduate and I have an offer for a good FT position. The problem is I'd have to move back to my boring hometown to take it. I think I'm going to turn it down and find a lesser position here so I can live up my early 20's. Anyone else in the mindset of fun over work? I mean, you only get one chance at being young.

Early 20s is a great time to sacrifice a bit of fun, since odds are you won't be getting laid much anyway.

 

I took another $80k or so in student loans to ditch my shitty hometown/state and go to school in a fun city (NYC). Still don't have an internship lined up for the summer but I have 0 regrets. I'd rather have a mediocre job here than live in the DC-metro area again (shudder).

 
JDawgI took another $80k or so in student loans to ditch my shitty hometown/state and go to school in a fun city (NYC). Still don't have an internship lined up for the summer but I have 0 regrets. I'd rather have a mediocre job here than live in the DC-metro area again (shudder).

You don't need to pay that kind of money to go to a party school. Try almost anything in Texas or the south east. However, if your primary goal is to work in NY then that is a good plan.

 
Best Response
JDawgI took another $80k or so in student loans to ditch my shitty hometown/state and go to school in a fun city (NYC). Still don't have an internship lined up for the summer but I have 0 regrets. I'd rather have a mediocre job here than live in the DC-metro area again (shudder).

nyc/profile says ivy league. you go to columbia then? trust me bud, after 4 years at columbia, if you hadnt spent every other night in butler, you would've explored 50-70% of nyc, that and including up to governors island where we decided to randomly go to once and most of the subways and other stuff smell like shit...then you graduate and see your options: 75k in nyc which is actually about 45k elsewhere, or 75k in DC and actually be able to afford your own condo and have a better life. and if you still miss nyc, just take the amtrak there on the weekends (4 hour ride...dont sleep one night and sleep on the train...it'll be over before ya know it) to party it up with old college pals. if you dont have the time for that, then you wont have the time to enjoy nyc as a professional there either. just my 2 cents. i took a FT offer in NYC even though i was offered 30% more at a DC private equity firm that does defense contracts. kind of regretting it, esp seeing an old buddy of mine make less than me but he moved to DC and rents a sweet 3 floor townhouse with a small "movie room" in georgetown (just him and his gf!) and pay the same as me in rent... you know, at one time in NYC i shared my apartment with FOUR fucking flatmates splitting the rent to be able to afford the kind of luxury we wanted... elsewhere in DC with that kind of money, we can rent a super nice place overlooking the potamac or one of those high rises near tysons corner either by ourselves or with a girlfriend...none of that roommate crap. I felt like I was fucking back in college again, at a time when friends from high school are already taking out mortgages on houses in NoVA and I'm living like a frat boy sharing a room in nyc despite the fact that I work harder and earn more and yet, I can afford less due to being in NYC... im sure some hard partiers would love this kind of setup but i figured it's time for me to move on from the whole "college-suite-style" living concept.

so tldr version: don't limit your options to only nyc, esp if you're already gonna spend 4 years in college there. you'll understand it when you're 30 or 40. I'm already regretting not taking up a better offer in a more affordable city. Can always move to NYC when you've become a rockstar elsewhere and actually have the $$$$$$ to enjoy the city and I'm not just talking about the plethora of free concerts, art museums or what some people say "rich cultural experience any starving artist can afford enjoy." I'm not talking about that shit. I'm talking about REALLY enjoying NYC and having a higher standard of living. you can still fuck hot babes or drink to your hearts desire in DC or any other major hub or city.

 
NotaJackass
JDawgI took another $80k or so in student loans to ditch my shitty hometown/state and go to school in a fun city (NYC). Still don't have an internship lined up for the summer but I have 0 regrets. I'd rather have a mediocre job here than live in the DC-metro area again (shudder).

nyc/profile says ivy league. you go to columbia then? trust me bud, after 4 years at columbia, if you hadnt spent every other night in butler, you would've explored 50-70% of nyc, that and including up to governors island where we decided to randomly go to once and most of the subways and other stuff smell like shit...then you graduate and see your options: 75k in nyc which is actually about 45k elsewhere, or 75k in DC and actually be able to afford your own condo and have a better life. and if you still miss nyc, just take the amtrak there on the weekends (4 hour ride...dont sleep one night and sleep on the train...it'll be over before ya know it) to party it up with old college pals. if you dont have the time for that, then you wont have the time to enjoy nyc as a professional there either. just my 2 cents. i took a FT offer in NYC even though i was offered 30% more at a DC private equity firm that does defense contracts. kind of regretting it, esp seeing an old buddy of mine make less than me but he moved to DC and rents a sweet 3 floor townhouse with a small "movie room" in georgetown (just him and his gf!) and pay the same as me in rent... you know, at one time in NYC i shared my apartment with FOUR fucking flatmates splitting the rent to be able to afford the kind of luxury we wanted... elsewhere in DC with that kind of money, we can rent a super nice place overlooking the potamac or one of those high rises near tysons corner either by ourselves or with a girlfriend...none of that roommate crap. I felt like I was fucking back in college again, at a time when friends from high school are already taking out mortgages on houses in NoVA and I'm living like a frat boy sharing a room in nyc despite the fact that I work harder and earn more and yet, I can afford less due to being in NYC... im sure some hard partiers would love this kind of setup but i figured it's time for me to move on from the whole "college-suite-style" living concept.

