rockmsockm

Re: Housing Cycle - Places for rent start popping up a lot more in May. People in Wi don't tend to move until the weather is more consistent (Spring here can be really unpredictable!). Also, it does seem like 2 months in advance is when you have the most options, I dunno why that is. But I doubt you'll have trouble finding a place. Re: Marquette area - I did my undergrad there. Personally I would not want to live there. It's pretty much downtown, which is kind of dead zone. I would check out the east side or Bay View neighborhoods, much more activity and pedestrian friendly.

Sorry you haven't heard anything from them. I've seen so many posts of students who have interviewed and then heard absolutely nothing, I do not understand why the grad schools do this, seems pretty crass. The neuro program does their own interviews, independent from IDP. So, i'm still (foolishly) holding out hope. I see you had an interview at Loyola too, did you hear from them?

Trickster, are you IDP? I applied to the straight neuroscience program and I emailed them about a week ago because I had heard nothing. I was told that the neuro program was currently "in midst of reviewing apps and preparing to send interview invites shortly." Would you happen to know anything regarding the neuro interviews? I feel like that is really late in the game to be just starting to send invites?

Additionally, I'm a single mom with 2 young daughters, so I take the safety issue pretty seriously.

I've lived in MKE for about 10 years (many of those as a student at Marquette and UWM). Here is what I can say about it: 1. I LOVE Milwaukee. There are amazing people here, activities, festivals, and nightlife spots if you avoid the big trendy stuff. 2. Housing. I've lived in many neighborhoods here. West of the river (Riverwest) is my favorite. It is true that it can be spotty with crime, but if you have some common sense it's no big deal. Like, don't walk alone at night with your headphones on...you'll get mugged. I live in a quiet little pocket of Riverwest that is mostly homeowners. However, the house next to me is 4 units and owned by a slumlord. A couple weeks after I moved in, one of their tenants died there of heroin overdose and the house got shut down and boarded up for 2 years. Now it's back open and the neighbors are once again trashy and obnoxious. This is the kind of thing that happens in Riverwest, but it is a very involved and supportive community, and the good people here really work hard to improve the neighborhood and keep crime down. If you choose to live closer to campus, there are problems to be had there as well...personally, I think there is more risk of vandalism by the campus. Way more car break-ins over there than in Riverwest. And a lot more noise from the undergrads. BUT, parking at UWM is a bitch, so it's nice to be walking distance. Riverwest is cheaper though. I did undergrad at Marquette, but I would never choose to live around there. The surrounding neighborhood gets real hood and the crimes more serious. Also ain't shit to do there. Bayview is lovely, hipster, slightly pretentious. It is affordable, but kind of a hike to UWM. Also, your friends on the east side will never want to come out to Bayview because it's "soooo far" (actually less than 10 min car ride). 3. Bottom line: my vote goes to Riverwest. It's safe if you're not a drunk idiot. If anyone is considering a specific spot in Milwaukee, feel free to message me and I can offer my input on that area.

I've lived in wisconsin my whole life. I currently work in one of the psychology labs at UW-Milwaukee. Although I did my undergrad at Marquette (hopefully doing grad there as well), I'm really familiar with UWM and a lot of my close friends have attended as well. Feel free to message me if you'd like more detailed info.

@ Ely Congrats on your acceptance. I, too, am a single parent (2 daughters, 9 and 2) and applying for doctoral programs in the sciences, neuroscience to be specific. If accepted this round, I'll be 32 when I start my PhD. A little over a year ago I decided to pursue this, so I enrolled in some additional coursework and have been volunteering as an RA in a psych lab ever since. I keep a couple part-time gigs to pay the bills. About 2 weeks into my return to school and starting my position in the lab, my daughters' father and I split up and embarked upon a pretty nasty separation. However, getting through that while staying focused on my goal and holding onto sanity has given me tremendous confidence in myself and knowing my girls and I can get through whatever comes our way. The past year has been the busiest year of my life, but it has also turned out to be of the highest quality too. Because my time has become so precious, I've learned how to be absolutely present during my time with my daughters and if that was to be the only thing I could take away from this experience, that would be ok (but I really, really do want to get into grad school too!!).