This could be of interest to students considering any college in New York and thinking of getting an apartment either as a Freshman or after their first year.
http://kirramagazine.com/the-first-timers-guide-to-renting-an-apartment-in-new-york-city/
For anyone reading that article, I just wanted to note that the writer chose by far the most expensive way possible to acquire an apartment in the city. It is very doable to find a nice apartment without broker’s fees and real estate fees if you network well and use craigslist/facebook groups/no-fee companies like myspacenyc. It might be a little more work, but you save a substantial sum of money.
The article does make a distinction between fee and no fee apartments so I wouldn’t say the op chose the most expensive way. The article does a good job of outlining all of the possibilities and fees associated regardless of which path you want to take. I moved out of dorms after my first year at NYU and have split rental apartments with roommates for the past 6 years. When I was dorming I was paying $1800/month to split a room, while with an apartment I was consistently able to have my own room in a luxury building with amenities and quick transportation for $1100-$1500/month.
Every luxury apartment has its own leasing office so they are a quick way to by pass broker fees. If you have difficulty with finding luxury buildings, then you can check out sites like nybits, streeteasy, renthop, etc. or work with a broker and tell them you are looking exclusively at no fee or luxury buildings.