SgtP3pp3r

Alright, so I've been living in Baton Rouge for the past two years and it's not as bad as some would make it out to be. It does get very hot in the summer, and is pretty warm most of the year. The humidity is pretty high regularly as well, but I grew up in places with high humidity, so for me that's a plus. There are lots of places to live that are near to campus, but as far as walking distance you'll want to check out the places just south of campus. Sterling Burbank is in that area but is very pricy, they opened up last year and have really high rent. There are plenty of other options in this area that can be agreeable. Look for University View and Embassy Apartments as a good starting point in that area. These are cheap and are usually in pretty good shape. Very close to campus. There are a few other apartment places nearby that are probably a bit cheaper, but the quality is less. You have El Cid (there's like 3 of them) and Gaslite in this area as well which I personally didn't like too much, but which aren't horrible either. I think all of these have mostly 1bd-1br options, and some 2bd-1br. All around Parker boulevard you will find nice places that are individually owned and rented. There is also the Nicholson Apartments provided by LSU. I wouldn't call them horrible, but they are kind of pricy for what you get. They are small, and pretty old. The biggest advantage they have is the closeness to campus. This is all walking distance. The university has some additional graduate apartments in the north part (Edward Gay Apartments) which aren't bad, but the main problem there is that just south of this is a part of Baton Rouge that I would consider unsafe to walk through on a daily basis, and this is exactly where you would walk through to get to campus. Also on the north side of campus you have places like Campus Crossing, and Tiger Manor. Tiger manor has very nice 1bd-1br, but they are expensive. I've never been to Campus Crossing, but they seemed more Undergrad infested. In the part of town called Tigerland you have lots and lots of apartment complexes which are on the cheaper side. I wouldn't call it unsafe since I have personally never heard of problems, but it does look kind of sketchy in parts. Just south of Tigerland you have Brightside, for me this is a big improvement with respect to Tigerland and there are a couple of nice complexes that have ok pricing. Villas on Brightside are probably the nicer ones and best bang for your buck in the area, they also offer up 2bd-2br. I checked them out when I was apartment hunting. Blox on Brightside is not bad either, but they are a lot smaller than the Villas. There are also plenty of individually owned places you can rent. There are a few other places that are more undergrad-y but not bad over all like Campus Crossing, or Jennifer's Landing. There is one complex that I would definitely stay away from, I think it's called The Zone, on Brightside. It's pretty badly kept, I haven't seen the apartments from the inside, but on the outside they look like they are falling apart. Personally I wouldn't think that you should just stick to something that is within walking distance to campus, what you should do is make sure that there is a tiger trails bus route. The tiger trails buses are pretty reliable, and run pretty regularly within regular hours. Everything in Tigerland, Brightside, is on the bus route. There is another place in Nicholson called Oakbrook, and one beside it called Brookhaven which are not bad at all either. Oakbrook has some pretty good pricing for what they offer, also having lots of variety in apartments and lots of 2bd-2br. This is also within tiger trails. Also on the southern part you have the Highland Crossing apartments, also on the tiger trails. I consider them to be alright, and would never call them horrible, and they are quite on the cheap side. Their biggest advantage is being right next to the neighborhood walmart. There are several Campus Crossing housing complexes, these seem alright, but they seem very much for undergrads. Kinda like Sterling Burbank, or the Towers. Other than what i've mentioned you'll have a lot of other housing complexes scattered everywhere, but will be pricier and most would require a vehicle. If you aren't nitpicky you will find lots and lots of places to live that are great here in BR close to campus. Try checking out LSU off campus housing with your myLSU account. Thats how I found my first roommate and apartment when I first got here. They have a small social-network-like website that's useful for apartment hunting and roommate recruiting before you arrive. The better part is that it is pretty trustworthy since everyone on it has to be registered as a student at LSU, and the postings for places are (I think) approved by the university. So you won't have to worry about scams or rip offs. Good luck!

You guys want to lol a bit? I JUST received an answer from NCSU, and apparently I was admitted. Almost 2 full months past the deadline, and 2 full months since I made my decision. I can't even fathom why they would still send me the admission at this stage if they knew I am an international student and had to decide a while back. It's still a comfort to know I was admitted, but wow was the answer late. I really doubt it has any financial awards tied to it on account of the lateness. I was probably on the waitlist, although I was never notified of this. Had to make my decision months ago, and although a couple of months back this admission would have made a diffrence, it definitely does not now. Maybe my declining will help someone out, but at this point in the calendar I doubt it Edit: Now that I think about it, I even withdrew my application with them after accepting at LSU, so this admission REALLY doesn't make sense!

