Secumax852

@bioeng21 Cambridge from BU is not that far at all. You have quite a few options in terms of commuting between these two places. I'd say it would take roughly 30 minutes of commute time (to include transportation waiting time). Now as for parking permits, you are able to register a parking permit that is adjacent to where you live. This is not exclusive to Cambridge. I personally live In Allston (10 minutes walking time from BU) and commute to Harvard, and I have an Allston parking permit for my car. Although I would say that parking spots are relatively safer in Cambridge. After all, Allston and Fenway area (area that encompasses BU) is full of undergraduates, and some of them are rather belligerent at times. In terms of rent, I believe they are relatively the same. $2000 can find you a 2 bedroom apartments at both sides of Charles river. However, I personally think the apartments over at Cambridge side are in better conditions, considering that there is a higher amount of undergrads over at BU side. Nevertheless, I hope all this information will help you.

@StephD I hate to say it but @telkanuru is right. BU is situated between Fenway and Allston, both area are clustered with undergrad students. During baseball seasons, you're also dealing with a amount of sportsfans (Go Sox). Now, in terms of safety, they're both not bad. There were some minor thefts and such around Allston (alot of frat kids), but none that are crazy. I would go so far to say that if you were to walk the streets at night, you will not be harmed. The one area I would suggest you look into is Brighton or Brookline, which is a lot calmer. Both Brighton and Brookline are also on the greenline, which will land you right in BU. They are full of young-professionals and you are further away from rowdy undergrads. In terms of prices they are relatively the same as Allston and Fenway.

If you want, I can send you some syllabuses/syllabi from my classes this spring and last fall, they are all IR related and are courses that are considered foundation knowledge in IR in my opinion. The syllabuses contains readings from books and articles that can either be found on amazon or online. PM me if you want a copy.

I definitely agree with Atlas445, Walter Russell Mead's book is definitely a good foundation read. I would also include Samuel Huntington's work in the must read list, which includes his highly debate work "The Clash of Civilizations". Also look for Graham Allison's work.

@IRGradStudent No problem bud. Once again when more info comes I'll post it up. There's an alumni and newcomer event tomorrow in Boston which I'll be attending. Hopefully I will be able to squeeze more information out. Nevertheless, I'm glad that another veteran is on board!

@IRGradStudent How's it going? I am also a veteran who got into SIPA. After I got the acceptance letter, the first thing I did was to call the financial center in regards to YRP. The manager at that time told me that each year every program is allocated a certain amount of YRP funding which is determined by a myriad of factors. When I asked him whether it is first come first serve, he told me that it doesn't matter, and it is allocated evenly according to the amount of veteran applicants in each program (which, is contradictory to what the website wrote). Nevertheless, he said that by mid-May, the official amount of YRP funding for SIPA will be revealed and that is when they will accept applications for YRP. I am rather dubious to his statements and I will provide further information when I am able to find out more.

@Lycaon Thanks, that means a lot to me. But yes, living around the UWS area will be ideal for me. I've been looking into Harlem also, and it is not as bad as as a lot of people think it is, especially since ex-mayor Bloomberg started his gentrifying project (whether it is good or bad, it's debatable). Nevertheless, living in New York will be an adventure itself. @caitylaurel That is awesome that you are going for Chinese culture and language. Are you going to be in WEAI? My program requires a specialization, which I choose East Asia. I am also trying to attain a certificate in Chinese studies. I've been tutoring middle-school kids in Mandarin since I got out of the military, so I hope attaining an advance certificate in conjunction with my MA degree will help in my future endeavors.

In all honesty Marty, any area that is immediately surrounding Harvard Square are considered very safe. The area itself is pretty calm until you hit Central Square, which can get a little rowdy at night. Even then I am actually pretty reluctant to use the word rowdy. To the south-east side of Harvard is MIT (situated in Kendall Square), and the area itself is a highly developed and safe neighborhood that is peppered with Biochem companies. Although it is straddling between walking and transportation distance (if my memory is correct, it's two T stops away, which equates to maybe 15 minutes of train time), it is a very safe and the apartments there have all the amenities you would ever want (of course, the price aren't cheap, they are considered high-end luxury apartments, built during the late 1990s). I've lived in that area for year and I've jogged during 2am around Charles River, and I've only been met with other like-minded people (yes, there are joggers at night). If you go up a little north, such as Broadway and Cambridge street, these areas are also very safe and quaint. There are a lot of pre-war houses and apartments. They are slightly cheaper than Kendall Square but I can assure you they have a rustic feel to them and are mostly occupied by mid to high income families. All in all, I can assure you that if you are to find a place surrounding Harvard, you will not be disappointed, especially if you have a robust budget. I would argue that this area is populated with some of the most educated people you can find in the US, and in turn is very comfortable and safe. Of course, I cannot ever guarantee that there will never be crimes in that area, but I personally believe that the chances of you getting mugged is the same as Bill Murray paying you a visit in class.

Hi! Also a Boston native here. I would be very very wary of craigslist, since a couple of my friends have had some really bad experience with their rental classifieds. I personally found Trulia to be a better website to seek out rentals. Also, to get a better understanding of Boston's realty situation, I would suggests going to curbed.com. That website has a subsection that extensively covers the realty situation of Boston, which will help you gain a good foothold. Sometimes I would even recommend going through realtors or managed properties. Even though you might have to shed some cash in terms of fees and what-not, the chances of you renting an apartment from a slumlord (which was an epidemic) will be drastically lowered. Another tip is to see if the apartment's landlord will let you move in a day earlier from September 1st. I've lived in several cities in my life and I have never seen such a surge of movers on September 1st. Traffic is literally gridlocked in popular area such as Brighton, Allston, Fenway etc,and there are more penske and uhauls trucks than taxis. If your landlord does not permit early move-in, then move in during the twilight hours, trust me, its worth it. P.S. Reading through my own post made me sound like a pessimist. Trust me, I'm not and I love Boston. Once you get pass the whole shenanigan of moving in, you will come to love this city. It's a city that is big enough to stay busy all the time, and small enough so that its easy to get out of it. Also once you've seen the fall scenery in Boston, you will fall in love bud.

Hey folks - I just got accepted into Columbia so I will be moving into New York in the coming months. For those who know the area well, how is the the surrounding area of Columbia? Specifically, how is living in Harlem?

@Lycaon - I've been looking into living in the Upper West Side and the surrounding area. The Arbor does look amazing, however I am also trying to experience a little of Manhattan during my graduate studies. One redemption I have is that the G.I. Bill, does provide me a monthly housing allowance, so that takes a lot of the burden off of my shoulder.

Howdy folks! I also got into Columbia. SIPA Masters program for international affairs. Now let the dreaded apartment hunting begin...