Riverside, CA

[rhombusbombus]

I also might end up at UCR if I ever get an acceptance letter from them.

My issue is finding dog friendly housing. 

I'd have a car and I am from Atlanta so I'm used to it taking me an hour to get 20 minutes up the highway, but I'd like housing relatively close so I could check on my dog during the day.

[cyborgchild]

On 2/12/2015 at 10:22 AM, lizardclan said:

I can help with on-campus apartment options, but it sounds like you want to live off-campus, no?

 

-lizardclan

Hi lizardclan,

I will most likely be attending UCR this Fall, and I'm wondering if I can PM you with questions regarding on-campus housing.

Thank you!

[mobilehobo]

On 1/23/2016 at 10:28 PM, rhombusbombus said:

I also might end up at UCR if I ever get an acceptance letter from them.

My issue is finding dog friendly housing. 

I'd have a car and I am from Atlanta so I'm used to it taking me an hour to get 20 minutes up the highway, but I'd like housing relatively close so I could check on my dog during the day.

I would definitely recommend a house in your case. Apartments near UCR are overpriced, but there are plenty of dog friendly ones (even large dogs). They like to charge a lot for animals though. My cat is $25 extra a month plus have a $200 one time fee per pet in the lease they didnt actually enforce.

 

For price comparisons, apartments here are 900-1200 for one bedrooms, and about 700 if you share a two bedroom apartment. Houses generally run 300-600 to share a three+ bedroom and ~700 to share a two bedroom.

If you decide to come here, hit me up and I can tell you which apartments are walking distance and dog friendly, or help you find other housing opportunities.

[Newton's Outlaw]

Around when does housing in Riverside open up for the coming academic year?

[A Dalek]

Any other incoming UCR grad students looking for housing? If you're interested in possibly being room mates PM me.

[luciddream22]

So excited to be moving here in the fall for my PhD!

I had heard all sorts of things before going to the recruitment weekend, and I was so glad I ended up really liking it!

Also had an extra day to hang out with a friend in Fullerton and LA, so it was nice to see how close stuff was.

 

Anyone else heading there this Fall?

[felurian]

On 3/4/2017 at 8:54 PM, luciddream22 said:

So excited to be moving here in the fall for my PhD!

I had heard all sorts of things before going to the recruitment weekend, and I was so glad I ended up really liking it!

Also had an extra day to hang out with a friend in Fullerton and LA, so it was nice to see how close stuff was.

 

Anyone else heading there this Fall?

 

I'll probably be heading there this year. I'm glad to hear you like the place because there's a lot of negative stuff about Riverside and I was beginning to get nervous.

[luciddream22]

5 hours ago, felurian said:

I'll probably be heading there this year. I'm glad to hear you like the place because there's a lot of negative stuff about Riverside and I was beginning to get nervous.

Yeah, I heard a lot of negative stuff as well, so I wonder if people in California are spoiled with such nice places that this one in comparison seems bad haha.

I've lived in Midwest and now in East coast, and although it's more of a "medium city" than the college towns I'm used to, it really exceeded my expectations. 

Maybe having such great weather in February, after barely getting out of the east coast during the blizzard helped that haha.

The students I stayed with lived in a really nice, not too expensive apartment near campus, so that eased my mind a bit, especially since it's possible to get even cheaper housing if you live in a house with roommates, i heard.

Where would you be moving there from?

[felurian]

13 hours ago, luciddream22 said:

Yeah, I heard a lot of negative stuff as well, so I wonder if people in California are spoiled with such nice places that this one in comparison seems bad haha.

I've lived in Midwest and now in East coast, and although it's more of a "medium city" than the college towns I'm used to, it really exceeded my expectations. 

Maybe having such great weather in February, after barely getting out of the east coast during the blizzard helped that haha.

The students I stayed with lived in a really nice, not too expensive apartment near campus, so that eased my mind a bit, especially since it's possible to get even cheaper housing if you live in a house with roommates, i heard.

Where would you be moving there from?

1

I've lived in Kenya all my life and I've never been to the US so I have no idea what to expect. The weather is great here all year round though lol.

Yeah, I've heard that getting a house is the best option but I think it would be best for me to get an apartment on campus, at least for the first year. Do you remember the name of the apartments you stayed at? And how close were they to the campus?

