Newark, DE

[Gaby P]

12 hours ago, ahgfjhgf said:

I'm an incoming grad student hoping to live in a complex close to campus... If anyone is looking for a housemate please let me know! I'm not really sure how to go about finding people to live with.

Hi! I am an incoming grad student as well... I have not find a place to live yet but I am looking at a Facebook group called University of Delaware (UD) Housing, Sublets & Roomates! I have seen several places in rent.

[ahgfjhgf]

On 5/15/2018 at 11:43 AM, Gaby P said:

Hi! I am an incoming grad student as well... I have not find a place to live yet but I am looking at a Facebook group called University of Delaware (UD) Housing, Sublets & Roomates! I have seen several places in rent.

Yes! I have joined that group as well. It seems to be mostly undergrads looking for someone to fill their lease. Not ideal but worth a shot. It also seems that some of the complexes have roommate matching/waiting services. I'm driving down on Saturday to check out a couple places in person!

[GotSave]

Hi, I am an incoming PhD student in Computer Science at UD.

I'd like to know if you guys have any tips for living in Newark as an international student. Also, how's life there without a car?

Do you have any advice for housing and finding a roomate at an affordable price?

Thanks

[ClassicsCandidate]

1 hour ago, GotSave said:

Hi, I am an incoming PhD student in Computer Science at UD.

I'd like to know if you guys have any tips for living in Newark as an international student. Also, how's life there without a car?

Do you have any advice for housing and finding a roomate at an affordable price?

Thanks

Hi, I graduated from UD in 2015, so it might be a little different, but here's some of what's good about the Newark area:

• UD has free buses that go around the campus so you can get to the North/Center/East/West/South area of the main campus pretty easily
• There's a lot of food/stuff to do on Main St if you know where to go (it was a little different when I visited it a year ago, but it's got quite a bit there!)
• I would suggest getting a bike (if possible) if you don't want to rely on the buses because they can be a little wonky with their times/not come soon enough before your class, I used to bike there all the time 
• If you take summer classes, bring a hoodie, they blast the AC - this is specific to the UD campus and just something everyone should know lol
• Public transport exists but it's not the best (buses)
• UD also has a lot of resources for international students iirc, and they have The INNternationale House: http://www.theinnternationale.org/

It also depends on what kinds of things you're interested in doing. I lived off campus, about a 30 minute walk away. Biking was easier, but I was near apartments where the UD buses picked up so I could go there if I needed to. I walked to bars, my Tang Soo Do dojo, and the grocery store alright (the grocery stores can be a little far, though). There was a small Chinese market and a co-op at the end of Main Street when I lived there and I did a lot of grocery shopping in both of those places, with more stores beyond that, but depending on where you live, it's a bit of a walk. If you walk to get groceries, I highly recommend getting a rolling cart for groceries so you don't hurt yourself hauling it back (which is what I kept doing to myself).

Also, other options for housing can be found here: https://udel.uloop.com/. I found a pretty good place that was a three bedroom for $1,000/month in 2013/2014, so it might be a little more expensive now, but we were splitting it between 3-4 people, which made it really affordable. Let me know if you have any other specific questions!

Edited February 28, 2020 by ClassicsCandidate

[LadyWolfshadow]

I was accepted to UD for a PhD program starting in the fall.  I'm currently trying to weigh my program options and I'm trying to figure out if the stipends UD pays are enough to actually live on.  I know it's going to be tight because well...most PhD stipends aren't set up for living a life of luxury, but I'm trying to get opinions on if it's actually doable.  I'm not the type who needs an entire apartment to myself or anything, I'm fine with having my own bedroom and access to a kitchen to make my own meals since I'll be TAing and probably in the lab a lot.  I'm just severely limited by the fact that I don't own a car and the issue that I may be going into lab at some seriously oddball times of the day, depending on where I wind up.  I'm just trying to figure out if it's realistic to live on the stipends offered once you factor in things like taxes, eating, etc.

[demet]

Hi there, I am joining UDel this fall and as an international student i would really appreciate if someone can provide me information about general vibe of the city Newark and good neighbourhood options. I prefer sharing an apartment rather townhouse and would love to get suggestion on affordable ones having good ratings. I have lived on west coast before and its first time i am visiting any state on east coast so i also don't have any idea about its weather all year round. would appreciate insight on this as well. TIA

[solonsreforms]

Bumping this thread as it seems that Newark, DE is a ridiculously expensive place to live. Can anyone corroborate? Is it possible to live on a $20,000 stipend?

[ClassicsCandidate]

1 hour ago, solonsreforms said:

Bumping this thread as it seems that Newark, DE is a ridiculously expensive place to live. Can anyone corroborate? Is it possible to live on a $20,000 stipend?

It is possible, but you'll have to do a lot of intense budgeting. Like I posted above about a year ago, I always found the cheapest housing on https://udel.uloop.com/, where people are often looking for roommates or you can find people trying to sublet their places. Do you have a car? Or know someone who goes there who would be willing to give you a lift for grocery shopping? I got a BJ's (like Costco, but closer; both are in Newark but BJ's is a 5-10 minute drive whereas Costco is a 15-25 minute drive away from campus) membership and it was a lifesaver when I could get things in bulk. I was working 20+ hours a week as a student who was technically an "independent student" because I had no familial support, so I also qualified for SNAP (and there's an update about students and SNAP here: https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/students, which may be worth looking into). Check everywhere and anywhere if they give a student discount, which you can usually get by showing your UDID, so keep that with you at all times, even if you go out of state for anything. The bonus here is that Delaware has no sales tax, so you don't have to worry about that. If you want me to expand on anything or have any more specific questions, let me know!   

[solonsreforms]

Thanks @ClassicsCandidate. I have a car! uloop seems to be very undergrad oriented. I am actually considering commuting from where I currently live (commute would be 1 hr 20 mins one-way). I would need to do the commute about 3x a week for seminars, but I'm not sure how often TA duties would require me to be on-campus, especially with COVID. 

Edited February 19, 2021 by solonsreforms
personal info

[Crucial BBQ]

Just now, solonsreforms said:

Thanks @ClassicsCandidate. I have a car! uloop seems to be very undergrad oriented. I am actually considering commuting from Baltimore (1 hr 20mins) where I currently live. I would need to do the commute about 3x a week for seminars, but I'm not sure how often TA duties would require me to be on-campus, especially with COVID. 

I also applied to UDel and currently live in Maryland... where if I get in and go, I would likely still live in Maryland if possible. 

[ClassicsCandidate]

1 hour ago, solonsreforms said:

Thanks @ClassicsCandidate. I have a car! uloop seems to be very undergrad oriented. I am actually considering commuting from where I currently live (commute would be 1 hr 20 mins one-way). I would need to do the commute about 3x a week for seminars, but I'm not sure how often TA duties would require me to be on-campus, especially with COVID. 

That's fair. I did find my other housing through Craigslist, so I would definitely suggest using caution if you chose that route. That's a pretty long commute, but if you can get any of your books as an audiobook, that's how I ended up getting through a lot of my textbooks/novels (I was History and English as an undergrad) the year I commuted (45 minutes away). I believe grad students get their own space in the library to work at but yeah, it's really hard to know with COVID how they'd be going about it. I'd suggest reaching out to the DGS to inquire to make a decision about it - if you're mostly going to work from home anyway, going three days a week doesn't seem that bad for the commute. 

 

1 hour ago, Crucial BBQ said:

I also applied to UDel and currently live in Maryland... where if I get in and go, I would likely still live in Maryland if possible. 

Yeah, where I currently live now in Delaware is closer to Maryland than the UDel campus, so I definitely understand that!