expandyourmind Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Hey everyone! Just accepted the offer for UChicago Molecular Biosciences! I would love to meet my fellow classmates or anyone else coming to UChicago. I went to undergrad in Chicago so feel free to ask any questions, too SO PUMPED! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epinephrine Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Heyheyhey! I'm accepting UChicago's chemistry program! It's pretty much my top program, so I'm pretty pumped too! Super-scared about stuff like the cold and umm, the crime rates (which is all anyone can tell me about now that I've picked Chicago), but really really excited about everything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expandyourmind Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 the cold isn't too bad, just invest in a good coat and winter clothing and you'll be fine! as far as the crime goes, i think its overplayed a lot. hyde park is a pretty nice area (obama lived there) so its a nice town. like any big city, there are going to be parts that are a little iffy, but as long as you're pretty street smart and don't do anything stupid like wave around a macbook or something you'll be fine. i think that goes for most city areas, just keep your street smarts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epinephrine Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Haha yeah, I'm taking all of that with a pinch of salt. Just very very excited about the program! Have you figured out what you're going to do about housing? Is graduate housing a good option? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expandyourmind Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 i'm probably not going to do graduate housing. i think its pretty easy to find housing around campus, but i'm also considering living in the south loop. id love to live closer to the city but i'm not sure how good of an idea that is considering classes, lab, etc i think generally around the area its easy to get a studio/1 bedroom for 800-1100 so not too bad. closer to the city itll be more expensive probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epinephrine Posted February 27, 2015 Share Posted February 27, 2015 To be very honest, I'm going to look for a place with flatmates. Or graduate housing. I'm not too enthusiastic about living by myself in a new city (country!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReginaPhalange Posted March 2, 2015 Share Posted March 2, 2015 Hi everyone! Congrats on being admitted! I am very excited and am looking forward to this summer, exploring a new city (and a new country at that! Have never even visited the States). Will be looking for a 1-room apartment, as I prefer living on my own. I also hope my partner and cat will be joining me soon, so a studio might be a bit small. Graduate housing at least ensures me that I am not being scammed, so I think I will look into that for the first year, then see what else is out there for the years after that. I am visiting UofC in about a week (prospective students day, plus some sightseeing). As I already know I'll be accepting my offer, I would like to bring 1 extra suitcase and store it somewhere in Chicago. Do any of you know a (relatively safe) place/way to store 1 suitcase? There won't be anything valuable inside, just clothes and books, but it'll save me some money, as moving costs from EU to US are extremely high. Hiring a storage ($65/month) is too expensive for just 1 suitcase... Any advice welcome! Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__________________________ Posted March 4, 2015 Share Posted March 4, 2015 Hi everyone! Congrats on being admitted! I am very excited and am looking forward to this summer, exploring a new city (and a new country at that! Have never even visited the States). Will be looking for a 1-room apartment, as I prefer living on my own. I also hope my partner and cat will be joining me soon, so a studio might be a bit small. Graduate housing at least ensures me that I am not being scammed, so I think I will look into that for the first year, then see what else is out there for the years after that. I am visiting UofC in about a week (prospective students day, plus some sightseeing). As I already know I'll be accepting my offer, I would like to bring 1 extra suitcase and store it somewhere in Chicago. Do any of you know a (relatively safe) place/way to store 1 suitcase? There won't be anything valuable inside, just clothes and books, but it'll save me some money, as moving costs from EU to US are extremely high. Hiring a storage ($65/month) is too expensive for just 1 suitcase... Any advice welcome! Hey there! I just did my visitation at UChicago this weekend. When you visit, are you staying with a grad student host? I can't speak for how it will be for you, but when I visited I met a lot of graduate students who were all very warm and friendly and kind of made me feel at home right off the bat. I wouldn't be surprised if you find that you meet someone who will hold on to your stuff for a while in their apartment until you move to Chicago. If you're staying with a current student, maybe shoot them an e-mail about that? As for apartments in general, from my visit I found that a lot of grad students living in Hyde Park find places a little north of campus (I was staying off 53rd street) or a little east of campus by the lake. At least for my department, the stipend allows a lot of people to live on their own, and I'm going to be looking at places for around 800-900/month, which I think should be doable. The problem I saw with staying directly on campus is access to amenities. If you live a couple blocks off campus (again, look north or east especially), you'll be in Hyde Park proper with plenty of access to grocery stores, restaurants, etc. I didn't meet anyone living in student housing though, so I didn't get a good idea of what that's like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffee.addict Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 (edited) I see that this is not a very popular topic :/ However, I will be attending UChicago this Fall! Edited March 27, 2015 by coffee.addict Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navyblackmaroon Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 I will also be attending U of C this Fall. It was my top choice and I am pretty excited about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__________________________ Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Also attending UChicago in the fall. And also quite excited. Anyone gonna be in Chicago this summer/considering taking and SLI course? