I'll be in NYC in July with my 17-year old son to visit Julliard and Manhattan School of Music. We've been to the city before to do the theater/tourist thing, so this time I want to do something different. Any suggestions for things to do that would help him see what it's like to live in the NYC as a student (should he be so lucky...)?

Take away all his money.

Just kidding.

What about trying to stay in student accommodations for him?

If you are touring both schools, you will probably get a tour of the dorms which are actually right at Julliard and the views from the dorm rooms are city views the rooms are so high.

Manhattan School also has dorms close to the main building which is uptown just above Columbia so it is very much a collge town area.

There are a few hotels on the upper west side, I'd suggest trying to get reservations close to the schools, so you can get a feeling for the area.

Have a great time while you are here.

My 2 best friends graduated from Julliard and neither of them ever had the cash to hang out in the Lincoln Center area when they were students; it's a pretty pricey neighborhood.

How about if you head downtown to the places where students congregate such as Broadway around NYU. Also, the people who show you around the schools will probably have a few suggestions about where is 'in' these days.

Carol
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Since both schools are uptown I agree on srtaying on the upper west side.(Lucern is quite nice, Beacon more modest and Newton fairly budgety.) Granted downtown is more trendy - but students don;t spend 90% of their time hanging out - and there are a lot of uptown places thst are primarily for students as well. (We stroll up Broadway often to try casuale new places to eat - and once you hit 104/5th or so - many are mobbed with students.)

If you haven;t done the backstage tour at Lincoln Center do that - and see some performances there (many rehearsals are open to the public at very limited cost).

Also be sure to spend some time in central Park - that many students use for running or biking.

But do spend some time downtown too - trendier I admit - and he;lk be going there sometime.

Check out New York Magazine and Time Out New York websites just before you come to see what else is going on - musically or otherwise.

When you visit the schools, talk to as many students as possible and ask THEM where they hang out. Not likely that they trek all the way down to NYU; the end of Broadway up near Columbia has a student culture (restaurants, bookstores, etc.) of its own.