nugget3

The Asian market I go to every week is CAM on Bethel Rd. From my house in Grandview, it's maybe a 15-minute drive. I do believe they have Vietnamese food items - they definitely have Chinese, Japanese, Korean, some Indian... It's a huge store, with a big selection! I've heard there are other (smaller) Asian markets, but I haven't visited any yet. There are also some Mediterranean food import stores with wide selections of olive oils, feta cheese, spices, and olives, among other things. I doubt anything would be too hard to find here! You could maybe call a store and ask if they have something specific.

For these areas, I think waiting until May would be better. The very best options go quickly -- often the same day of posting. But apartments in these areas seem to open 1-2 months before move-in, so looking now probably wouldn't help much. (You can check out craigslist to see when the posted apartments in these areas are available for move-in.) I haven't actually even been down there yet, but I know it's pretty far away, from campus, and I personally don't know any students (grad or otherwise) who live there. But looking at the COTA bus system, it seems like the 7, 8, and 18 lines would take you pretty much straight to campus from German Village. Even the 2 goes pretty close to German Village (and the 21, which is the nighttime equivalent of the 2). It looks like it would take 22-35 minutes just on the bus, not including walking time to and from stops (and Ohio State is pretty big, so you might have to walk a ways). The 2 is pretty frequent, but I'm not sure how frequently the other buses run. Looking at the schedules, it honestly doesn't seem like it'd take that much longer to get to campus from German Village compared to Grandview, where I live. Drat! Bus schedules can be found here: http://www.cota.com/Schedules.aspx The best way to plan a trip is to go to Google Maps and get "public transit" directions between your locations of interest. (It's endorsed by COTA.) I don't think COTA is that bad at all. I often take the bus when the weather is too bad for biking (or I'm lazy). It's often a couple minutes late, often right on time, and rarely quite late (~15-20 minutes). That usually only happens when it has just snowed 4 inches, or rush hour is particularly bad... at least for the routes to Grandview.

Agreed. Except the last point -- I contend that neither Lucky's nor Whole Foods has better prices! Lucky's has great prices on bulk and produce items, while Whole Foods does not (since they are almost all purely organic - although you can still get for example walnuts for the same price at Lucky's and Whole Foods, just not in the bulk bin). But Lucky's has higher prices on packaged food. $5 for Kashi Go Lean, whaaat? Just my two cents. And Whole Foods has a better wine/beer tasting than Lucky's... so far! Live in Clintonville! There's also a really cool farmer's market in the summer on Saturdays. Haven't been, but my friend who lives there loves it. (And Lucky's, go figure.) Still wish I lived in Clintonville... whose idea was it that Grandview is "hip" ??

CorruptedInnocence, I wouldn't live as far away from campus as Grove City or Bexley, or even Hilliard if making friends and connections is very important to you. I haven't spent much time in those areas, but they are suburban and far away, and not where many (any?) OSU grad students live. You'd be better off living in a quieter area of Columbus. Most areas that I have been in are NOT dangerous. I live in Grandview and would walk around the neighborhood at night by myself (female). It's a very safe area, more surburban which is honestly boring to me, but still very close to the action. I appreciate it because our landlord is nice, the neighborhood is quiet, and there's grocery stores and bus lines right around the corner. Most people I know don't live around here, however, they are up in Old North Columbus or southern Clintonville. I honestly wish I lived in south Clintonville, since it's closer to people and more interesting things (like I said... Grandview is kind of boring, for grad students anyway). Upper Arlington borders Grandview and is also a good option for a safe, quiet area, although it's perhaps even more suburban (and pricier?) than Grandview. Definitely avoid the university area. I hear there are lots of loud parties, and I'm so glad I'm not around that. (I think a previous poster delineated the area. You'll know it when you get here!) Price ranges vary, but good deals go quickly. I was lucky and got my apartment from a fourth-year in my department who was moving to a new place, and I'm pretty sure we have a great deal on our rent for the size and location. But I only found it after LOTS of looking... good luck!

I also hate "Best". It's not a full thought! That's my only problem with it. Best what??? Almost any other goodbye, or even none at all, is better than Best!

That's great to hear that the whole electronic process worked for someone. It can happen! Although more and more landlords are saying that they want someone in the area to look at the apartment... I also hear the previous poster on realizing that so many places seem to be run by slumlords, or are filthy, etc. I thought I found the perfect place, but the landlords have the worst reviews I have ever seen. Many other landlords in the area also seem pretty unfavorable. Guess I'll keep looking!