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expandyourmind Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 i'm planning on doing a summer rotation! so i'll be there but not for the SLI course i think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amille63 Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 i'm probably not going to do graduate housing. i think its pretty easy to find housing around campus, but i'm also considering living in the south loop. id love to live closer to the city but i'm not sure how good of an idea that is considering classes, lab, etc i think generally around the area its easy to get a studio/1 bedroom for 800-1100 so not too bad. closer to the city itll be more expensive probably. Hey there. I'm moving from the north side to do a biosciences phd, and i'm also trying to decide whether to look for apts in hyde park (but probably not graduate housing from what i read) or more like south loop. it's tough to picture whether i'll wish i had more space away from school or whether i'll wish i was super close for odd lab hours, classes, etc. I'm definitely planning on talking to some current grad students about this whenever I can, so I'll update with anything I learn. Congrats to everyone on admissions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rainbowpink Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I'm going there in the fall. Super excited! Well, I'll be moving there at the beginning of July because I'm doing a summer thing there. I applied for grad housing, but I won't hear back from them until about a month before the intended move-in date, so I'm a bit nervous. I visited last week and I personally like Hyde Park a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navyblackmaroon Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 I thought about alternatives to Hyde Park too. I considered places like the West Side, but the public transit commute can be very long or not as flexible (especially when you have to take Metra and if you miss your train and have to wait 40 minutes for the next one). I finally came to the conclusion that living near/in Hyde Park was the best option. I have actually looked at places around 61st and 62nd (south of the Midway). People generally recommend you to live within Hyde Park (for safety reasons), but I found the area between 61st and 63rd (east of Cottage Grove) to be very similar to the places where I lived in Oakland or when I do research down in Mexico. Besides, its cheaper and its still walkable to campus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElDudeBrothers14111 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Heyheyhey! I'm accepting UChicago's chemistry program! It's pretty much my top program, so I'm pretty pumped too! Super-scared about stuff like the cold and umm, the crime rates (which is all anyone can tell me about now that I've picked Chicago), but really really excited about everything else. I accepted my offer to UC's chemistry program too! Are you going to do summer research or are you coming in the fall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__________________________ Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 (edited) I thought about alternatives to Hyde Park too. I considered places like the West Side, but the public transit commute can be very long or not as flexible (especially when you have to take Metra and if you miss your train and have to wait 40 minutes for the next one). I finally came to the conclusion that living near/in Hyde Park was the best option. I have actually looked at places around 61st and 62nd (south of the Midway). People generally recommend you to live within Hyde Park (for safety reasons), but I found the area between 61st and 63rd (east of Cottage Grove) to be very similar to the places where I lived in Oakland or when I do research down in Mexico. Besides, its cheaper and its still walkable to campus. Englewood (west of HP) has one of the highest crime/homicide rates in the city. Hyde Park is one of the nicest places in the city and the neighborhoods directly north and south of it aren't bad at all, from what little I know. I've considered living in Bronzeville. I'm planning on living in HP this summer and for the first year or two of my Ph.D. program at least. It's a pleasant neighborhood and my stipend will make it affordable for me. From current grads I've talked to, at least in my program, it's worth it to be near campus for the first couple years, after which a lot of people move to different parts of the city like Pilsen and Logan Square. West side can be a pain. My partner has family out that way and it's not the most convenient, though it depends where you're looking and how regularly you need to be on campus. Also whether you have your own car. The area around Midway isn't bad in my experience -- pleasant, largely Latino family population. Funny you mention Oakland -- that area feels a little homey to me as an Angelino. Not super close to campus in HP though. The south side gets much more spread out down there and you might feel kind of far from things. You can get to HP if you go on the Orange Line and a bus or two, but it's not exactly convenient. ETA: safety reasons can be