Princeton, NJ

[Bleep_Bloop]

I have T-mobile because it's cheap, and reception in Princeton is okay. My phone works just fine unless I'm underground, which is only a problem when I'm working on the lower levels of Firestone. My friends who have verizon and at&t don't have this problem, but I don't care enough to switch providers.

 

[MsClio]

First post!

 

So, I finally got off the hellish housing wait list limbo and got placed in the NGC. I suppose it would be ungrateful to complain ... it sure beats having no housing at all, and as an international student, it's not like I have a whole lot of options. So I'm gonna take it and I'm gonna like it (I hope!)

 

Before I do, I'm trying to figure out the meal plan thing. I'm less than enthusiastic about doing the whole dining hall thing and I'm strongly tempted to go with the block 95 plan and fix my own meals the rest of the time. Is it actually feasible to use the common kitchen to cook on a regular-ish basis? I realize it can be difficult to work in kitchens when they're not your personal fief and you're competing for time and space, but I'd like at least to have a shot at it.

Edited June 29, 2015 by MsClio

[gorki]

Heyy MsClio!

NGC is fine, and dining halls are a great way to meet people outside of your department imo.

95 meals is what the majority of people take and is enough for 6.5 meal a week, usually dinners monday through friday, sunday brunch.  You also get free breakfast in GC and most people I know grab something to eat with their lab-mates for lunch.

In my experience there wasn't that many people using the common kitchen, so it would be feasible to cook there regularly, although not sure if you'd want to after seeing them (they are rather unclean, which create some problem with insects...)

[MsClio]

Heyy MsClio!

NGC is fine, and dining halls are a great way to meet people outside of your department imo.

95 meals is what the majority of people take and is enough for 6.5 meal a week, usually dinners monday through friday, sunday brunch.  You also get free breakfast in GC and most people I know grab something to eat with their lab-mates for lunch.

In my experience there wasn't that many people using the common kitchen, so it would be feasible to cook there regularly, although not sure if you'd want to after seeing them (they are rather unclean, which create some problem with insects...)

 

Thanks, gorki, that was really helpful and reassuring. Is the free breakfast thing new or just a grad student thing? I know the undergrad block plans didn't include it.

 

I've had an assortment of the most incredibly sloppy housemates over the years so I'm used to disaster zone kitchens and cleaning up afterwards. So, I'm gonna be optimistic and say that I should be able to make it work.

 

This makes me much happier. Thanks once again. 

Edited July 2, 2015 by MsClio

[gorki]

Hey Ms Clio, you're welcome!

Free breakfast is for graduate college resident only, you need to swipe in if you go to breakfast at one of the other residential colleges. It's a very average continental breakfast, but you can always bring your own stuff in to complement it.

Take care!

[root-kefir]

Hello!

I have a question about rooms in Old Graduate College: the housing office offered me a "3 room double" unit. What does this exatly mean? Will I have to share the bedroom with another student? I have already asked the housing office, but they did not reply to my email.

[gorki]

Hey root-kefir,

 

3 room double means that there are 3 rooms for 2 people in the apartment : 2 bedrooms and one living room.

 

You should have the unit number s.t. you can look on the floor plan for the layout (on the housing website: https://sp.princeton.edu/uservices/housing/floorplans/graduate/   you will need a puid though -- if you don't have one yet, pm me and I'll send you the pdf).  

In general 3 room doubles in OGC are very nice, congratulation!

Edited July 4, 2015 by gorki

[root-kefir]

Thank you very much for prompt answer! I have looked at the plan, but I was a bit confused by the terminology: in NGC all the rooms are "single", although there is only one bathroom for 6 rooms. I assumed that "double" must be worse than "single". It turned out that it is actually better.

[surlefil]

Hi! I have a question. I will not live close to campus, so I am considering the possibility of paying for a room to stay maybe one or two nights a week. I would only need a bed and maybe some space to store some things. Maybe there are rooms in family houses or something. Do you think it would be possible to find something like that?

[Bleep_Bloop]

Haven't heard of this happening... The students (and faculty) I know who live in NYC or Philly just take the train in. Sure, you can rent an individual room in a house near campus, but they'll charge you normal rent for it (I've seen them on tigertrade for anywhere between $600-800 a month, but no guarantee that it'll be in a convenient location). At that rate you'll just be renting two places. Outside of the daily commute I'm pretty sure your options would be to stay in a hotel or crash on a friend's couch.

[ajak568]

Does anybody know anything about freelance (Spanish/English) interpreting work in the area?

 

I'll be starting a grad program at Princeton in the fall and I'm wondering what's the best way to go about trying to get a little freelance work supplement my stipend. Anybody have any leads?

