esotericish

Yes definitely. There are a lot of very affordable areas in Durham. They might not be super close to downtown but that's because they are in suburbia, which is why you could afford them. I can't speak to specific places, but I would caution that you do some research on the neighborhoods. There are still some relatively high crime areas in Durham that I'd avoid. But there's also a lot of very nice suburbia that young professionals choose to live in.

Sorry, I don't have any specific advice on places, but living in Carrboro and commuting to Durham is kind of a pain. Unless you REALLY love Carrboro (and I used to live there and I love it), I'd still live in Downtown Durham, which is also really cool. Driving down 54 and 15-501 in rush hour is just brutal.

Sure, but it might not be very nice or you might have a few of roommates. Raleigh has a huge range of living options, and you can live very cheaply -- as many undergrads do -- depending on your flexibility. Utilities are cheap, and supposedly Google Fiber is coming to Raleigh in the near future. Transportation depends. You probably want a car. While public transportation is decent right around State's campus, anywhere outside of that range becomes a challenge, and in my opinion Raleigh is a very drivable city. Plus there's tons of cool stuff to do outside Raleigh that having a car would facilitate.

Would you say, generally speaking, calculus is the best place to start? Is it worth doing most of an entry level calculus course online, such as the Ohio State one referenced above?

Definitely go for a SSD! You will notice the difference in everything. Most laptops also give you space to put in an additional SSD or traditional HD as well to expand on space.

Yeah, they're terrible. Went to many parties there as an undergrad. It's filled with undergrads and is really depressing in general. Everything is cheap and old and cinderblock.

You'll be hard pressed to find apartment complexes that are just graduate students. There is a graduate student housing complex on campus - called Odum Village I believe - but I never thought it was very nice. Most graduate students in my experience lived in Carrboro or north of campus off of MLK, which is a pretty convenient area due to the frequent buses. I'd just take a look at all the apartment complexes off MLK (avoid Chapel Ridge and the one right beside it). There are also some in Carrboro. I'd just take a look at reviews. As is the case with housing in most areas, the cheaper it is the worse it is. But either way, most complexes will have a mix of undergrads, grad students and working professionals. If you have questions about specific places I'm happy to provide input.

Don't you think this is skewed a bit by DC's sizable low-income population?

This is good info - thanks! I was thinking the ACA marketplaces might be an option, since I really only need it for catastrophic coverage in that brief gap.

My understanding, though -- and this could be wrong -- is that you only have to pay if you use it, since you get a 60 day period to "decide" if you need it.

I'd like to take a couple months off between going back to school in August and my current, draining, stressful full time job. I'd probably do something part-time during that break. The biggest issue is health insurance, which I currently have from my employer. Has anybody gone the COBRA route and have experience? It's a bit confusing based on my research.

DC has so much turnover you'll more than likely be able to find a place on pretty short notice. That may not be the case for right around American though, but I would be surprised. You could easily call some places up and ask what usually happens around August.

Pretty much everywhere within the immediate vicinity of American is pretty nice. it's also really expensive. A studio will run you easily $1500-1800 for a decent one. The only really affordable way to live in DC proper, especially NW DC where American is located, is to live with a bunch of other people in a row house.

In that case, I'd definitely recommend getting out of the Chapel Hill area. Also, I don't know how much padmapper will be of help. I'd check Zillow for sure. Places I know are really cheap and within 20 minutes or so of Chapel Hill: pretty much anywhere in Orange County, especially towards Mebane and rural Carrboro. East of chapel hill you have western Cary and Morrisville which are very nice areas especially for families. You can easily get big townhouses out there for around $1200 so I imagine there are some small separate homes available as well. The thing about Chapel Hill is it's in a bit of an island. It's closish to Durham, but if you go any other direction than Durham there's not a ton in the immediate area. Hillsborough comes to mind as well as Pittsboro. Both are nice, quaint places and very affordable to live in. Like very affordable. Houses for less than $150k.

Yes absolutely, especially if you're willing to commute a bit. You can probably even live in Carrboro, though a bit further out, for that much. Do you have kids? if so you should make your decision based on school districts. there are a lot of REALLY cheap areas around chapel hill once you get out of the immediate town limits. again happy to answer questions if you have specifics on locations!

Or have basically any decent paying job, ever.

You shouldn't be scared to ask questions, even if you think they are too candid. Think of this as a job interview -- although less formal -- but you're the one doing the interviewing. They want you at this point, so ask all the tough questions to figure out if it's what you want too.

"I deeply appreciate the offer of admission to X University, but I will unfortunately have to decline the offer. Thank you for your time, etc etc." That's what I'd do.

You will be very hard-pressed to find an unsafe place in CH/Carrboro. Also, there aren't really specific neighborhoods so it's hard to give you exact locations to look. If you want to live in prime walking distance to everything, living as close to Main St in Carrboro is your best bet. Few undergrads make their way that far (it's not far at all, though) and it's a great location overall. However, it'll be more pricey. Southern Village a bit south of campus off 15501 is also a nice place, though i can't comment on the price. Basically anywhere in Carrboro is nice, but it gets residential very quickly. Chapel Hill is where you're more likely to find undergrads if you stay close to campus. But if you get a bit further out you'll get more for your money. It's really difficult to live within walking distance of coffee shops and restaurants unless you live near Franklin St in Chapel Hill or Main St in Carrboro -- and it gets quite expensive the closer you are to those places. If you do some searching on your own and have specific questions about locations I'm happy to give my thoughts!

Agreed! But I think you can live strategically enough that it's possible to avoid paying for a car. I know plenty who didn't have a car in CH/Carrboro. I did though and I loved it.

There's a very good chance I'm turning down my acceptance, fyi. I went to their recruitment weekend and they have a very good program that seems to be far above what their ranking represents.

Went to my first one. Business casual most likely, even then you might be over dressed but that is not the worst thing. A suit/blazer would stand out.

How's parking on Emory's campus, do you know?

Bumping this back up. How're the transportation options from the mid-town area to Emory? Would I have to drive?

Yeah check out the Chapel Hill thread, there's some good info. Also, despite recent news, Chapel Hill is very safe and you will not have a problem finding a place on that budget!