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Thanks for the heads up. I was thinking of putting EV as my first choice since I had a friend staying in a low-rise near the grad centre and I really liked what I saw. Now I may list Rains and Munger above it. I'm just concerned that Munger may be less diverse: more lawyers and more people who want to pay extra for a closer and nicer place (not exactly the typical person in my program).

How's Lyman?

Hi. I am an international student, and I'll also be headed to Stanford. But I am unable to register for student housing. When you mention that you many list Rains and Munger above it, I wanted to know whether Axess's Housing portal is working for you (because it isn't working for me at present).

Thanks!

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I read above somewhere that Lyman is engineeringy...So I'd like to know where most grads in engineering live? (Not that I mean to be cliquey or anything :) :| ) Please post here.

Also, isn't off-campus housing supposed to be cheaper? I dunno, haven't thought about housing yet. But most grads choose on-campus housing, as far as I can see. Why is that?

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So it's already past the 22nd of April. Has anyone successfully applied for the Housing and Dining online?

I tried myself, but there seems to be some error. Also, I fail to understand why webauth continuously keeps asking us to login; and keeps directing us to its webpage several times before actually loading the Housing and Dining application!

Z.B.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hm, folks on the "Stanford '09" thread (in Meet and Greet) have been talking about housing as well, just thought I'd mention; perhaps the two discussions can connect...

Is anyone else NOT looking for on-campus housing? Feel free to PM me!

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  • 1 year later...

Hm, folks on the "Stanford '09" thread (in Meet and Greet) have been talking about housing as well, just thought I'd mention; perhaps the two discussions can connect...

Is anyone else NOT looking for on-campus housing? Feel free to PM me!

Any current news?

In particular, thoughts about on-campus graduate housing vs. nearby (I have a car, but love to bike) off-campus apartments?

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  • 11 months later...

Hey - does anyone who is a graduate student now living on campus know how hard it would be for an incoming new graduate student to lottery and get one of the two-bedroom efficiencies? I am sorting out my budget, and I really can't pay more than $700 a month for living and was wondering what my chances would be for the two-bedroom efficiencies in EV? My parents hunch was that since it was the cheapest and we are all graduate students, those would be the ones taken first and hardest to get.. but at the same time, it looks like a lot of the law students and maybe more flush graduate students are going for some of the nicer/slightly more expensive places. Any insight to this would be great! (Ie, would it just be stupid to only submit my options for the places I can afford and risk not getting on-campus housing and having to live in a shared bedroom in East Palo Alto).

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  • 2 years later...

Does anyone have a break down on parking at Stanford? I am thinking of living off campus and driving to school at least some days (bus or bike the rest).

 

I used to do the same at Cal and the parking killed me. About 20 bucks a day.

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  • 11 months later...
  • 1 month later...

How easy is it to keep a car at Stanford (insurance, gas, parking)? I'm thinking about living on campus but I don't wanna sell my car and wanna keep it around even though I might not drive it much.

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How easy is it to keep a car at Stanford (insurance, gas, parking)? I'm thinking about living on campus but I don't wanna sell my car and wanna keep it around even though I might not drive it much.

 

Gas is expensive in California -- at least it's slightly to much more expensive than I've seen anywhere else. I guess you might be renewing your insurance in California, too, in which case I can give you an estimate of what it might cost. I'm a "good driver" of a 15 year old car and I pay around $400 pretty crappy insurance. There is PLENTY of parking, though you're not going to want to drive to lab/class. Palo Alto's pretty out of the way of a lot of things, and there are plenty of times where you'd be glad to have the car. It's not inconvenient enough that you'd need a car, but given that you already have one, I'd recommend bringing it. It'll be worth whatever you'd need to pay for insurance and parking.