 

At this point I've just been doing online research and I'm starting to reach out to interpreting services and to the New Jersey courts. Any leads or any advice from anyone with experience in the field would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[surlefil]

On 7/4/2015 at 4:54 PM, Bleep_Bloop said:

Haven't heard of this happening... The students (and faculty) I know who live in NYC or Philly just take the train in. Sure, you can rent an individual room in a house near campus, but they'll charge you normal rent for it (I've seen them on tigertrade for anywhere between $600-800 a month, but no guarantee that it'll be in a convenient location). At that rate you'll just be renting two places. Outside of the daily commute I'm pretty sure your options would be to stay in a hotel or crash on a friend's couch.

Thanks! I'm willing to take the train, but I'm considering staying there once a week if I take a course that starts very early in the morning.

[liquidmountains]

Just moved to Princeton and living off-campus. Does anyone know which internet providers offer the best deals for home wifi?

[mountlasso]

I think the best deal for Internet in Princeton is Verizon fios---great upload speeds and much more reliable service (customer service) than Comcast in my personal experience (they gave me headaches over a bad installation for a couple months because no one there is competent). Those two are really your only options.

[MarkMc]

Princeton is a great town.  I took my first VP job in town on Nassau St.  It's a great little college town and the surrounding area is pretty affluent (they one of the best public school districts in the state).  Getting in and out can be tough (Route 1 is a nightmare during rush hour and 27 is a 2 lane setup that can take a while to get anywhere).  You can certainly live and work.  If someone is commuting to NYC you'd have to take the train, connect to Princeton Junction and head up.  Living around Princeton Junction, Trenton, or Hamilton Train Stations is a benefit.  Trenton will be the cheapest, but can be rough (there are some nice historic neighborhoods in Mill Hill, Cadawalder Heights, Hiltonia) that have held up.  Hamilton is kind of transitional between Trenton and Princeton.  Princeton Junction is straight suburbia, no downtown, but quick access to surrounding areas.  Keep in mind that train service comes into Penn - so tack on time to get around the city if someone isn't working in that area.  Commuting to Princeton from Columbia or vice versa could be suicide (2 hours?).  Jersey City has great transit service into the city, but then you're looking at a reverse drive of 45min-1hour (with light traffic) or you can park at the Airport or in Newark and take the train down.  I rate Princeton highly and would love to return someday.

[geraud]

Hi everybody. Does anybody here know how hard the commute between Princeton and UPenn is? I've been admitted to Princeton and my wife to Penn, we are starting to deliberate whether it might be possible to live together. Thank you!!

[DC1020]

It's very doable, though not particularly convenient.  The drive is about 45 minutes without traffic.  Public transit is also an option but you'll have to change trains twice - once at Trenton and again at Princeton Junction.  You'd probably have to budget an hour and a half or maybe even more.

Edited February 23, 2016 by DC1020

[avflinsch]

12 minutes ago, DC1020 said:

It's very doable, though not particularly convenient.  The drive is about 45 minutes without traffic.  Public transit is also an option but you'll have to change trains twice - once at Trenton and again at Princeton Junction.  You'd probably have to budget an hour and a half or maybe even more.

It would really depend on where you are living. If in Philly or Princeton, public transportation is a possibility as noted, and the 45 minute drive will only happen a few times a year - if you are lucky  -- unless you tend to travel at 2am

An intermediate solution - Bordentown perhaps, might work with 30-40 minutes to either if driving, same public transportation problems as above
Bordentown Riverline -> Trenton, then NJ Transit -> Princeton Jct, and the dinky to Princeton
Bordentown Riverline -> Camden, then Patco -> Philadelphia, and subway as needed

Perfectly doable unless you only have one car and have the same work/school schedules, then one of you will need to be inconvenienced with public transportation.

 

[hswg]

I would agree with the post above. I live a few blocks from UPenn now and would say the drive is much more likely over an hour than 45 minutes. Even at 2 am or a Sunday, you can pretty much count on Philly traffic being a headache, and that is particularly true during rush hour.

 

On another note, I'll also be visiting Princeton in mid March! 

[geraud]

20 hours ago, hswg said:

I would agree with the post above. I live a few blocks from UPenn now and would say the drive is much more likely over an hour than 45 minutes. Even at 2 am or a Sunday, you can pretty much count on Philly traffic being a headache, and that is particularly true during rush hour.

 

On another note, I'll also be visiting Princeton in mid March! 

