Emory vs. NYU: Which School Offers Better Access to City-Based Internships and Networking?

For internships and networking that are embedded in a major city during the academic year, NYU has the clearer advantage. Its Manhattan and Brooklyn locations put students within daily reach of employers in finance, media, publishing, technology, fashion, arts, nonprofits, and startups, making coffee chats, evening events, and part-time semester internships more practical. NYU also builds many courses, student organizations, alumni events, and career programming around New York’s professional ecosystem.

The difference is largely one of convenience and frequency. A student at NYU can often schedule an informational interview or internship shift around classes without treating it as a major commute. That proximity matters most for fields where relationship-building and repeated in-person contact are important, particularly finance, entertainment, journalism, advertising, and arts-related work.

Emory still offers serious professional access through Atlanta, a large and economically diverse city. Its strongest location-specific advantages include healthcare and public health, with connections to Emory Healthcare, as well as business, consulting, logistics, film, and growing technology opportunities. Emory students can pursue internships in Atlanta during the school year, but the campus is in the Druid Hills area rather than downtown, so opportunities typically require more intentional travel and planning than they do at NYU.

For a student whose priority is maximizing the number of city-based contacts, events, and term-time internship options across many industries, NYU’s location is more immediately useful. Emory’s Atlanta setting is especially compelling when your interests align with health, public health, research, or the Southeast business community, where its institutional relationships can be particularly meaningful.