Positivist

I was previously with HTH Insurance. Now they seemed to have changed it to UHCSR (UnitedHealthcare StudentResources). Either ways, doctor appointments and stuff are available at all medical facilities around the area. Campus and out of campus. You can just walk in to any healthcare provider and show your student card and insurance card, and get services.

I would suggest sometime in Summer, (May-July), where students are mostly moving into new housing, or are looking for room mates to move into new housing as well. But you should start looking out the moment you have your email and join those Facebook groups.

Hi Charlie Moon, do you mind having room mates? If you do not mind having room mates, it might be useful to find off campus housing (that might be near to shuttle bus stations that can bring you to school). There are a few UB Facebook groups you can join to look for such options. (You will need to have a UB email associated with your Facebook account to access those) Here are some examples: https://www.facebook.com/groups/263497677085862/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/223180237784273/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/222079761227654/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/223202237782073/ Students will usually post looking for roommates for off-campus or on-campus housing, or even subleasing, you can try those groups and see if it suits you.

No problem at all @raul.carmo. Glad I could help. Well, it is indeed true that South Campus is more accessible to more places of interest. As the South does have proximity to the bus terminals that you can take Greyhound buses to NYC or many other places. Greyhound Schedule here: http://bustracker.greyhound.com/stops/150249/Buffalo_NY But, the South Campus is close to downtown living, there are plenty of bars, pubs, and party houses around the area. Along with that comes the issue of crimes and disturbances that are caused to people living there. You can refer to CrimeReports for information of crimes reported at the areas: https://www.crimereports.com/home/#!/dashboard?lat=42.955291792981775&lng=-78.84681701660156&zoom=12&incident_types=Assault%2CAssault%20with%20Deadly%20Weapon%2CBreaking%20%26%20Entering%2CDisorder%2CDrugs%2CHomicide%2CKidnapping%2CLiquor%2COther%20Sexual%20Offense%2CProperty%20Crime%2CProperty%20Crime%20Commercial%2CProperty%20Crime%20Residential%2CQuality%20of%20Life%2CRobbery%2CSexual%20Assault%2CSexual%20Offense%2CTheft%2CTheft%20from%20Vehicle%2CTheft%20of%20Vehicle&start_date=2018-03-13&end_date=2018-03-27&days=sunday%2Cmonday%2Ctuesday%2Cwednesday%2Cthursday%2Cfriday%2Csaturday&start_time=0&end_time=23&include_sex_offenders=false&current_tab=map&shapeIds= You can see that the North Campus (the purple region above, near Maple Rd on the map), is almost, entirely quiet. The further you go South, it gets pretty intense with lots of activities. There is also the famous "drunk bus" back in my time as well to bring students from North to and fro South for partying. Interesting to read about here: http://www.ubspectrum.com/article/2017/08/ub-reacts-to-the-drunk-bus-elimination Most of the public buses are not very reliable as they do not come on fixed schedules. You are better off relying on UB Stampede Shuttle Buses to get around to places you want to go. The destinations these buses varies, and include shopping, schools, and other places. To travel around Buffalo campuses and surrounding places (markets, stores, etc), refer here for UB Stampede Shuttle Bus service schedules: https://www.buffalo.edu/parking/getting-around-UB/bus.html You can see that the shuttle bus schedules for: Fun Run Galleria (Walden Galleria), and Mall and Market Shuttle (market and stores), both originate from North and South. So regardless where you stay, you will be most likely relying on the UB Stampede Shuttle Buses to get around, and it will not make much difference if you live in the North or the South to access those places of interest. I did not stay in the South myself, but I did need to visit quite a few times during my studies as I had some courses there as well. I lived off campus on North Campus, but I had a car to drive around, so it was convenient for me. But if I were you, I would prefer to live at North Campus if I had to go to school there. Just my two cents.

