You’re watching The Summer I Turned Pretty, and suddenly everyone is talking about Finch College. It sounds like the perfect, sun-drenched academic escape. Naturally, you grab your phone to look it up. But here is the thing: if you try to plug the address into Google Maps to visit the campus today, you’re going to be pretty disappointed.
Honestly, the "where" of Finch College is a bit of a trick question. Depending on who you ask, it’s either a fictional paradise for TV characters or a ghost of New York City’s elite past.
Where is Finch College Located? (The Real History)
If you’re looking for the historical institution, Finch College was located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Specifically, the campus was nestled on East 78th Street, between Madison and Park Avenues.
This wasn't your typical sprawling university with a quad and a stadium. It was quintessential New York. The college was essentially a collection of elegant townhouses. Imagine high ceilings, winding staircases, and the kind of quiet luxury that defined the 10021 zip code in the mid-20th century.
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It started in 1900 as the Finch School, a "finishing school" for the daughters of the ultra-wealthy. We're talking about a time when Jessica Garretson Finch, the founder, wanted to make sure society girls actually knew how to do something. By 1952, it had transitioned into a proper four-year liberal arts college for women.
What happened to the campus?
The school officially shuttered its doors in 1976. Why? A mix of things. The rise of co-education meant women were heading to Ivy League schools that previously barred them. Financial struggles hit hard. Today, if you walk past those old townhouses on 78th Street, you won't see Finch banners. Most of the former campus is now occupied by the Ramaz School, a private preparatory school.
The "Other" Finch College: The Summer I Turned Pretty
Here is where the confusion starts for most people lately. If you’re searching for "where is Finch College" because of Jeremiah Fisher or Belly Conklin, you’re looking for a place that doesn't actually exist.
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In the world of The Summer I Turned Pretty, Finch is portrayed as a real university where the characters head off to start their adult lives. It looks beautiful on screen, but it’s a fictional creation by author Jenny Han.
- The Show’s Location: The scenes at "Finch" in the series were actually filmed at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW).
- The Vibe: The show captures that classic East Coast collegiate feel, which leads many to assume it's a real school in Virginia or North Carolina.
- The Reality: While the show uses the name of a real defunct NYC college, the fictional version is its own entity entirely.
Why Does Finch College Still Matter?
It’s easy to dismiss a school that’s been closed for nearly 50 years, but Finch wasn't just some obscure basement school. It was a powerhouse for women’s leadership at a time when that was rare.
You’ve probably heard of some of their alumni. Tricia Nixon Cox (daughter of Richard Nixon) went there. So did Isabella Rossellini, the iconic actress and model. Even Lilly Pulitzer, the queen of prep fashion, was a Finch girl.
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The school was famous for the "Finch Intercontinental Study Plan," which was basically study abroad on steroids. In the 1960s, they were sending students all over the globe to live and learn in different cultures, which was incredibly progressive for the era.
How to "Visit" Finch Today
Since you can't exactly enroll or take a tour, how do you experience the legacy?
- The Upper East Side Walk: You can still walk 78th Street. The architecture remains stunning. Standing between Madison and Park, you can easily picture the students from the 50s and 60s stepping out of those townhouses.
- The Museum Legacy: Finch was home to the Finch College Museum of Art. While the museum is gone, many of the works it once held are now in the collections of major institutions like the Whitney Museum of American Art.
- The Alumni Foundation: Surprisingly, the community is still active. The Finch College Alumni Association Foundation still exists. They keep the history alive and even manage a scholarship fund. Their mailing address is on Lexington Avenue, just a few blocks from the original site.
Things to keep in mind
If you're a fan of the show, don't go looking for Finch in the North Carolina college guides. If you're a history buff, don't expect to find a "Finch College" sign in Manhattan.
The story of Finch is basically a tale of two colleges: one a very real, very elite piece of New York history, and the other a cozy fictional setting that lives on in our streaming queues. Both are pretty cool, honestly, as long as you know which one you're looking for.
Practical Next Steps
If you're actually researching colleges and liked the vibe of Finch on TV, look into UNC Wilmington—that’s where the "Finch" scenes were filmed. If you’re a history researcher, your best bet is to contact the Finch College Alumni Association or look through the archives at the New York Historical Society, where many of the school's records are preserved.