LeftField

I can't speak to the Zipcar, but I lived in the Raleigh area of NC for years, so their utilities are pretty familiar. You're right, utilities are usually not included. About 2 years ago, I had a 1000 sqft house, and the electric (no gas) ran between $200 at the peak of summer/winter and $80 in spring/fall with the windows open as much as possible. Water was $50/mo. It will run you less in an apartment/duplex, of course.

Yeah, I still haven't gotten any info from the school. My landlord wants me out at the end of June, so I'll be moving up there July 1. I'm looking at the Germantown area for public transportation and being centrally located so my SO won't have too much of a commute once he gets a job. I'm getting antsy about not having info ... I feel like I should be registering for classes by now!

Yeah, me too! I've been in Charleston, SC for the past few years, so the descriptions of the scary area around Temple and the cost of living aren't a change for me, but it's a huge city! Right now everythings pending on my S.O. getting a job. Wherever that is will determine where we go. I've heard Germantown is a nice, safe, suburb with good access to the campus. I'm aiming for there or Old City/University City if it's possible. Where are you looking at?

I'm going to be in Temple's Religion Dept. Anyone else heading that way? What will you be studying?

All the places I mentioned (Umstead, Lake Johnson, Falls Lake) have hiking/biking trails. Lake Johnson is a short trail, 3 miles, but close to campus if you just need to get out. Umstead's trail is 7 miles I think. The Falls Lake trails are part of the Raleigh greenways, and just the small part of them I've been on was over 7 miles. If you're into hiking and camping, there's the Appalachian Trail, but while I'm sure there's trails with camping closer than that, I just don't know them.

yup, that's exactly how I'm feeling. I'm going to make a campus visit up to my school next week. maybe being there will make me feel better about it!

One of the schools I'm deciding on is Temple. Is anyone out there a student there that would be willing to share their experience with the program? Or if not, what's the general impression of the quality of their religion department? I'm coming in from out of field, so I'm winging this

Out of all I applied for, I've been accepted at my backup school, and I'm waitlisted at another school I like much better with little or no hope of getting in (pessimistic, I know). At first, I was excited that I got in anywhere. Now, I'm not so sure. With my pessimism rampant, I'm afraid that my acceptance at the backup school is a sign that they're an awful program and that going there will ruin my career. But I also don't want to wait another year and reapply on the off chance that I'll magically get in somewhere else next time. Anyone else dealing with backup school heebee jeebies? How are you dealing with it?

Money and waitlisting are hampering my movement at this point. I've been accepted to Temple, which is ok, but without funding. I'm waitlisted at Syracuse, and I'd really rather go there, especially if there's a possibility of ANY funding whatsoever. But waiting on them is killing me. I want to wait for Syracuse, because if they say yes I'm going there. But if they say no and I end up at Temple, I need to be hunting for scholarships and grants yesterday! bah.

It would be painful, in my opinion. You'd be looking at Burlington, which on a good day with the wind at your back is 50 min from each. But the traffic in Greensboro (on the WS side) and in RTP (on the Raleigh side) is hateful. During high traffic times you'd both be looking at a 1 1/2 hr commute each way.

Ok, true story. Applied to 7 schools and had 5 rejections at that point. I had totally given up hope and was already making plans to talk to my boss about staying on for another year. On top of all the stress of the rejections, my doctor had decided that a funny looking bump needed to be removed, so after work I went for the procedure and came home with stitches in a place that made it difficult to sit. So I'm freaked out about stitches (I'm a pansy) and worried about the labwork (it was either nothing, or melanoma, fun choices!) and when I walk in the door my husband hands me a skinny envelope from Temple. I was so emotionally exhausted I nearly threw it in the trash unread. Thankfully, I opened it anyways and had to read the first sentence 3 times before it clicked. I laughed for 5 minutes at the irony and then cried for 15 from all the stress lifting. And the bump turned out to be nothing.

Excellent, thanks all for the ideas!

I went to NCSU for my undergrad and grew up in the sticks north of Raleigh. The campus is great, but the on campus housing was pretty scary when I was there. They've done a bunch of construction since then, including oncampus apartments, so the newer stuff could be good. There are a lot of apartments and houses for rent, especially south of the campus along Avent Ferry road. The further you go from campus, the nicer they get. I lived near Lake Johnson Park, about a mile from campus and it was lovely. Great park with a walking path about a mile from campus. If you are willing to live farther from campus, Cary is a very nice area, quite family friendly. For entertainment, it really depends on what you're into. There's great cultural stuff on campus and in downtown Raleigh, and even more if you're willing to head to Duke or UNC (20 and 40 minutes away, respectively). There's a First Friday of the month Art Walk in downtown, and lots of nice restaurants and museums. If you're a nerd like me, I recommend a visit to the Museum of Life and Science in Durham. It's a kids museum, but lots of fun. If you're into outdoorsy stuff, the area is dotted with lakes and parks. Check out Falls Lake, Kerr Lake, and Umstead Park. There's also some good shopping at Crabtree Valley Mall and a nice Farmer's Market just a few miles from campus. Really though, the greatest attraction to the Raleigh area are the available day-trips and weekend trips. The beaches of Wilmington and the Outer Banks are 2 hours away, Asheville and the Appalachian mountains of NC and VA are 3-4 hours. Great camping at Hungry Mother State Park, Douthat, and the Peaks of Otter. Also, there are some nifty little wineries an hour west of Raleigh in the Eno River area, there's a neat isolated park called Medoc Mountain an hour and a half east of Raleigh, and you can go skydiving in Youngsville. If you're living in Raleigh and don't make it out of the town, you've missed out on the best the area has to offer. Not that the town itself is bad, there's just a lot of fun to be had!

Ok, this may seem like a silly question to some, but what's the weather like? I'm heading to Temple this fall, and I'm coming from Charleston, SC. If there's a possibility of frozen water falling from the sky, everything shuts down here until it's over. Anyone out there that's made the South/North transition and would like to comment on it? I'm not sure if I need to start buying sweaters or what

Glad to hear there's someone else out there waiting on them as well! I emailed them last Friday to inquire, and they said they'd have letters in the mail in 2 to 3 weeks. Good luck!