I agree on talking to the people managing your program to try and get your status changed to J1. But if that isn't an option then, if your wife is earning a wage in your home country, it might be best for you to consider rooming with someone until the housing option clears, or at least for the first couple of months while you determine whether or not it's economically feasible. I will be in a somewhat similar position, except the maintenance fee on my scholarship is a lot lower (1300). Then again, the apartment rent is also cheaper. My wife won't join me until later on, she's still finishing up her studies here in our country. In my case, i've never lived in the US (or even ever been there!) so all the info I have on the cost of living derives of recommendation and university websites

Hey, i'm also going to be looking for a place for this fall. I had been looking around and was wondering if anyone could speak about the Fairway View apartments, or Varn Villa? Fairway seems a little far from campus, but i'm going to be looking into getting a car. What are some of the neighbourhoods I should look into? I have been using http://offcampushousing.lsu.edu as a resource for looking at stuff, but maybe someone could point me in a better direction. I'm also on a very limited stipend and would be looking for something in the same range as Eastside21 ($700-900)

I think he meant the third Master's Degree. Are all of them around Structural Engineering? I was intrigued by this as well.

In the end I decided to go with LSU! I guess there were reasons to go with TAMU, and NCSU as well, but in the end a budgetary restriction was the deciding factor (like almost everything in real life anyway). My admission to TAMU had no offer of cost-sharing with Fulbright, and NCSU never replied. It's April 15th, and so my decision was made. I really didn't want to wait till April 15th to decide, but I wanted a reply from NCSU, and wanted to give TAMU time to decide on funding. I know by April 15th my declining TAMU might not really help anyone out, but maybe someone who was on the wait list might get the admission he or she was waiting for. I'm also withdrawing my applications at UIC and WPI. I'm so glad this part is over, now comes the visa paperwork. Since my scholarship is being overseen by the US Embassy at my country, I think this part won't be as complicated in my case. I really hope things come together for those who might still not have a clear decision. From what I see on the results board, many universities still give out admissions and funding after April 15th, so hopefully you will hear back soon. Goodluck everyone!

Well, it seems it was PhD all long. They sent me several emails clarifying, and in the official letter in the post it apparently says PhD. Unfortunately, it does not seem I have funding. I don't know if the decision is pending, or final, but I was contacted by LASPAU that LSU seems to be the better opportunity. TAMU would be over budget for the scholarship I am applying thru. I was going to wait till today or tomorrow to decide, because NCSU has said NOTHING. But, i'm thinking as soon as I am contacted by LASPAU, I will probably be confirming. Looks like there is a lot of cajun food and jazz in my near future

I'm not sure about this. In one of my admissions letters it said to accept by simply replying to the email, but in the other one I have I'm pretty sure I have to reply thru postal mail (though I'm not sure as i am yet to receive the actual package). Did it say on your admissions letter how you should accept? In any case, you might want to contact the Graduate Admissions office and ask what the correct form would be, and if your reply thru the email (technically not verbal, as it is recorded and written), would hold you to commit to your decision.

In my case, it doesn't state in the admission letter that April 15th is the deadline. In fact, it says the letter of admission is valid for 1 year from the date of that letter, as long as I have the approval of the admitting program. Check on the AIS website, and look on the bottom part, where it says "Correspondence". You should have a new message there with a digital version of your admissions decision. I haven't received the one in the postal office either, and what I mention above is from what I could read on the digital version. In any case, the only real hurry would be if you are an international student, to get your visa papers ready (like me )

