peppermintgal

Hello, My boyfriend and I just leased an apartment in Providence, so while I am new to the city, I can give a few tips on the process. I found the Brown Auxiliary Housing website (http://www.brown.edu/Administration/Aux ... index.html) very useful. It gives tips on good neighborhoods to live, general housing & utility costs, things to consider/watch out for before signing a lease, and also has a section with apartment listings. I also had good advice from other graduate students in my department and from professors, so I would recommend getting in touch with people in your program who have lived there for a couple years. Finally, I found Craig's List to be the best place to look because you can get in touch with the landlords themselves instead of going through rental agencies of which there seem to be a lot of in Providence. Often landlords will happily send more photos and answer all your questions, and even go out of their way to secure the apartment for you if they have a good feeling about you. In terms of advanced payment, I had to pay one month's rent as a security deposit plus an additional $150 cleaning deposit. I do not think you can be charged more than one month's rent for the security deposit, so that is what you should expect to pay. Hope this helps!

Hi! Thanks for the tip on apartments. We ended up finding a two-bedroom for $1065 without utilities in the 02906 area. In fact, it is right near my department, so is very ideal. I noticed a lot of great looking places for less money a bit further afield, but I think it is worth it for convenience sake. However, I am a bit worried about the cost of utilities in winter, which, from what I've heard, can be very high in Providence. I hope we're not being completely ripped off! Compared to the overpriced Brown graduate housing, it seems like a real deal! Anyway, if anyone has any tips on places to eat, grab a good coffee, or nice beaches, let me know!

Hello! I will be moving to Providence with my boyfriend this summer as I will be attending Brown Grad School in the Fall. We are looking for a 2-bedroom apartment near campus and I just wanted to ask if anyone knew how much we should expect to pay per month...? I saw a great apartment online for $1150 not including utilities and wanted to know if this was on the high end of things or average. Thanks!

So, a couple days after posting that I was accepted to my top choice! Only 2 students were accepted for the program, so I am a lucky gal. I was waitlisted, so no one should give up hope if they are on a waiting list and have yet to hear anything - even if it is a tiny program at a top tier school.

I was waitlisted at my top choice and am anxiously waiting for April 15th to roll around so I will know if I am in or out. It is a small program with about 2-3 matriculates a year. Does anyone want to make an guess as to what the chances of me getting in at this point are? Do you think those accepted are planning on rejecting or accepting their offers this late in the game? What could this delay mean?

I am in the same boat, plus I just got laid off at work! One waitlist, but otherwise across the board rejections. If nothing pans out, I am planning to take this year and improve my applications for next Fall - retake the GRE, submit papers to conferences and journals and keep myself involved in the field. School is not everything people! There are numerous ways of finding meaningful, intellectually stimulating, creative lives outside the realm of academia. It involves more effort to create these kinds of opportunities outside of school, but it is certainly possible. I also know a lot of people who say that not getting into school was the best thing to happen them. They were able to re-evaluate their reasons for wanting to go to school and often found more meaningful pursuits through their unexpected year of exploration. Just keep doing what you enjoy doing and do not get discouraged!

I am waitlisted at my top choice school and have no other offers from schools. I emailed professors and they said they would not know until April 15th. While I know there is really nothing that can be done at this point except painfully wait it out, does anyone know if people who wait until April 15th to give notice are more likely to accept or decline an offer?

Thanks Lizzie for that information. I have also read that there will be an exceptional number of waitlisted students this year because schools are still unsure how the economic situation is going to affect them and so do not want to over enroll. However, for me it is healthier to assume that I will not get in and perhaps be pleasantly surprised come April or May.

I still haven't heard from some schools, including NYU and just wanted to ask who I should direct acceptance questions to...? I think I'd rather know now, even if it means hearing I was rejected.

Thanks for your replies! Who exactly do I direct questions to about how the waiting list works at a particular school?

I am still waiting on NYU as well! I am assuming this means rejection...

I recently heard that I was waitlisted at my first choice school. I immediately emailed the professors to tell them it was my first choice and asked if they wanted any additional material from me. They responded saying they were impressed with my application, but did not ask for anything from me. I am now feeling that perhaps I should have been more specific and asked if I should send more recommendations or writing samples...or if perhaps I should simply go ahead and send those along. I do not want to annoy them and seem overly demanding and pushy, but I also want to be sure they know how enthusiastic I am. What should I do?