froup

It depends only on you. I live off-campus and pay ~$850 rent out of ~$1900 that I receive after tax is subtracted, and it's fine. I do not need to spend anything on transportation since there are campus shuttles going past my place, and all metropolitan shuttles around the campus are also free for all students (at least for now). So it really boils down to food&entertainment&travel expenses (and moving expenses in the beginning, when I had to buy lots of small things for everyday life that I didn't bring here when moving), nothing extra on top of that. So yeah, if you party every day you'll be broke. And if you never party you may as well get "rich".

I am starting PhD (in computer science) in a couple of weeks, and I'm relocating from Europe to USA for this purpose. I still need to buy tickets, and it costs less if you buy a round-trip rather than a one-way tickets. However, it may be hard to predict when is the best time to return and visit Europe. My term times are: September 23 - December 14 January 2 - March 22 March 27 - June 13 Although instruction usually starts 1-4 days after the start of the term. It does seem that there are two times per year for visiting home - during Christmas and summer. I am not considering using the Christmas time during the first year, as this time is better spent getting used to the (still) new environment at the university. However, I am wondering about the summer time. Do I understand correctly that most PhD students prefer to stay at the university during their first summer, rather than looking for an internship? I guess this is a nice time to get to know your professors better, and actually focus entirely on the research. Are there any guidelines what is normally the best time of the summer when you can leave the campus to miss out on as few things as possible? I assume it's either right after the end of term 3, or right before the start of the next academic year. How long is your usual summer vacation at home?

There's actually a good point about smartphones. I had used a smartphone before but I find it really distracts me. It's too temping to use your smartphone whenever you have to stay still and wait for something (standing in a queue, going in a bus, trying to fall asleep, etc). However, I prefer to stay clear-minded and not mix all aspects of my life together. Everything has its own time, including the things you over-do due to your smartphone. Better spend that "boring idle" time to reflect on the recent past or to plan your nearest future. And even nodding off or reading a book will keep you in a more "sober" state. But that's of course IMHO and, despite sounding that way, I'm not saying anyone should agree with me. Just explaining one of the many opinions that have their right to exist.

For Fall 2013 Computer Science admissions UoT offered me $27.5k (for 12 month period) that includes $23k RA and $4.5k TA. As an international student I would need to pay a total of $18k tuition fees, however the university provided an additional $10k (on top of $27.5) that directly covers part of these tuition fees (so I only have to pay $8k from my $27.5k package).

Would it be reasonable to hope for some income from the summer internships? Alternatively, if you're staying to work with your supervisor, is there any hope to get an additional RA for the summer months? It's tempting to find a reason why should that stipend should cover only 9 months per year.

Yeah, but you forgot to mention most often it's $900-$1200 2BR for which a single person pays around $600.

I got offered around $2150 per month from UCSD. Does anyone have a clue how much is that after paying the taxes? Don't want the exact numbers, rather just a feeling, a rough estimate. Edit: international student, if that makes a difference.

Got my PhD decisions from Stanford, Princeton, UCSD, Brown, MIT, Toronto. Still waiting for NYU. Their graduate visit days passed already a long time ago though...

Yeah, that's what I meant. Moreover, I got my offer pretty much previous week. So the underlying message is: at this point the online application status is not a very useful source of information. And, indeed - do not lose hope, there might be still some acceptances coming out. Good luck.

I received an informal offer from the department, and my application status is also still "Under Review". I'm told that it can up to several weeks before the Graduate School does all the paperwork for the recommended students.