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Guest potential cornellian
Posted

Just visited Ithaca and Cornell for the first time. The department seemed to be a good fit. Of course it is beautiful. The grad students were telling me that housing is hit or miss, and that you should definitely check out any place before you rent it. I'm concerned b/c I have pets so I have to live in off-campus housing, which is pricey near campus. But if I live far out, I'll have to drive on hills in the ice. Yuck. Anyone have thoughts on the practicalities of living in Ithaca?

Posted

I may end up at Cornell for my PhD, if I like it when I visit (in two weeks!), and if my significant other doesn't get rejected from every school he applied to on the East Coast. I actually really want to go to Cornell. It was my first choice, and I still can't believe I got in because my field only accepts 5 or so applicants a year, but I may have to turn them down for personal considerations. If I don't go there, I'm going to Stanford.

Guest digger
Posted

Hey, you guys been thinking about housing yet? I wanna live off campus but being an international student with little possibility of actually visiting the place to check out apartments, I am wondering if any of you are in a similar position? Could we start a little apartment-mate matching system here? With a sort profile and all..so that we could all do this together?

Posted

yeah, I'm also international and no way I'm flying there to look for housing, so I have no idea how to find the right place foe me. some months ago I met an old Turkish lady that lives in Ithaca (with Cornell PhD) and when I told her I applied there she was very happy to offer me her help with finding housing. so I was thinking of finding potential appts online and then asking her to check the best options out. wonder if she'll be willing to do that. but I'm open to new possibilities, so digger if you have any ideas I'm willing to take part.

what I know right now is that I definitely want to live Downtown, I was told that was the busiest place in Ithaca and I need busy and loud. I'm used to living in big cities where it's never quiet, so I'll die of boredom in a nice, peaceful residential area.

Guest potential cornellian
Posted

Hello all, you may want to check out the listing in the city guide for ithaca. One woman posted some really interesting apartment sites. Also, I visited Ithaca recently and was told NOT to rent something without checking it out first since housing varies from nice to really disgusting in Ithaca. Having someone check out the place may be a good idea or go with university housing (I can't, because I have pets).

Guest digger
Posted

Ok, I am taking this a notch higher.

Fellows,

I AM SEEKING A APARTMENT-MATE FOR AN OFF CAMPUS LIVING ARRANGEMENT

I am an international student and will be starting my PhD in Economics this Fall. I am too old to live in graduate housing and too damn far away from Ithaca to be able to afford to come and survey the off-campus scene.

So if there’s anyone out there able to do the looking around in Ithaca – which to an extent can be done online as well, so somebody who can actually visit at least once, perhaps? And somebody who might be looking for somebody to share an off-campus housing arrangement with, then please write me at arthatantra@hotmail.com.

Ideally, it’d be nice to get a two bedroom apartment as close to the bus route as possible and not more than 30 minutes away from central campus. I don't know how soon I can apply for a driving license once I get there in August and get a car. But the bus access would be nice. I am clueless about the general area so I am open to exploration.

Some essential information about me: Easy going male, 27, with a simple approach to life: work hard, play hard. So although I imagine I’ll be working my ass off most of the time, I wouldn’t mind letting the steam off once in a while. Non-smoker.

I suppose we can get into specifics later.

  • 4 weeks later...
Guest cornellbound
Posted

I'm going to start a PhD. program at Cornell next fall. I'm pretty excited, thought nervous about moving from the West Coast where I live now, to Ithaca, which I found to be kind of dull when I visited. Does anybody else think that apartments there are somewhat overpriced, given the location? I would get a roomate to offset this, but I'm really hesitant to live with someone I've never met. What's everybody else planning to do about housing?

Posted

I'm definitely going to live with roomates, not only because it's cheaper, but also because it's more fun. especially when you're moving to a new city (let alone country) wheer you don't know anyone. so I'm looking into appartments/houses with as many bedrooms as possible. as long as I have my own bedroom and we come to a decent cleaning arrangements with the others as far as the common areas are concerned, I've no problem with living with strangers.

since as an international I'm not that familiar with the cost of living in the US, do you guys think one can spend $500 a month on rent (including utilities) on a 19k fellowship?

Guest cornellbound
Posted

I think $500 sounds pretty feasible. I've been told that a good rule to follow is to aim to spend not too much more than a third of your income on housing, though if you tend to live frugally this could vary. I'm concerned because it seems like it's very hard to find a single apartment for under $700.

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