devbioboy

Here's some pretty common areas that UC students live: Clifton/Clifton Heights/University Heights (pretty student-centric, a good option if you want to walk to school or have a close commute), Hyde Park (pretty trendy area, lots of shopping, rent is bit more expensive but seems to be more catered to younger professionals), Oakley (pretty much the same vibe as Hyde Park), Corryville (lots of undergrads and medical students because it's super close to both UC and UC hospitals). I live in the University Heights area and I've felt pretty safe in the year that I've lived here. From my observations, University Heights tends to be mostly graduate students and pretty quiet whereas Clifton Heights seems to be mostly older undergrads, but they're pretty similar. If you want to live a little bit farther out, Covington and Newport in Northern KY and Norwood are also great places to live on a grad student budget. I know some graduate students that live in Blue Ash, Colerain Township, and West Chester (~30 minute commutes) and they love it, but have to budget that time into their daily schedules. I don't have any personal recommendations on climbing outdoors, but I know that the UC gym has an excellent climbing wall. There are lots of great parks in the Cincinnati area (https://www.greatparks.org/) that I know many use for running.

I was looking through the thread and saw you're looking at stem cell and developmental bio and had to put in a word for Cincinnati MDB (just started!) We have some pretty big names in the organoid/regeneration/stem cell field and have dedicated more into this area with a new center for organoid medicine and a pluripotent stem cell core. Also, a lot of the developmental bio people here are pretty well known and recognized as leaders in multiple subfields of the discipline. Also, being in the nation's 2nd ranked children's hospital is also pretty great (lots of discounts throughout the city at various places because you're a student AND a children's hospital employee). I'd highly suggest you look into it if you haven't already and would encourage you to message me if you have any questions!

Will DM you. Hopefully, I'll be seeing you around the medical area next year.

If you're looking at the on-campus housing, I'd put in your request ASAP. I put mine in right after I got accepted in March and just got an offer this week (and it wasn't my top choice location). Personally, the options look nice (compared to the graduate housing options at my undergrad) so I went for them, especially since it'll be my first time in the area and I don't know the area well.

I've officially committed to Cincinnati's MDB program! I feel like a huge burden has been lifted off my chest! @BiomedicalPHD123 You have a very hard decision ahead of you! Make sure that you take into account your gut feeling about a place. If you're really interested and committed to cancer cell bio for your graduate training, then I'd go ahead with GSK. If you think that you may want to venture out into other fields, then I'd say go to Harvard because they are pretty good, if not excellent, at many things bio-related. I'm a little bit leery about the rotation/class thing at GSK personally, but if that works for you and seems to be well-liked by the current students, then go ahead and do it!

On the website homepage, it says "late March." I think we've officially hit the mid-way part of the month. At least the longest we'll have to wait is 16 more days! We've waited almost 2 months already so we can do it!

Personally, I know that if I did not like a location of a university, then I kinda ruled it out. I'm thinking about my happiness outside of the lab because you will be in a city/town for 5-6 years and will need to find things to do and like the place that you live. Additionally, if you didn't click with faculty or current students, then that environment may not be for you because you'd probably be dragging yourself out of bed and into lab everyday (which would not be ideal for me). If you didn't like New Haven and didn't click with faculty and students, then I'd personally rule it out. But that's just me...

Just got an acceptance from the Molecular and Dev Bio program at UCincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital! It's been my top-choice throughout the process, but I have a lot to think about before committing. Good luck to everyone who is still waiting to hear back or getting ready to decide!

Have you ever seen the tractor trailers/big rigs that carry vehicles on them on the highway? That's what my roommate used to ship her car from NC to TX (sorry I mixed that up in my original posting.) I can PM you the company that she used once I find out. Also, you can go to the POD site here and find out how much it'll cost to ship from Texas to Indiana. I am not sure how much they'd cost (because there are probably so many factors that go into it.) I think that there's a way for you look up PODS locations/facilities near where you'll be moving to and your current location.

Accepted to Duke DSCB!

Some other good on-campus workspaces that I've encountered over the years include Hunt Library (on the weekends) and the Natural Resources Library in Jordan Hall. In the nearby Cameron Village, there's a branch of the Wake County Public Library that I know people also use. In downtown Raleigh, some people frequent Morning Times (hip coffee shop) to do work on the weekends. Also, I totally agree with Cup a Joe, Global Village, and Liquid State being amazing places to get coffee and get work done near campus!

I met a grad student who moved cross country at one of my grad interview weekends and he packed all of his stuff in a POD and shipped it cross country. When he arrived at his grad program, he made multiple trips to the nearest POD facility to get all of his stuff and moved it in all himself. I know that you can also get your car shipped cross country if you need/want it. My current roommate is from Texas and shipped her car to NC when she was coming for undergrad.

I got a call from the director first, then I got a letter in my email the next day. It seems like they'll be taking the whole week to alert everyone of their status. Thanks! SF seems like a nice place to visit and not necessarily to live (especially being from the Southeast US, where housing prices are pretty reasonable).

Got a mixed bag of results today. Got official acceptance in Harvard BBS today! But also got a rejection from UCSF DSCB. I did not really enjoy the prospect of living in SF while there, so I guess it worked out...

Hi @Kimia , based on my personal experiences, I think that 2200/month is enough to live. You'll have to save some money aside for taxes every month to pay at the end of the year whenever you file (I'd suggest somewhere around 200-250 just to be safe). Rent around NC State is generally very reasonable (I've seen unfurnished, one bedroom, apartments for around 700-800/mo, you can go even cheaper than that if you get roommates which a lot of international grad students do). Groceries are pretty cheap (I personally spend around 100/month) and eating out every week or so isn't too much of an additional expense. If you live near campus on or around Gorman St or Avent Ferry Rd, you can use the Wolfline, which are free to ride.