SNpa17

@TakeruK I know that they offer the option to purchase additional cover for dependants to add on to the student health cover. Thanks very much for the marketplace info and links, I'm going to check them out to compare. Health insurance is a minefield! As for housing, I would actually prefer to live outside the city anyway. That's what I do at the moment, I currently commute 1 and a half hours each way into school, so it's not a problem. I have looked at real estate sites for the surrounding suburbs to get an idea of size and prices. As several of you have pointed out though, there are the tax and utility costs to consider on top of that. Thanks everyone for your massively useful feedback, I'm glad I started all this research early!

@GradSchoolTruther thanks that's useful to know. I found this site http://www.electricitylocal.com/states/pennsylvania/ to try get a rough idea, I'm not sure how accurate the site is

Thanks @GradSchoolTruther , that's what I was worried about. Definitely hard to guage a city you've never been to!

Hi all, I'm new, so apologies if this should be on another thread! I'm from the UK, and am currently applying to do my PhD in the US (UPenn). I would receive a stipend (I believe around $30k), and participate in some sort of teaching, although I am unclear if this is paid extra or included in the stipend. This is a much better deal than in the UK, funding for graduate study here is abysmal! However, I am a single parent and would be bringing my children with me (ages 10 and 8 currently). Would my stipend be enough to cover our living costs in the US? I'd want the children to have a really positive experience, and not be the 'poor kids in school' with rubbish clothes and no allowance, and living in a horrible student apartment somewhere. It would be fine if it was just me, I wouldn't care! Any advice on the realities of living costs on a PhD would be greatly appreciated!