<p>-Unless you are actually living at home. it should cost your parents less if you live in Ithaca. My D2 started
college in NYC and later transferred to Cornell. She found that she spent much more money in NYC. Not only were items generally more expensive, but people routinely went out more frequently. In part this was because they did not have the option to just hang out at someone’s apartment. Because nobody there could afford private apartments; so they were economically confined to just dorm housing, with RAs, etc.This was not at NYU, but NYU might be the same.</p>
<ul>
<li>The Ithaca area is a really nice place to visit, if you go to school there that will give them an opportunity to expand their own horizons a bit and find a really nice new place to take a short vacation.</li>
</ul>
<p>As for buses, there are also Shortline and Greyhound, IIRC.</p>
<p>Maybe you can promise them you will come home some specific # times during the year, as was suggested above. (And then do it of course).</p>