[lemonlions]

I am most likely moving there this fall as well! I'm like 95% sure I'll accept the offer, but I want to hear back from some of the graduate students in my program first. This thread has been really helpful. I'm looking for places near Fullerton to live-- my boyfriend works in Long Beach and we want to find a place halfway between there and Riverside. Now that I've heard about the smog, I'm thinking this might be the best idea! I am not looking forward to the commute, but I don't want my childhood asthma to come back :/

[enayqq]

47 minutes ago, lemonlions said:

I am most likely moving there this fall as well! I'm like 95% sure I'll accept the offer, but I want to hear back from some of the graduate students in my program first. This thread has been really helpful. I'm looking for places near Fullerton to live-- my boyfriend works in Long Beach and we want to find a place halfway between there and Riverside. Now that I've heard about the smog, I'm thinking this might be the best idea! I am not looking forward to the commute, but I don't want my childhood asthma to come back :/

In terms of commute from Fullerton to Riverside, in my experience it averages around 45 minutes, though there seems to be a lot of construction taking place on the 91 freeway which, if paired with an accident, could mean you could be caught in bad traffic or forced to take an obnoxiously long detour on the 60.  However, I find the drive itself to and from quite nice, you get to see a lot of hills and nature that is free from housing development along the way, and there’s always a great view of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains to the north, which are simply grand when all covered in snow  Fullerton is also a very, very nice place to live, so long as you steer clear of the more rowdy party areas (Fullerton is home to both a university and community college), and there are plenty of parks if you enjoy being outside.

[luciddream22]

On 3/7/2017 at 0:53 AM, felurian said:

I've lived in Kenya all my life and I've never been to the US so I have no idea what to expect. The weather is great here all year round though lol.

Yeah, I've heard that getting a house is the best option but I think it would be best for me to get an apartment on campus, at least for the first year. Do you remember the name of the apartments you stayed at? And how close were they to the campus?

I think they went up in price, so now they are not as cheap as they were paying when they started living there (600). Now it's about $750 per person. 

http://www.liveatdwell.com/riverside-apartments-for-rent/dwell-apartment-homes/

There are probably cheaper options.

Edited March 8, 2017 by luciddream22

[felurian]

Thanks @luciddream22! I appreciate the info  

[luciddream22]

14 minutes ago, felurian said:

Thanks @luciddream22! I appreciate the info  

No problem! I'll also be looking for apartments/house as it gets closer, so it's good to be able to compare what we find!

[lemonlions]

On 3/7/2017 at 6:47 PM, enayqq said:

In terms of commute from Fullerton to Riverside, in my experience it averages around 45 minutes, though there seems to be a lot of construction taking place on the 91 freeway which, if paired with an accident, could mean you could be caught in bad traffic or forced to take an obnoxiously long detour on the 60.  However, I find the drive itself to and from quite nice, you get to see a lot of hills and nature that is free from housing development along the way, and there’s always a great view of the San Bernardino and San Gabriel mountains to the north, which are simply grand when all covered in snow  Fullerton is also a very, very nice place to live, so long as you steer clear of the more rowdy party areas (Fullerton is home to both a university and community college), and there are plenty of parks if you enjoy being outside.

Thanks for the input! I'll keep that in mind when looking for places. I would definitely prefer something quiet. I have been worried about the commute, so I'm relieved to hear that it's not terrible

[luciddream22]

Anyone having any luck with housing?

The UCR housing and subleasing Facebook group seems to have a lot of people looking for roommates now but I'm not sure if I should wait or try to set something up now. 

[NoirFemme]

On 4/11/2017 at 1:39 AM, luciddream22 said:

Anyone having any luck with housing?

The UCR housing and subleasing Facebook group seems to have a lot of people looking for roommates now but I'm not sure if I should wait or try to set something up now. 

I live in the IE--look now. SoCal is a landlord's market. Affordable, nice, and safe housing can be a pill to find.

[basketballfrost]

Any new grad students looking for places to stay at riverside?

I am trying to find a place to live, but I am getting a lot of mixed reviews. What do you guys think about sterling highlander appartents? Is it worth the price?

