Newark is just a short train ride away from Manhattan.  If you take the PATH train at Penn Station, you'll be in Manhattan in just 20 minutes. Or if you prefer to drive to Manhattan, you'll only need to travel 10 miles. You can see the NYC skyline prominently from the NJIT campus. 

But you might want to stay in Newark - a vibrant city that houses five colleges: NJIT, Rutgers, UMDNJ, Seton Hall Law School and Essex County College. You might consider eating out in the city's Ironbound neighborhood - a daisy chain of Portuguese and Brazilian restaurants.  Students love the ample portions of delicious inexpensive food served in these unpretentious and warm-hearted restaurants. 

You might visit the Prudential Center for a ball game or a concert. Or visit NJ PAC for a concert or a play.  Or visit Bear's Stadium to see a baseball game. 

If you are artistically inclined, you can rent a loft relatively cheaply in an old industrial neighborhood. Or if you want deeper roots, you can buy a condo in one of the new high-rise buildings emerging downtown.  Newark is a city in the nascent stage of gentrification: art galleries and cafes, restaurants and nightclubs are emerging.  If you are an architect or an artist, you'll delight in restoring the old industrial buildings or row houses.  And if you are a business person or a business owner, you can prosper by investing in Newark, which, according to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed essay, has the most valuable land in America.