<p>Providence is only an hour from Boston, while New Haven is at best 1 hour and 40 minutes from New York (assuming the Metro North trains run on time which is not always the case). Day trips are pretty much impossible from Providence to New York and New Haven to Boston as they are both about 3 hours from each other. Yes, New York is a more exciting city, but Boston is pretty good (especially for a college student). The extra 80 minutes you save on a roundtrip is pretty nice too and makes day trips a lot easier.</p>
<p>Also, most of the college oriented stuff in Providence is up near Brown on Thayer St. and the downtown of Providence (at least from the Main Green of Brown to the mall in the middle of downtown) is at most 10 or 15 minutes (or like from Science Hill at Yale to Pierson College).</p>