michpc

Thanks for your insight; I'm definitely trying to take these things into consideration. I'm hoping I'll have some sort of clicking feeling in the coming weeks. My sister enlisted a professor of hers in her campaign, who is apparently familiar with Penn preservation (she works at Temple), so I've asked my sister to see if she can get any more information from her. Could be really useful to get info from a someone who is a colleague but also works for a different university. This prof. also said that the other programs were great too, though, so that's not much help, haha! I can't help but shake this "impostor syndrome" that others speak of though. It's a little overwhelming.

One issue with finding a place then finding roommates is whether you have good enough credit that the landlord will let you sign the lease by yourself, plus you'll need to be able to come up with the entire deposit. Odds are that you'll find people, but you're legally obligated for the entire lease until you do. Another option is to try to find people looking for roommates first, then search together.

In my 630 sq ft apartment with lights split about 60/40 standard/cfl bulbs, our normal monthly bill is in the $30-35 range. It goes up to about $60ish in 2 window ac units (one in bedroom, one in living room) running in the hottest part of the summer (usually mid-July through mid-August). This is the first time I've had AC though, so if you're down with suffering it out at night and studying in air conditioned places, you can fairly easily skip the cost as it generally cools fairly nicely at night for most of the summer, especially if you have enough windows for cross-ventilation. And of course during most of the academic year here, no AC needed .

fat cat

Yes, sorry that wasn't clear!

Good luck! I love it here. I would definitely recommend finding a roommate or two just for the money savings...it's not cheap here! Once it gets closer, an option is to post an ad in housing wanted on Craigslist talking about yourself, your likes and dislikes in housemates, your budget, etc. It's a good way to supplement your own search. Late summer is the busiest leasing time here, so you'll have lots of options to choose from, but it's also a bit competitive. Again, good luck!

sorry to hear :-(

baby carriage

I don't have much advice to give, as I'm in a similar situation. I am seriously contemplating Penn. Though I did receive a very small scholarship and close to the max work study, I would have to fund most of it through fed and private loans, at least the first year. However, I have admin experience, so I would possibly at least be able to cover Philly's relatively low living expenses that way. My field isn't exactly super high paying either, but I'm contemplating whether the quality of the program, and the connections that PennDesign will get me during and after my time there might be worth it. A question for others...do you know if you can simply prequalify for a bunch of private loans? Being almost 5 years out of undergrad, I have quite good credit (was able to qualify for a 0% car loan, though I ended up buying a less expensive car for cash), so I'm thinking I would be able to get competitive rates, but I obviously want to look at all possible options (or at least as many as possible).

Well, I can't say the cost of living isn't fairly pricey here, but I can say that Boston is a great city, and really not that "large". It's not a long drive to all sorts of outdoor activities, and quiet places can be found much closer. Crime can happen anywhere, but if you're a reasonably aware person (don't stand around in crowded places with an open purse, don't walk through empty parks at night with your laptop, etc) and live in a decent area, I wouldn't worry too much. Good luck with whichever decision you make, and if you end up coming to Boston, I won't be here anymore, but feel free to PM/email me for housing, etc. advice. :-)

I would double check to see that you can't order them via mail or web. I live 300 miles from my undergrad alma mater and for the grad classes I took in my current city, I still never set foot on campus to get copies, in fact it was cheaper to order them over the web than walk-in at the registrar.

90 days is a fairly standard lease clause, I've found, so basically two months before you want to move in is when listing for that date will start popping up.

Really hard to say. The only advice I have if you must order them now, rather than when you actually decide how many schools you're applying to, is to get them all sealed in individual envelopes. Most of my schools asked for that. and I'd like to take this time to thanks Syracuse University for having their transcripts be FREE!

HELP! haha.

I'm not sure what city/town you're moving to, but I might suggest asking around to find out what the best neighborhoods are, and then using that as a search template.

It means I have to maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA the first semester until I am "officially" admitted. I got a letter in the mail today; no phone call as of this late hour . And I know...I'm totally humbled by this; I honestly didn't think my chances were that great, so to be accepted at all these amazing programs is just surreal for me. I just signed up for the PennDesign open house (my little sister would LOVE for me to go there as she's a phD student at Temple, haha) and now I have to convince Vermont to give me some more time to think things over since they want a decision on the same day as that open house, wee! I'll [hopefully, if weather agrees with our flight plan] be visiting Charleston next Friday as well. Lots of preservation jobs out west, you say?

broken hearted

sweet surrender

figure drawing

yep, totally depends! I saw people getting emails from Penn about a week earlier and was ready to receive my rejection on "check the website day", but lo and behold, I got in. So, don't get your hopes up, but also don't let it hurt your spirit, there's still a chance till you read the rejection!

I'm still trying to figure out how to word this as well, as one of my schools wants to know by April 4, which is the same day as another's open house that I want to go to. I wouldn't mention anything about "first choices". I'm thinking something more along the lines of "I am still waiting to hear from all the schools I have applied to, and would like sufficient time to consider all my options, therefore it would be extremely helpful if I could wait until I have heard from everyone to make a decision." Something like that? I wouldn't mention anything about the other school being your first choice, just that you want to consider all possible options before making the decision that is best for you.

rock lobster

Conditional acceptance to U of O for me. I'm guessing this is based on my less than stellar undergrad GPA.

slippery rock

is that the new new ones, or all the magnetic ones? My cat has used mine as a chew toy repeatedly and it's still going strong after almost 2 1/2 years, haha.