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College bars (especially of the dive variety) are great because the crowds there focus on what's important – getting wasted, and fast. No pretention, just sloppy, loud people who can't hold their liquor. There's never a shortage of overplayed Top 40 on the jukebox, and there's always a sick girl in the bathroom with her friends holding back her hair. Those were the days, all right.

When it comes to college bars in the Big Apple, you need look no further than the vicinity of New York University in bohemian Greenwich Village, where cheap drink specials draw fake ID-toting freshmen like flies to a pile of garbage bags on a New York street corner. The following are three of the best time-tested dives in the NYU area, all of them perfect for a wild night out with friends. Grab your letterman jacket and pop a few Chasers, because you're about to go back to school.

Grassroots Tavern
The age-worn wooden floors in this historic basement bar have been trodden upon by artists, writers, and scores of naïve students over the years, not to mention a handful of jaded cats and dogs who strut around like they own the place. Some come for the cheap pitchers and popcorn, some for the dart tournaments, some for the company of the amusingly no-nonsense bartender and sodden regulars, but everyone leaves happy. Between rounds, take note of the old pressed-tin ceiling, heavy wooden bar, and other charming Old New York details. Just don't bother the cats when they're sleeping – trust me.

Bar None
Bar None is the kind of place where you always go in for one drink and end up staying for four. Perhaps it's the fact that they offer the self-proclaimed longest happy hour in New York (11am to 8pm every day), where $4 will get you a well drink or a pint of better draft beer ($3 for boring Bud and Bud Lite). Newcomers are mystified by the incessant pounding on the ceiling, which actually comes from a karate class that meets upstairs. The place turns into a dance party late at night, but the afternoon is the time to come, when you can chat up the tough-looking but super-friendly bartender and his son, and/or enjoy an episode of "Cash Cab" with them. And honestly, you stop noticing the karate class after a while. It's like the stench in New Jersey that way.

Josie Woods Pub
This deliciously 70s-looking stone-and-wood basement bar is in the dead center of the NYU campus, so there's never a shortage of tipsy coeds to ogle. Cheap pitchers of beer and decent bar food make up the offerings here, doled out by a genuinely nice staff that always remembers your face, if not your name. The frat guys and ditzy girls that pack the bar on weekends can get annoying, so come after work if you prefer a laid-back atmosphere and access to the pool tables and the MegaTouch. Although there's something to be said for the spectacle caused by dozens of fresh-faced college kids reaching record blood alcohol levels at the same time. It's enough to make you want to sign up for classes all over again.