Just starting out

good luck with your schooling

If you want to live outside the city but go to school in the city, you should move somewhere along the Path (commuter train) line in New Jersey. It's fairly expensive to commute to the city from Westchester or LI.

What I would really like is to live outside the city but be close enough to visit during down time. I have two daughters ages 6 and 2. I'm really concerned about their safety and I am not sure I could get that peace of mind in the city, but I would love for them to still be able to experience the culture the city has to offer. I grew up in a small town and like the sense of security that it has. Do you know of any smaller cities around New York City with great nursing programs?

I'm not really familiar with programs in NJ but maybe you can ask in the NJ discussion group.

Check out the SUNY schools. There are number of schools surrounding NYC. I'm not sure how close they are to the city but if you would just like access occasionally on the weekends then you could probably live an hour or more away. Go to Welcome to SUNY - The State University of New York. Then click "Visit a Campus". It shows a map of all the SUNY schools. Not all of them have nursing programs but many of them do. Hope this helps.

You may also want to consider Baltimore - it has a small town feel and is only a 2 - hour train ride (or 3 hour drive) to NYC with lots of nursing options. Additionally, you have easy access to Philadelphia and DC...

Thanks you guys, that is all really good advice.

Check out Stony Brook University on Long Island. Stony Brook has a really small town feel but you can take the Long Island Rail Road into the city in about an hour and a half.