[Tomiwaa]

I would like to hear from you guys how my profile compares with admits to the UCR chemistry PhD program.

Here is my profile, and i would like to apply for the fall 2019 cycle.

GRE

Q 151 V 150

301

GPA-  3.23/4.0

Research experience- 6months

Industrial experience- 6months 

[basketballfrost]

On 7/23/2018 at 8:49 AM, Tomiwaa said:

I would like to hear from you guys how my profile compares with admits to the UCR chemistry PhD program.

Here is my profile, and i would like to apply for the fall 2019 cycle.

GRE

Q 151 V 150

301

GPA-  3.23/4.0

Research experience- 6months

Industrial experience- 6months 

Hey Tomiwaa I will give you some of my feedback. I believe you need better GRE scores since you got not so great GPA. Do you have any accomplishments to help your application? I mean, scientific publications, honors, and whatever you might think about.

Overall my opinion is: apply anyway. We never know how those applicants are actually chosen... so just do what you can to improve your stats and you are good to go!

PS. My GPA is not that good either, and I ended up going there. Best of luck to you!!

[Tomiwaa]

On 8/9/2018 at 11:51 PM, basketballfrost said:

Hey Tomiwaa I will give you some of my feedback. I believe you need better GRE scores since you got not so great GPA. Do you have any accomplishments to help your application? I mean, scientific publications, honors, and whatever you might think about.

Overall my opinion is: apply anyway. We never know how those applicants are actually chosen... so just do what you can to improve your stats and you are good to go!

PS. My GPA is not that good either, and I ended up going there. Best of luck to you!!

Thank you very much for your reply. I would apply as you said. I can only hope at this point that i get chosen.

[HanZero]

Bump from 2020...

Any PhD applicants coming to riverside for the recruitment day on March 13? 

[PumaDuty]

I am considering a move to attend UC-Riverside. My partner would work in LA, so given traffic patterns, we're thinking that it may make the most sense to live in LA and I would commute to Riverside (vs. my parter commuting into LA). Am I making the correct assumption? If we were to live in LA, I would want to be closer to Riverside. I have only visited LA a few times. Google maps suggests to me that I should be looking on the eastern side of the city. Is that true? What areas would you consider for a young married couple, no children?

[LitScript]

On 2/17/2020 at 6:59 AM, PumaDuty said:

I am considering a move to attend UC-Riverside. My partner would work in LA, so given traffic patterns, we're thinking that it may make the most sense to live in LA and I would commute to Riverside (vs. my parter commuting into LA). Am I making the correct assumption? If we were to live in LA, I would want to be closer to Riverside. I have only visited LA a few times. Google maps suggests to me that I should be looking on the eastern side of the city. Is that true? What areas would you consider for a young married couple, no children?

That's the right assumption as you're generally going against the flow of traffic, at least until you get closer to Riverside. Where you live is probably pretty dependent on where your partner ends up working because a drive from the eastern side of the city to West LA can take an hour and a half each way.

There really isn't an ideal place in between the two cities, unfortunately. One or both of you will end up doing a lot of driving. My best recommendation would probably be to find something near a Metro line and commute via taking the Metro to the Metrolink Riverside Line. At least that way your commute time can be more productive. Most people in LA tend to forget about our public transit infrastructure if they don't live very close to it. Good luck and feel free to PM me with any questions. I've lived in the LA area my entire life (until grad school starts in August!)

[PumaDuty]

On 3/2/2020 at 10:13 PM, LitScript said:

That's the right assumption as you're generally going against the flow of traffic, at least until you get closer to Riverside. Where you live is probably pretty dependent on where your partner ends up working because a drive from the eastern side of the city to West LA can take an hour and a half each way.

There really isn't an ideal place in between the two cities, unfortunately. One or both of you will end up doing a lot of driving. My best recommendation would probably be to find something near a Metro line and commute via taking the Metro to the Metrolink Riverside Line. At least that way your commute time can be more productive. Most people in LA tend to forget about our public transit infrastructure if they don't live very close to it. Good luck and feel free to PM me with any questions. I've lived in the LA area my entire life (until grad school starts in August!)

Thanks for the input! I didn't consider public transportation. I'll definitely look into that!