esotera

any thoughts on how easy it is to live without a car in chicago? is it necessary to live close to the el, and then still a hassle? do a lot of people do it? thanks!

Can anyone recommend neighborhoods to look for with easy commutes to DePaul and Loyola? I know absolutely nothing about Chicago and it feels overwhelming. I can tell it will be easier to live near the red line. I'm not really interested in living in lincoln park, gay and lesbian friendly places are good, and I'm concerned about safety because I will be coming home fairly late quite a bit. Thanks so much!

Unfortunately, I don't know much about the cost of living . It seemed extraordinarily inexpensive because I was also staying with a friend in NYC. I would check out craigslist.org (go to new york city, then type in long island or stony brook) to get an idea of rent cost. As for initial arrival, that totally depends on how much stuff you have. I've travelled the LIRR with quite a bit of luggage, so it's doable, but will probably be easier to just get a van at the airport to take you where you're going.

I visited, have a friend there, and am pretty familiar with the area. I think you should definitely check it out for yourself. The above comment, for example, is not at all my experience of SB. The LIRR is great, runs regularly, I had no problem getting into and out of NYC (in somewhere around an 1-1.5 hrs) and I think the campus is really nice. Maybe I'm just crazy. I really like the fact that it is not in NYC, that you can live cheaply (comparatively, of course) but still go into NYC for the day. Just my two cents.

Yay for humanities: tution waived, 15.5K fellowship for first two years, next four guaranteed at least that much in teaching. Guess I should have gone into physics.

Thank you so much for your answers! They were very helpful. I have a roommate and we are hoping to live close to DePaul. I'm planning on working in the summers and I can eat cheaply so hopefully it will all work out. Thanks for the advice about having heat included. I'm excited about Chicago, I've heard wonderful things, I just really cannot fathom that kind of cold. People complain here if it's below 60 degrees.

It seems I will be moving to Chicago: 1) I have lived in the south my whole life, will I die from the cold? How do people survive in the winters? I am completely serious. What kind of coat should I buy? 2) Is 15,500 enough to live? (I know, just live cheaply, but thoughts or experiences are helpful.) 3) Is lincoln park really yuppie and trendy? Are there non-white people there? Thanks much.

Well, that's depressing.

I have heard many unpleasant stories about the difficulty women face getting accepted into programs. I suspect there are many reasons why it is predominantly females that have responded so far here... I know three women in PhD programs right now, and they all felt much more anxiety about the whole thing than men that I know in similar programs. The roots of gender biases (um, not to mention the racial breakdown of philosophy programs) go really really deep, especially when you get into more analytic, logic-based programs. My background is heavy in feminist theory and I have been told by one professor at a school (someone I have been in contact with) that the three women profs on the admin committee couldn't get my application through the other members, who insisted my background in feminist and race theory made me too "narrow" for the program. Obviously these are incredibly complicated issues, and perspectives fall on all sides...... so I'll stop talking now.

hey thomasf-- did you hear anything back from depaul? i'm the anon from above. i also thought i had a good chance because my two letter writers are good friends with people in the dept. sigh. i guess they have a lot of friends. i want to call and ask but i'm way too nervous. as for being 'specialized,' well, these are my interests: 20th french (esp. kristeva and irigaray (hellooo tina chanter)), aesthetic theory (esp. kant), medieval philosophy (focusing on questions of sexual difference and mysticism), psychoanalysis, race theory, feminist theory. I may just move to chicago and start attending classes...