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Agreed. If you live on campus you get a parking permit which makes things a bit cheaper(without the permit paking is $12-$18 a day). You'd might want a car to go grocery shopping/ watch movies/ explore the bay area. Even though there's a shuttle from campus to down-toen palo alto (not sure how much of a "down toan" it actually is) and that publich transportation isn't horrible in the bay area- I'd still recommend having a car to allow for more flexability (especially during the weekend)

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Gas is expensive in California -- at least it's slightly to much more expensive than I've seen anywhere else. I guess you might be renewing your insurance in California, too, in which case I can give you an estimate of what it might cost. I'm a "good driver" of a 15 year old car and I pay around $400 pretty crappy insurance. There is PLENTY of parking, though you're not going to want to drive to lab/class. Palo Alto's pretty out of the way of a lot of things, and there are plenty of times where you'd be glad to have the car. It's not inconvenient enough that you'd need a car, but given that you already have one, I'd recommend bringing it. It'll be worth whatever you'd need to pay for insurance and parking.

 

Agreed. If you live on campus you get a parking permit which makes things a bit cheaper(without the permit paking is $12-$18 a day). You'd might want a car to go grocery shopping/ watch movies/ explore the bay area. Even though there's a shuttle from campus to down-toen palo alto (not sure how much of a "down toan" it actually is) and that publich transportation isn't horrible in the bay area- I'd still recommend having a car to allow for more flexability (especially during the weekend)

 

 

Thank you @velli and @chubberubber! I will be living on campus and relying mostly on bike/public transportation so hopefully high gas prices won't affect me that much. Yeah I have seen downtown Palo Alto during my interview weekend. Not much going on. What kind of fun things stanford students do on weekends?

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Just realized I mis-spelled "down-town" twice (!) in two different ways! Oh the shame...  :wacko: Hope you can chalk that one up to tiredness... 

As for weekends- well, there are a lot of interesting things happenning on campus but I would probably prefer to either go to the city (SF) or go hiking/ camping around beautiful mountain trails as well as beaches). Once you have your group of friends everything is much easier but the first few weeks are always a bit awkward... Seems like for grad students a big part of your social life surrounds your department/ cohort/ residential community. But I haven't quite started yet so I don't really know...

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Thank you @velli and @chubberubber! I will be living on campus and relying mostly on bike/public transportation so hopefully high gas prices won't affect me that much. Yeah I have seen downtown Palo Alto during my interview weekend. Not much going on. What kind of fun things stanford students do on weekends?

 

There's not too much to do in the Palo Alto area. You'll see most of what you'd care for within a year of living there. My opinion is that it feels like a town for fairly well off families (safe and quiet -- perfect for raising your kids). You've probably heard it a bunch during your interview, but if you want some fun, you'll probably be heading into San Jose or SF. Like Chubberrubber said, having a car will give you much more flexibility. There's a lot of good food (California is super diverse and the cuisine reflects that) and lots of cool things to see and do, but they're relatively inaccessible with just a bike and a bus/train ticket.

 

Just as an aside, the Stanford shopping center is one of the more upscale places I've seen -- if you like shopping, be prepared to realize that something like J. Crew is one of your cheapest options. I personally wouldn't be able to budget for Palo Alto shopping on the 34k stipend (but you can drive to more affordable malls 15 minutes out if you have a car!). This is just my mini-rant because I like shopping. :mellow:

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  • 9 months later...

Reviving this old thread.

I am looking for a sublet around Palo Alto in the summer. I currently live in a co-op and would like to do the same on the west coast. Any tips on co-ops / intentional communities in silicon valley and how to apply to them?

Edited by GermanStudent
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  • 2 weeks later...

It's really hard to find places that allow cats that are affordable on the 35k stipend. Anyone think it would be possible to sneak a cat into campus or campus-subsidized housing?

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if you get on campus housing, I have been told that it is fairly easy to have a cat. You can either just bring the cat, or you can be a bit more legit and get a doctor to say it is an emotional support animal.

 

I'd be far more hesitant trying to bring a cat to off-campus subsidized housing.

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