Randolph St. Cosmo

Hi all - I went to Brown undergrad, and am considering heading back for my PhD (I'm accepted there and two other places), so I might have some things to add here, at least for those heading to Brown (or RISD? I don't know if MFA's troll these boards...). The East Side, where Brown is located, is one of the most expensive locations in the Providence. It's also, compared to most other American cities, pretty damn cheap. Brown offered me the same stipend as two universities located in considerably more expensive locations, so if you're looking at a similar offer to mine, look at the East Side and look forward to a well-located, massive apartment. A lot of grad students live solidly to the north of Brown (near the Brown football stadium, like the above poster once lived; from there up to the intersection of Hope/Blackstone is a good strip.) In good weather, that area's an easy bike ride to campus; more importantly, the (free) bus goes up and down Hope Street regularly. If you think you'd be working late nights at home, as opposed to in the library, AND you bike, then you could swing it without a car. For the record: most grad students have cars, and only use them to get to class occasionally, as the street parking around Brown is tight (possible, especially under a 2-hour time limit, but tight.) Cars are used more for evening excursions, when the buses aren't as good, and for groceries, shopping, errands, the like. Some grad students live further out, like in North Providence or Federal Hill, but you'd either be dealing with (a) finding parking near the University every day, or ( transferring buses. The Rhode Island bus system, for what you'd be using, is an every 10-15 minutes kind of deal (look up exact schedules!!). That's fine if you're not making a transfer. If you are, as you would from Federal Hill, your commute just got pretty frustrating. Remember that Providence is not a pleasant place to be outside for the firm majority of the school year. Another weird thing worth throwing out there: a solid number of grad students bought property. This may sound a little crazy, but this is how it worked: Providence houses, especially in the East Side, are old-school multi-family buildings, usually with three floors, each floor being its own two-or-three bedroom apartment. (A staircase gives the apartments separate entrances.) There were a chunk of grad students, likely those with more financial means in some way, who bought houses close to campus and rented the other two floors to undergrads. If you're going to be there for 6 years... property's cheap, and you can definitely trick undergrads into paying you whatever you might want for rent, especially as you'll be a 'trusted' fellow student. If you might have the means to make such a purchase, heads up that it might be financially worth your while. Brown's university-owned membership-only bar, the GCB, is amazing. If folks have other questions, I guess I know more than most on the topic, so send them by!