sharanbngr

So, there is a lot of great information in this thread. Uptown seems nice but I would like to know if there are other good places, you know to keep my options open. I'm an international student so I won't be renting one till I get there in august. I also don't see myself buying a car till a couple of years at least so access to public transport would be fairly important. Moreover I don't have references obviously, would that matter?

Oh, good to know.

So, I got a funded PhD at the University of Minnesota -Twin Cities and the stipend > estimated expenses there. I was wondering if I should show any other sources of saving income I have, like fixed deposit, support from family etc ? Would this have any beneficial impact on my getting a VISA?

Are the good ones left by the time we international students get there generally? Someone suggested that you try and get one by July for a good deal

Thank for these replies. They were helpful to me and I am sure will be to others as well. By worth I meant what is their opinion of the program (Having experienced it). Although I admit it was poorly worded and I changed it. I don't have an adviser assigned to me, although I am in contact with a couple of POIs there. I would mainly be contacting their students. Is is needed to mention to them that I am contacting their students?

Contacting current graduate students in a university you got an admit from is great way to get information. But I am currently at a loss about which questions might be acceptable and which ones are taboo. Will profs feel offended if I ask too much about the how good the program is of the program and how the the students feels about his research there? Anyway I haven't found much info about this, so decided to make this thread.

Two or three more schools more schools would have done the trick. In retrospect, I have applied to more schools in the Goldilocks zone although I do already have to a fair number of them. Truth be told I was actually really unsure that I would get in anywhere while applying. I am regretting that attitude now

That was really helpful. Any more contributions?

I am international student and will most probably be accepting an offer from UMN this fall. We have a pretty robust public transport at my home but I was warned that in US it not good. Although, going through this thread I get the impression that it is actually pretty decent in the twin cities. I would rather not buy a car, so is it possible to live relying only on public transport?. Does it become more difficult without a car in winter. And about winter, I come from a relatively hot country(never saw snow till now), so don't know shit about extreme cold. Katia_Chan warned about heat with oil/gas, so I take it that electrical is generally preferable. How much more rent is charged because of the heat? And when I take a lease with heat, do I pay for the heat only in winter or all through the year? Thanks in Advance