so tldr version: don't limit your options to only nyc, esp if you're already gonna spend 4 years in college there. you'll understand it when you're 30 or 40. I'm already regretting not taking up a better offer in a more affordable city. Can always move to NYC when you've become a rockstar elsewhere and actually have the $$$$$$ to enjoy the city and I'm not just talking about the plethora of free concerts, art museums or what some people say "rich cultural experience any starving artist can afford enjoy." I'm not talking about that shit. I'm talking about REALLY enjoying NYC and having a higher standard of living. you can still fuck hot babes or drink to your hearts desire in DC or any other major hub or city.

From what I understand, the DC Metro and NoVA area is just as expensive if not more expensive than NYC. Of course, NYC is large if you're not strictly talking about Manhattan.

Although there's an incredibly high standard of living in NoVA compared to Manhattan.

 
HoogersSo I'm about to graduate and I have an offer for a good FT position. The problem is I'd have to move back to my boring hometown to take it. I think I'm going to turn it down and find a lesser position here so I can live up my early 20's. Anyone else in the mindset of fun over work? I mean, you only get one chance at being young.

Take the better offer, perform well and leverage it into a position in your desired location. Eventually you need to get out of college mode, and a good time to start is when you leave college.

"For I am a sinner in the hands of an angry God. Bloody Mary full of vodka, blessed are you among cocktails. Pray for me now and at the hour of my death, which I hope is soon. Amen."
 

Take the best offer you can get right now. If you take a mediocre job so you can party it up for a while, you're putting yourself at a severe disadvantage for the rest of your career. Having fun during your 20s is what b-school is for. Either that or get a few years of good work experience, save up some money, and go work for a startup you like for a year or two.

In addition, you just spent the last fucking four years in college having fun/living it up, so... really?

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

So my story is that I'm from NOVA, went to school in Virginia, and am doing a 3 semester Master's at Columbia. If I were to be spending 4 years of undergrad here then yea it might be different.

I didn't live it up during undergrad so I'm still in that fraternity mindset. NYC is IMO the best place for that lifestyle. It feels like one giant vibrant campus. I'd rather share a tiny dorm-room like apartment here with 4 other people than live in a mansion in the middle of nowhere. DC isn't the middle of nowhere obviously, but compared to NYC it's dull and the people are more monolithic. The metro closes at midnight on weekdays and 3am on Fri/Sat and everything is more spread out.

Ok I'll be honest, I haven't gone out to a lot of the fun places in DC so maybe I'm not in a position to judge. Also I've never truly lived in DC, just in the suburbs at my parents' house. But out of all the cities I've been to, NYC is the only one where I've truly felt that I could spend the rest of my life, or at least youth, living in. I love being able to hop on the subway to go anywhere at anytime and being able to strike up a conversation with any stranger (read: hot girl) knowing that I'll probably never see them again. It's more cosmopolitan so the people are more interesting. The energy here is unparalleled, and everyone I've talked to has said the same thing.

For someone like your friend who has a gf and wants to settle down, a bigger apartment/house in a lower cost of living city is prob ideal. But for someone like me who's just looking to meet/fuck as many girls as possible, I can't think of a city better than NYC.

 

Dude. DC is one of the most fun cities to be in during your 20's. I love to visit DC.

DC is full of people in their 20's trying to make a career in business, politics, etc.

And its also full of young idealistic chicks if you get my drift.

Just don't live with your parents and find someone who doesn't suck to show you the hotspots.

 
JDawgBut for someone like me who's just looking to meet/fuck as many girls as possible, I can't think of a city better than NYC.
This is all I care about doing right now, and in my mid-sized FL city I've been cleaning up. That's why I turned down the offer. I'm thinking now about moving over to Sydney (since I'm a citizen of there as well) and just hoping a job falls into place while partying and meeting Australian girls.
 

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