I'm not stressed out, yet... because I know there's still lots of time. But I am in the same situation as the international students: though I'm American, I'm living abroad until the summer, and have never been to the city I'm moving to. Thanks to the City Guide thread, I know where I want to live and how much to pay, but there's really no way for me to visit and sign a lease before school starts. I have been scouring 4-5 different rental websites, and just started contacting some landlords, but I think it's going to be hard without having someone to go look at apartments for me (which one landlord wants). I can't even call anyone without dropping a bunch of money! sweetpearl16, were you able to sign a lease completely electronically? How did that work? I just have to remind myself... there's still time! Most of the listings are for immediate move-in, so I can guess there will be new immediate move-in rentals for when I arrive as well. And many people don't have to give more than 30-60 days' notice, so those places won't be up until June/July anyway. Here's to hoping we all have somewhere to live by the time school starts!

your humble servant, that series sounds really interesting! What's it called? I've never visited Columbus before, so it would be cool to see the city from a historical perspective.

I'm also heading to OSU in the fall! And looking for apartments... this doesn't seem like it will be easy.

Maybe this was mentioned before, but I don't know if I can find it in the other pages... can anyone delineate the "undergrad area" around campus? I know where I'd LIKE to live, but I figure I should check out everything in a ~2 mile radius of campus, excluding the undergrad area, except I don't know exactly where it begins and ends. Thanks!

Thanks for your thoughtful reply! Yeah, there are so many positives to each program, just different ones, so it's hard to choose and know what's best for me at this point. I don't even know what I find most important now, since I already filtered out a lot of universities that were in an undesirable location, or didn't have enough research going on in my field of interest, and didn't apply to those. I was left with 3, and was just hoping to get into ONE school! Good point that I could go on and do my PhD at School B later. That is also how I rationalized declining my third school's offer of admission. Man, rejection sucks, even if I'm the one who's giving it out! Now I'm going to re-read the current student opinions I got and see if I can get a generalized feeling from those. Unfortunately I wasn't able to visit either campus. That probably would have been the deciding factor - or maybe would have made it even harder after getting to know everyone... Thanks again!

I'm looking at math MS programs at two schools with comparable (full) funding and number of faculty I'd like to work with. (How did I get so lucky??) I'm living abroad, so haven't been able to visit, though have emailed with some current students at each school. The deets: School A: - Got $20,000 fellowship for first 12 months - don't have to work at all! Could start research early. TA the second year. - There's an institute affiliated with the department that would be a great resource. - Students attend a summer workshop with said institute, which is good for experience and networking. - Also a summer internship to get started on a research project with faculty. - Location sounds good, but winter weather isn't great - cloudy and snowy (I'm from the north, so would like to experience something different!). - Classes are a bit more general - applied math vs. my area of interest. - Requires several weeks of summer TA training, which doesn't sound like it will be very fun. - MS only, which I am perfectly happy with. School B: - TA for the first year, and I'd imagine the second as well (though not strictly guaranteed like at School A). TA'ing is not a con. - Classes are more focused on my specific area of applied math. - I'm afraid the location would feel more suburban than School A (even though it's also in a city), but I can't really be sure of that. Weather sounds nice - warm in winter! - Program director trained with expert in the field. - Seminar offers opportunities to keep up with latest research. - MS with option to transfer into PhD, although I don't know if I'll continue in this exact path for my PhD, and don't necessarily want the pressure to do so. Most MS students transfer to the PhD program. - Program doesn't have a real "home department", so it might not feel like we're a part of something. - Opportunity to work with faculty at nearby universities. I think that's everything... agh, such a hard decision! Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

I'm an American who speaks Swedish pretty well, but that still stumps me a bit! Here's a good Swedish-English dictionary. "Hos" means being at someone's place - so the case/matter/issue is at the expert/judge's place. Looks like it's under review by whoever gets to decide. But Swedes are real friendly, so you could always just email and clarify! I was in Lund for part of a day once, and it's beautiful, wish I could have studied there!

Thanks for all the advice! The farmer's market sounds totally awesome, I'm definitely going to try to buy locally grown produce after having lived far up north for several years. I will have to check out University Apartments. I also just found this page, http://www.universityapartmentsonline.com/apartmentSearch.php, which seems to have a few different complexes in Raleigh. I'm going to take a look at their websites now!

Hi! I was just accepted to a master's program at NCSU. I've read through this thread, but a lot of it pertains to housing far from NCSU, or in the other Triangle cities. I'm not looking to drive, really at all. Can anyone who lives in Raleigh tell me some good neighborhoods close to NCSU, with good bike and bus access? I would also like to be close to grocery stores, and not too far from restaurants/nightlife. What is the maximum I should pay for a 1-bedroom apartment in those areas? Thank you!