a concern, but also be mindful of convenience. The South Side isn't all bad safety-wise, but the U of C isn't the most conveniently accessed place via public transit if you're coming from certain parts of the city -- i.e., most of the time you aren't just hopping on a train to get there so much as taking a train and couple buses. Edited April 14, 2015 by mollifiedmolloy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epinephrine Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I accepted my offer to UC's chemistry program too! Are you going to do summer research or are you coming in the fall? Hey there! No I'm planning to come in the fall- need to spend some time with family since I'm an international student, I dunno how often I'll be able to come home. You're going in the summers then? By the way- do you plan on taking graduate housing or getting a flat on your own? UC hasn't really done anything to put us in touch with the rest of our batch yet- other schools have... that would've made house-hunting and that sort of thing really convenient. Who're you interested in btw? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ElDudeBrothers14111 Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 Hey there! No I'm planning to come in the fall- need to spend some time with family since I'm an international student, I dunno how often I'll be able to come home. You're going in the summers then? By the way- do you plan on taking graduate housing or getting a flat on your own? UC hasn't really done anything to put us in touch with the rest of our batch yet- other schools have... that would've made house-hunting and that sort of thing really convenient. Who're you interested in btw? I know! I was thinking that if I could just figure out who's going, I could set up a facebook group or something, so we could get in contact with one another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navyblackmaroon Posted April 14, 2015 Share Posted April 14, 2015 I'm planning on living in HP this summer and for the first year or two of my Ph.D. program at least. It's a pleasant neighborhood and my stipend will make it affordable for me. From current grads I've talked to, at least in my program, it's worth it to be near campus for the first couple years, after which a lot of people move to different parts of the city like Pilsen and Logan Square. The area around Midway isn't bad in my experience -- pleasant, largely Latino family population. Funny you mention Oakland -- that area feels a little homey to me as an Angelino. Not super close to campus in HP though. The south side gets much more spread out down there and you might feel kind of far from things. You can get to HP if you go on the Orange Line and a bus or two, but it's not exactly convenient. I knew a grad student who was living in Pilsen. She liked it, but parking around Hyde Park isn't exactly a cakewalk. She ended up moving back to HP. I was talking about Oakland, California, LOL. I don't actually know much about the Oakland neighborhood in Chicago. In any case, Woodlawn felt fine and one could actually buy there (if you have a spouse who is working). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__________________________ Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I knew a grad student who was living in Pilsen. She liked it, but parking around Hyde Park isn't exactly a cakewalk. She ended up moving back to HP. I was talking about Oakland, California, LOL. I don't actually know much about the Oakland neighborhood in Chicago. In any case, Woodlawn felt fine and one could actually buy there (if you have a spouse who is working). Oh, I didn't even know there was a neighborhood called Oakland in Chicago, lol. And for some reason I thought you were referring to the area around Midway airport, oops -- when I first spent a significant amount of time in Chicago after moving to the midwest from LA, the West Lawn neighborhood (south of 63rd, southeast of Midway airport) was an area I stayed around a bunch and it reminded me of LA more than a lot of other Chicago neighborhoods. Haha. Anyway, Woodlawn is fine, I get the impression it's a rapidly improving neighborhood -- I guess it had pretty bad crime a few years ago? If you're looking for property, I think that area is definitely cheaper than Hyde Park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navyblackmaroon Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 I have been near West Lawn. My spouse has family in Burbank (which is next door) and Burbank looked to me like it could be somewhere in Southern California (except for the presence of alleys and the use of brick for housing). Woodlawn is definitely cheaper than Hyde Park. The market in Woodlawn has not recovered from the real estate crash, but it may if U of C keeps expanding into it (and it really seems like they are). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCrow Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Finally committed to coming! I'm in the same boat in terms of looking for housing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
epinephrine Posted May 5, 2015 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Any international students here? I'm freaking out a little, they haven't sent us any information regarding visa applications yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReginaPhalange Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Any international students here? I'm freaking out a little, they haven't sent us any information regarding visa applications yet. Did you get your I-20 or DS-somenumber yet? Visas to the US are suspended for now... but hopefully everything will work out before the start of the semester. I am freaking out a bit too, as I have booked an early ticket to Chicago and am afraid I may have to reschedule if the visa process takes too long... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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