Is Columbia or Tulane better for accessing New York City internships?

Columbia is the clear choice for accessing New York City internships during the academic year. Its Morningside Heights campus places students in the city full time, so internships in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and beyond can be worked into a semester schedule rather than reserved for summer. Columbia students can also attend employer events, interviews, alumni programs, and industry panels in person with relatively little logistical friction.

Location matters most here because many NYC employers recruit on short timelines and value candidates who can meet, interview, or start part-time quickly. Columbia students can pursue roles in finance, media, technology, nonprofits, government, research, arts, and startups while taking classes, including opportunities that require regular in-office days. The university’s career offices and school-specific career services also connect students with New York employers through recruiting programs, job postings, advising, and networking events.

Columbia’s alumni base is especially useful in New York because graduates are densely represented across major industries in the city. That does not make an internship automatic, but it makes informational interviews, student organizations’ career programming, and referrals more accessible.

Tulane students can absolutely intern in New York, particularly over the summer, and its career resources and alumni network can support a targeted NYC search. But a student based in New Orleans will face more travel, fewer opportunities for semester-long in-person work, and less ability to take advantage of last-minute networking or interview invitations. For someone who sees NYC internships as a central part of college, Columbia provides a substantially more direct pipeline.