Thanks, ComeBackZinc!
I really appreciate your willingness to answer my questions! From your posts on here, it seems that your experience at Purdue has been quite good, which is encouraging of course. The camaraderie within the department and the potential to take a variety of courses are especially appealing to me.
It's too bad to hear about the lack of summer funding. Do you have a sense of what students who are not able to receive funding or find teaching positions in the area do during the summers? Do they stay in town and pursue their own research, work other non-academic jobs to save up, leave town, or something else?
You mentioned that housing is inexpensive in the area-- a definite plus! Do you have any recommendations about where ideal, but cheap housing might be found? Are there any particular areas of town or apartment complexes where graduate students have tended to have good luck? Or, on the other hand, any places to stay away from?
I'm a pretty frugal person generally; I don't spend money indulgently (except on coffee). I'm curious, though, did you find that you had any sort of major unexpected costs as a graduate student?
Also, the Purdue website says that the city has an efficient bus system. Is that true? Or do you find that it's best to have a car to get places? (I will be bringing a car wherever I end up attending, but I'd prefer not to have to drive often if possible.)
Finally: Is there anything particular that you would recommend I make sure to do/see when I visit campus in a couple weeks? Or in Lafayette generally?
Thank you, again, for your honest and advice! I'm very grateful.