marcopolo13

Seconded, thank you for the inside information! Its nice to know that other people have survived the PhD process. I know I learned some of these the hard way in undergrad. Its nice to get practical advice from current students

Something really similar happened to me too. I received an e-mail from a school offering a tuition waver and funding, but said I had to respond in three days. I asked for an extension and was denied, and I frantically called all the other schools I was waiting to hear from, all of which said the same generic "we haven't made final decisions yet". I accepted their offer because I couldn't bring myself to turn it down in case I didn't get in anywhere else. This school also signed the April 15th resolution, so I guess my answer wasn't legally binding, right? I'm really happy to get into this program, but I generally like to have all of my information before I make such an important decision.

I am currently finishing up my undergrad at U of R, and I live off campus. I can tell you that while it is more convenient to live on campus, you can definitely get by without a car by living along one of the bus lines (particularly the red or gold lines). The red line runs from U of R main (river) campus to Eastman school of music, and runs through South wedge, park ave, and other neighborhoods about once an hour from 6 am-2am. The gold line runs thru the 19th ward (not a great area) about every 30 minutes. I live in southwedge on the red line, and although I have a car I almost never use it to get to school. I currently live in an appartment in south wedge about a 30 minute walk from campus, 2 blocks from a red line bus stop. My rent is $845 a month split 3 ways, so its really cheap. Its in a pretty safe part of town, a short walk away from great bars and quirky hippy shops. We got our apartment through Southwedge properties LLC., they have lots of them in the area. Cost of living in Rochester is really cheap, which is good! the best off campus places to live are probably along the red line or behind strong memorial hospital. If you want something a little nicer, there is an appartment complex called Rustic Villages near campus that has buses running to it a few times a day. Its a nice facility, with a gym, laundry, security, and pretty new buildings.