prfshift

UCLA stipends were just raised by the department to a baseline of $28k (so the minimum amount you are guaranteed), and an additional $5500 for the first year if you start in the summer. Someone I met at the visiting weekend was offered a fellowship from them, so I guess they're starting to release the fellowship information too.

West LA, Palms, Venice... all that stuff is affordable, and not even CLOSE to the sketchy east LA scene. I've spent time in Mid-Wilshire, K-Town, and know people who live there for $600-800 even (with roommates though). I might have a different definition of bikable than others though-- I think anything within a half hour on bike (about 6-7 miles) is a reasonable bike commute. If you're looking to stick to that, or well under, probably West LA or Palms is the best bet. Having a roommate (i.e., sharing a 2 BD with another person, not having someone in the same room as you!) would certainly be cheaper than getting a studio or a 1 BD, which in those same areas can range from ~$700-$1500. If you're willing to drive, you can find SUPER CHEAP housing (I'm talking under $800 for rent and all utilities), but then you'd have to commute daily from the San Fernando Valley or something and deal with the miserable rush hour traffic on the 405. Not going to lie, UCLA is pretty high up on my radar, despite the relatively low stipend (proximity to my family is nice). If I go, I plan to get my own place off-campus, probably in the West LA area. The current UCLA students are living there, on that same average (or lower) stipend, and they manage somehow, right?

So I am still waiting to hear from three of the schools that I applied to.... does anyone else just want to KNOW at this point whether it's yes or no? For these schools I don't particularly care if I even get in, I just want to know one way or the other. ARGH THE WAITING IS KILLING ME.

California Institute of Technology (Caltech): March 1-3 or March 22-24 Cornell: March 2-4 or March 30-April 1 Colorado State: Feb 17-19, March 9-11 Georgia Tech: March 15-17, April 5-7 Montana State: March 1-4 MIT: March 30-April 1 New York University: Feb 16-18, Mar 8-10 Northwestern University: March 8-10, 15-17, 29-31 Ohio State University: March 2-3, 16-17 Princeton: Feb 24-27, March 2-4, March 16-18 Rice : Feb 23-26 Scripps: Feb 23-25 or March 1-3 Stanford: March 1, 8, 15 or 22 (may combine with a Friday visit to Berkeley) SUNY Stony Brook: March 9, March 23 UC Berkeley: March 1-3, March 8-10, March 15-17 or March 22-24 UC Davis: February 16-18, March 11-12 (one is more condensed than the other) UCI: March 2, 9, 16 UC LA: January 27, March 2 or March 23 U Chicago: February 16-18 or March 8-10 University of Colorado at Boulder: March 9-10, 15-17 U Florida: February 17-19 or March 16-18 UIUC: Feb 17-18 or March 2-3 or March 23-24 or March 9-10 (Pchem) or March 30-31 (Pchem) UMich: February 2-5 UNC Chapel Hill: March 9-12 or March 30 - April 1 U Oregon: March 16-18 UPenn: March 16th-18 U Rochester: March 17 USC (Southern Cal): Feb 16-19 or March 1-4 or March 22-25 UT Southwestern (Interview): Feb 2-4 UVA: March 15th-16th University of Washington: March 9-10 Yale (General Chemistry): March 22-24

"The ability to live comfortably" is exactly how I put it when I inquired about stipends, as well as some hemming and hawing about how "well, I really like your school, but so and so is offering this much more which makes it hard to turn down." I'm in the very process of talking with various AdComs about my various offers-- hey, an extra few thousand a year is a lot of money! That said, I'm from LA, and it's perfectly possible to find a place within biking distance of UCLA for under $800 a month.

I know someone at UCLA who didn't hear back from the school until March of last year! Apparently this is not uncommon for UCLA, so don't consider it a rejection yet!

1) I have heard about other students talking to the AdComs-- say if they have a more *ahem* competitive offer from other schools-- about upping their stipends. Considering that LA is one of the more expensive cities to live in, maybe not a bad idea if you have a more competitive offer from elsewhere? 2) Word on the street is that fellowship information at UCLA comes around March.