What a roller-coaster! Today I received a letter of clarification from TAMU indicating I just might have been admitted to the PhD program after all! I am so freaking confused right now... I received an email with a letter from the Director of the Graduate Program Office stating that I was being recommended for admission to the PhD program. However, I also have a letter from the Director of Admissions saying I was admitted to the Master of Science program! WTF! I have no idea what to believe. The Civil Engineering department sent me the letter from the Director of Graduate Program Office (saying PhD), after I inquired about whether or not the MS decision was a mistake. I don't want to build castles in the sand, because the letter from the Director of Graduate Program Office (saying PhD), says clearly that it is not the official letter. I think the one from Graduate Admissions (saying MS) is the official one, however it leads me to believe they made a mistake! If the CE department, the Graduate Programs Office, and the Admissions Committee all agree I was admitted to the PhD program, can Graduate Admissions really override that and say I will only be admitted to MS program?? I wrote them all asking WTF (nicely of course), and hopefully I will get a quick reply. So far they have been replying quite swiftly, hopefully I can get clarification before the final weekend and enjoy a much needed respite during Easter week. Is anyone else applying to TAMU? Has anyone had as much difficulty as me or had any news? What about NCSU? Anyone? Edit: Just to clarify, I have NOT received anything thru the postal mail yet. All of this was electronic, thru email and the AIS.

So, I never heard back from UIC and WPI. The application to these two universities was more of a hassle than the other three, and on their websites my status is marked as incomplete. I tried and tried to update the information that it listed as missing (which was in fact sent), and had no luck. Resent the results from ETS (for WPI), reuploaded my transcripts, and now they say they want transcripts in the original language as well (for UIC), despite LASPAU having told me there would be no need. I'll be surprised if my status ever changes from incomplete. Jeez, i'm real glad I did not end up depending on these applications. They never even took off! Just blowing off some steam. Sorry to vent out here guys. I can't wait for this whole application process to be over. For any applicants reading this in the future, be sure that even when you have good news this is a stressful ordeal. I'm not sure how helpful discovering thegradcafe has been for me. I think it might have done more harm than good. I end up checking results every 3 hours. Even now, when I am only waiting back on one University, it's a hassle. I guess the only "helpful" part is seeing in the forums that I am not alone in the suffering. In my particular case, I'll be glad when April 17th comes around, and then my decision will have to be rendered. I am 99% sure what my decision will be (and i am real excited about it!), however that 1% is what keeps me up at night. That damned "what if".

Well, I guess I did good on not celebrating early. The admission I got from Texas A&M was for Master of Science. I wrote them to make sure this was their recommendation, and they answered that they had very limited resources for PhD admissions, and upon concluding the degree requirements I could continue on to PhD without another application. I haven't received the full documentation, so I have no information on funding, but judging from the response I got, I expect funding is probably not an option. I was pretty psyched about going to TAMU, but perhaps not enough to redo my Master's Degree. I have a very good offer from LSU, and as it stands, I do not think I will turn it down. In the end, I do believe everything happens for a reason. Perhaps it was not in my life's best interest to go to Texas A&M.

Ok, so i got good news from TAMU. I was contacted by my POI and he said he was recommending me for admission, and I should get an email soon. He said "Congratulations!" so i'm guessing he's pretty sure about it. He literally said nothing about whether or not there was funding being considered or not. But i believe that is what is taking so long. I've been hounding around admission, and poking for my status so much with TAMU that i decided not to push my luck by asking. I'll just be patient and wait for the letter. My status on AIS still hasn't confirmed admission which is why i am waiting on posting on the results page. I'll post it up when i finally have official confirmation, but I'll hold any celebrating until I know about funding.

Just as a follow up, I wrote the TAMU graduate admissions, and civil engineering departments and they both confirmed that my application was in fact available to the admission committee. So, i'm hoping the whole mix up was just a misunderstanding. In the email they sent me it said they would let me know as soon as a decision was available, but it also said the response from TAMU could come as late as the end of april :S I really, really hope i get a response sooner than then. I also wrote NCSU and they said my decision was not yet available from the admissions committee on my application, she said she would make an inquiry. I might be getting ahead of myself, but maybe i got an admit and funding is up for discussion. I'm trying to stay positive.

I have a friend who is currently a PhD Candidate for Structural Engineering at TAMU, and I asked her to inquire about the status of my application. She managed to speak with someone who had knowledge of the application process, and everything I mentioned above resulted from her conversation directly with him. Apparently they looked me up among the applicants, and I wasn't listed. The response you posted seems like the standard response one can expect from the department. Today I sent a service ticket to graduate admissions, and a few minutes ago they replied that my application had been made available to Civil Engineering, and I should inquire with them as to the status. I imagine, they mean for me to contact the person you mention. I also suppose, when I send an email to Civil Engineer, it is very likely that I will get a similar response to the one you posted. Anyway, i'll write them as a follow up, and then play the waiting game.