Hello there @raul.carmo. I did my undergraduate at SUNY Buffalo, so I may be able to help you out here. And you are definitely right, the frigid winters can catch you off guard if you are not prepared for it. Be ready to wear snow/hiking boots, and warm jacket almost everyday during your studies (except for summer). An average meal in Buffalo can vary for $5 to $20, depending on what you want to eat. You can order Pizza from Papa John's all day for crazy cheap, or choose to cook for an entire week in the freezer, or even eat out everyday in school. There are major supermarkets in the area that those shuttle buses mentioned below will potentially bring you to, so you can do your groceries. (Wegmans, Traders Joe, Tops, Walmart, etc.) You can get good deals if you choose to buy ingredients and cook by yourself at home. Surviving with your assistantship is definitely possible, I have had friends who survive on less. Regarding housing, you have a couple of options actually. The North Campus at Buffalo is a rather safe place to live in on or off, the only difference is the cost and method of transportation to school. Ideally, you have 3 options. Live on campus, Live off campus, and Rent your own house/apartment. Each with its pros and cons. If you choose to live on-campus, these are the options for you to live as a Graduate Student: http://www.buffalo.edu/campusliving/find-your-home/where-can-i-live.html You can choose between: Creekside Village West Apartments, Flickinger Court Apartments, Flint Village Apartments, Hadley Village Apartments, South Lake Village Apartments, Ellicott Complex Residence Halls, South Campus Residence Halls (not applicable to you since you're going to North Campus for school.) The room rates can be found here: http://www.buffalo.edu/campusliving/apply-for-housing/rates.html Taking Flint Village Apartments as a gauge, the 1bed/1bath option for 9 months comes up to be $10,160, which is about ~$1129/month. (Flint is a great place to stay at, I had many friends who lived there during their studies.) Benefits of on-campus housing include proximity to school, and convenient shuttle bus to your class or lab. You can read up on more benefits here: http://www.buffalo.edu/campusliving/find-your-home/see-whats-included.html If you choose to live off-campus, read up here first: http://www.buffalo.edu/campusliving/find-your-home/living-off-campus.html Then you have two broad possibilities: 1.) American Campus: https://www.americancampus.com/student-apartments/ny/buffalo American Campus offers off-campus housing at 3 locations around SUNY North Campus which is convenient for students as well. - University Village at Sweethome: https://www.americancampus.com/student-apartments/ny/buffalo/university-village-at-sweethome - Villas on Rensch: https://www.americancampus.com/student-apartments/ny/buffalo/villas-on-rensch - Villas at Chestnut: https://www.americancampus.com/student-apartments/ny/buffalo/villas-at-chestnut-ridge With the exception of Rensch, the other two have options for individual 1bed/1bath options, ranging from $1059/mth at Chestnut, $1069/mth at Sweethome. If you do not mind having room mates, you can opt for the 4bed/4bath options at all 3 places, where you will share common areas and have your own bed and bath. Price start at $659/mth at Sweethome, to $809/mth at Rensch. They are pretty decent, and have plenty of facilities which you can use too. You can read more in their respective websites above. I had friends who lived on all 3 of these places, and they are all reasonably priced and has shuttle bus to SUNY Buffalo North Campus as well. 2.) Private Rentals: Craigslist, MJPeterson, etc. These private rental apartments/ houses are off campus as well, and can be found on rental sites or generally by searching for Buffalo NY Rentals. They are not recommended unless you are contemplating getting a car to travel around. As private rentals do not come with shuttle bus or any access to transportation (public transportation is very scarce in Buffalo), you are better off considering the other options mentioned above if you are not intending to purchase a car. Finally, regarding taxes, information can be found here: http://www.buffalo.edu/administrative-services/for-faculty-staff/international-emps-students.host.html/content/shared/www/administrative-services/public/bits-of-info/international/tabs-for-international-taxes/international-students.host.html/content/shared/www/administrative-services/public/bits-of-info/international/employment-for-international-students.host.html/content/shared/www/administrative-services/public/ub-forms/tax/it2104-new-york-state-withholding-allowance-certificate.detail.html I believe, if I did not read incorrectly, the taxes at NY might be as high as 14% if I'm not wrong, depending on your combination of funding packages (fellowships, assistantships, etc). I hope it helps you out!

Waitlisted at UW-Milwaukee. If anybody has an offer elsewhere and is not intending to go to UWM, I hope you could decline soon. Thank you. I truly appreciate it.

You can also consider Flickinger Court apartments along the Chestnut Ridge Rd as they have graduate housing too, with shutter bus to and fro UB North if I'm not wrong. When I did my undergraduate in Buffalo, I stayed off-campus in the Willow Ridge estates (also along Chestnut Ridge) and drove to school with my group of friends in the same major and program (pooled in for a car and carpool everyday). But I had some friends getting Flickinger Court housing as well.

Oh, nice! I previously did my Bachelors at the UB School of Management few years back before returning back to my home country for my Masters. Looks like I might be headed back to Buffalo this Fall again

Haha, yes. I left my browser tab on this page to see if anyone else will update on Buffalo, NY in this cycle, and happened to see your reply. What program are you applying to at Buffalo?

@meghan_paleoclimate I got accepted into Buffalo for Fall 2018, PhD in PolSci. Can't wait for semester to start already. P.S. The above post you replied to was from March 2015.

@skhann It is true for the other schools, there were cases where people do get accepted without interviews and some have been rejected even after interviews. (Once again, idiosyncratic to each profile.) But for Vanderbilt's case, I have to say that they are very specific about interviews. As mentioned in the DGS email about their timeline of applications, "3. Week of Jan. 29: Admissions committee meets again to discuss and review each subfield’s “long short-lists.” Coming out of this meeting we will then move to stage two in which we schedule phone or Skype interviews with those applicants that remain under consideration. Applicants will likely be contacted at some point during the first or second week of February to schedule these interviews. If you have not been contacted by the end of the second week of February, this likely means that your application has not advanced to this second stage." Therefore, it appears the deadline for Vanderbilt's department to reach out for interviews will be the end of this coming week, and if there's still no notifications about interviews by then, I'm afraid that means that the application will be likely a rejection.

I think, it might be attributed to weekends being non-working days. Moreover, if admissions were already done with decisions in the first place, it seems strange for them to actually schedule email blasts on a non-working weekend and instead do it immediately or on workdays. But, there is still a minor chance that rejections might get sent out over weekends or ungodly hours due to the generic nature of such notifications that does not necessitate any immediate response from faculty should there be any questions from rejected applicants. Well, I may be wrong, but this are my experiences with the cycle so far.

Claiming that acceptance from SUNY-UB! Received acceptance email from Graduate Director of program, with full tuition coverage and stipend. Details about funding to come in the week or so after confirmation from Dean of College of Arts and Sciences! Finally, first confirmed funded offer from a school! Whew...

Oh! I see what you mean now! In my memory, there were students for every department when I applied to it (including PoliSci). But looking at the site now, the department has indeed did some update on the system, and many of the other "current students" that I saw for my program were also no longer listed! I am not sure what is going on too. Perhaps give it a few more days and you should see some "new" faces there.

I had applied to UTD (PhD in Public Policy and Political Economy) on November 30th , and was notified on December 14th via email from the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences that I was admitted. Official acceptance letter came on December 15th. The deadline for UTD was January 15th for the program, that's why I was quite surprised about the timeline as well. I suspect they do rolling reviews of applications as they come in. So I think your admission is definitely possible.