 

On 23/2/2016 at 1:04 PM, avflinsch said:

It would really depend on where you are living. If in Philly or Princeton, public transportation is a possibility as noted, and the 45 minute drive will only happen a few times a year - if you are lucky  -- unless you tend to travel at 2am

An intermediate solution - Bordentown perhaps, might work with 30-40 minutes to either if driving, same public transportation problems as above
Bordentown Riverline -> Trenton, then NJ Transit -> Princeton Jct, and the dinky to Princeton
Bordentown Riverline -> Camden, then Patco -> Philadelphia, and subway as needed

Perfectly doable unless you only have one car and have the same work/school schedules, then one of you will need to be inconvenienced with public transportation.

 

 

On 23/2/2016 at 0:39 PM, DC1020 said:

It's very doable, though not particularly convenient.  The drive is about 45 minutes without traffic.  Public transit is also an option but you'll have to change trains twice - once at Trenton and again at Princeton Junction.  You'd probably have to budget an hour and a half or maybe even more.

Thank you very much @hswg @avflinsch @DC1020! I'm starting to give up on the possibility of living with her full-time, at least for the first, course-intensive year. This commute is looking harder every new advice I get...

[cwr]

Hi all, I was wondering what sort of monthly expenditures would be reasonable for a graduate student living in Princeton.

I'm not from the area, so I would live on-campus (or very near to campus). I'll be alone (no pets, partners, dependents, etc. to speak of), and generally I'm comfortable with living relatively frugally. Other than the upfront cost of clothing warm enough for the northeast, I don't anticipate any expenses outside of housing, food, and miscellaneous costs. I realize the amount will vary, but a ballpark estimate would be great.

Thanks in advance for any help!

[CarefreeWritingsontheWall]

Open question - how have people found the new Lakeside graduate student apartments since they opened last summer (2015)? Like many previous posters, I'm averse to living in a dorm style room as I haven't in the last 5 years though I'm single. I plan on requesting a pet friendly unit however, as I'm aiming to bring my dog with me. Does anyone have any experience moving into graduate housing with pets?

[Bleep_Bloop]

4 hours ago, CarefreeWritingsontheWall said:

Open question - how have people found the new Lakeside graduate student apartments since they opened last summer (2015)? Like many previous posters, I'm averse to living in a dorm style room as I haven't in the last 5 years though I'm single. I plan on requesting a pet friendly unit however, as I'm aiming to bring my dog with me. Does anyone have any experience moving into graduate housing with pets?

I'm happy living in Lakeside and certainly prefer it over Lawrence; it's greatly improved over my situation last year. To be honest, Lawrence feels pretty dorm-y compared to Lakeside. I think the units are smaller, and the concrete walls there just remind of an undergrad dorm. Lakeside is basically brand new (I'm the first person to have lived in this unit) and the amenities are nice (especially the gym on site, plenty of parking, plus washer/dryer in-unit...no more scavenging for quarters!). It's RIGHT next to the dinky, which is very convenient for getting to New York, Philly, the airport, etc. I have a cat, but I also think Lakeside would be a great place to have a dog if you can land a pet-friendly unit. It's on the southern edge of campus and there are a bunch of trails nearby that are great for walking and running. The area is very quiet and nature-y, which I love.

[CarefreeWritingsontheWall]

9 hours ago, Bleep_Bloop said:

I'm happy living in Lakeside and certainly prefer it over Lawrence; it's greatly improved over my situation last year. To be honest, Lawrence feels pretty dorm-y compared to Lakeside. I think the units are smaller, and the concrete walls there just remind of an undergrad dorm. Lakeside is basically brand new (I'm the first person to have lived in this unit) and the amenities are nice (especially the gym on site, plenty of parking, plus washer/dryer in-unit...no more scavenging for quarters!). It's RIGHT next to the dinky, which is very convenient for getting to New York, Philly, the airport, etc. I have a cat, but I also think Lakeside would be a great place to have a dog if you can land a pet-friendly unit. It's on the southern edge of campus and there are a bunch of trails nearby that are great for walking and running. The area is very quiet and nature-y, which I love.

Ahhh! This makes it sound all the better! Did you find it hard to win out on getting a unit in Lakeside due to the lottery draw system? For me it's a top priority - even if I'm in a studio. Do you have the option to renew your lease or are you back in the draw for next year?

[Bleep_Bloop]

On 3/4/2016 at 9:04 AM, CarefreeWritingsontheWall said:

Ahhh! This makes it sound all the better! Did you find it hard to win out on getting a unit in Lakeside due to the lottery draw system? For me it's a top priority - even if I'm in a studio. Do you have the option to renew your lease or are you back in the draw for next year?

I can't speak to the chances of getting an apartment there through the lottery as an incoming student, I was actually pulled into a shared unit with current students who had a guaranteed spot there. I think that you shouldn't have a problem as long as you're open to having a roommate. Getting a 1-bedroom or studio might be tricky because they're in high demand. Once you get an apartment you can keep renewing your lease for 3 or 4 years, I think.