MercurialMisfit

I definitely know what you mean to an extent as I am relocating from Maryland to California by myself. Just keep in mind though that this move is to your benefit and not your detriment. It'll be well worth it once you and your family arrive there. 

They do seem pretty persistent and motivated. You should say to them, "Where was this fire during the semester? You put more effort into disputing the grade than doing the project."

Don't meet with them, nothing productive will happen. You explained your grading, and WORD IS BOND; they need to suck it up and learn to not be such slackers in the future.

I agree with others -- there is likely a middle ground available between "zero roommates" and "five roommates". I was in the same boat you are; 27 and returning to school after five years of working post-undergrad. I live by myself and pay $565/month for a small 1-bd apt. I'm a homebody and lived by myself the two years prior to moving for school as well. I have total choice in whether I want to spend my free time with others or relax by myself. I could have saved a little bit of money, sure, by getting a place with roommates and paying probably $400 - $500 instead of $565 per month, but I chose my sanity and personal space over money and have no regrets. 

I don't think I could handle living with five roommates for no other reason than that I'm extremely tidy, and it's hard enough to keep a place clean with just one or two roommates. More people means more negotiations over space, time, light, noise, and cleanliness, but roommates can also mean that you always have company and someone to help out if you need help with something. I live in a place where living alone is too expensive to be viable (literally), and I don't mind living with two or three people. If you're worried about loud undergrads, I suggest posting through your department's graduate student listserve to find other grad students looking for roommates - if you do, it's highly likely that you won't be the oldest at 27. 

I live in the East bay (Hayward) but my gf lives in SJ and goes to school at SJSU.

I will give you her experience:
1. SJ is expensive no matter where you live, sorry.  Try to find a group of people to live with or a room to rent out.  SJ is pretty spread out so expect to have to commute to campus.
2. Luckily there is actually a pretty good public transportation system.  If I were you I would take advantage of this!  She uses the light rail (VTA) and it drops her off right by campus.  I think its even free for students... So if I were you I would look for something near a VTA station.
3.  The nightlife/culture isn't great anywhere in SJ but it isnt bad either.  There are things to do all over (mostly downtown and in other nearby neighborhoods....Campbell comes to mind).  But luckily you really are close enough to anything you wanna do.  SF, the beach, any sport you like, music, good (or ok) bars, hiking/outdoors, are all within an hour.  

Words of wisdom right there.....feel like I need to print that out and periodically ponder it while getting ready to move.