HMCgrad Posted March 15, 2006 Posted March 15, 2006 Probably going to ND, not sure yet though. Waiting on one more school...though since it is getting pretty late will probably be a rejection. I have to say im not sold on south bend (coming from sunny Los angeles) but ND has a fantastic campus, and I am excited to join the community. What department will you be in?
Somedfjd Posted March 15, 2006 Author Posted March 15, 2006 Mechanical Engineering . But I'm still in kind of financial Aid waiting list. What's about you?
HMCgrad Posted March 15, 2006 Posted March 15, 2006 Computer Science and Engineering, though I do hardware so I will certainly be taking lots of EE classes as well.
Guest HayakWasRight Posted March 22, 2006 Posted March 22, 2006 I visited the area last week and was actually nicely surprised as to how developed it was. Naturally, it can't match a major city, but it certainly beats Carlisle, PA (where I am now). There's a pretty new commercial area about 5 miles from campus with just about any type of store one can imagine. In terms of the campus, grad housing (Fischer and O'(something) apartments) looked pretty promising and were nicely located. They were about 300m from the Econ Department, 400m from the hockey rink, 500m from the football stadium, and 400m from the intramural sports center. It was spring break for them when we visited, so naturally the place was dead quiet, but it looked like a very nice place to live. We also looked around the area and found that off campus housing was cheap and plentiful. We found one newly constructed apartment complex offering one bedroom apartments for less than $500/month or two bedrooms for less than $700/month. Everything on campus looks well funded and maintained and the surrounding town is pretty decent. There's definitely somewhat of an "other side of the tracks" effect in town, but campus is on the good side. It's about a two hour drive to Chicago, but there's also the South Bend Airport/Train Station/Bus Station about 5 miles from campus. That's it for this posting.
Guest michigander Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 hey, how's it going? I'm still waiting on a couple others but i'll also be probably in the econ/metrics phd program this fall. Seems like a great place and interesing program. I checked out the schedule of courses and the typical first semester is well laid out...all of the classes are timed back to back mid day monday through thursday. RA/TA jobs have a time cap of 17 hrs a week or so. Relatively superficial points, but it feels good when the department is supportive. If you have any word on the time frame for applying for graduate housing before they fill up, that info would be great.
Guest HayakWasRight Posted March 23, 2006 Posted March 23, 2006 The housing guide said to apply before May 1 or else you go to the bottom of the list. My only real concern about Notre Dame is the fallout from the department having split recently. I don't know if you knew this already or not, but there used to be just one Econ department, but it split into 1. Economics and Econometrics and 2. Economics and Policy. Most of the professors currently there (15 of them) ended up in Economics and Policy, but that program is very limited in scope, in that it is not a phd granting program. They plan to really grow the Economics and Econometrics program by bringing in a number of new professors (I think I saw 5 tenure track openings, including a for new chair posted on the site). I did a little hunting online and found that they took a bit of flack for having split the department, but all that seemed to die away once they actually went through with the plan. One of my professors here at Dickinson recommended Notre Dame as a good place to be, since he believes the split to have been a good idea and the influx of A. money and B. new blood into the program should present the possibility for the school's ranking to rise significantly. He said the school's aim is to boost their program into the top 20, or as close as possible. Apparently there is some strong correlation between a school's econ department ranking and the overall ranking received for the undergraduate institution. I don't know how much of a correlation there can really be, but this is a professor that I really respect, so I'm willing to take his word for it. I've gotta say that I wasn't exactly enthralled when I started looking through the publications listed by some of the faculty, but hopefully they'll be willing to work with someone like me who is a bit more social science friendly, AKA not keen on spending the rest of his life writing technical pieces on functional analysis. I'm more into applying economic principles ot interesting real world questions. That kinda makes sense, as I had professors from different departments recommending me for grad studies in Political Science, German History, Economics, and Sociology. But anyway, Notre Dame, barring any unforseen acceptance at UPenn or wonderful deals from UC Irvine or Syracuse will be my home this coming fall. PS. I'm stoked at the prospect of free admission to all hockey games, which are played only a few hundred yards from where we may live.
Guest KHR Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 I will likely be at Notre Dame this coming fall (Economics and Econometricts), though I'm still waiting on Penn, UC Irvine, and Syracuse. As for South Bend, I visited the area last week and was actually nicely surprised as to how developed it was. Naturally, it can't match a major city, but it certainly beats Carlisle, PA (where I am now). There's a pretty new commercial area about 5 miles from campus with just about any type of store one can imagine. In terms of the campus, grad housing (Fischer and O'(something) apartments) looked pretty promising and were nicely located. They were about 300m from the Econ Department, 400m from the hockey rink, 500m from the football stadium, and 400m from the intramural sports center. It was spring break for them when we visited, so naturally the place was dead quiet, but it looked like a very nice place to live. We also looked around the area and found that off campus housing was cheap and plentiful. We found one newly constructed apartment complex offering one bedroom apartments for less than $500/month or two bedrooms for less than $700/month. Everything on campus looks well funded and maintained and the surrounding town is pretty decent. There's definitely somewhat of an "other side of the tracks" effect in town, but campus is on the good side. It's about a two hour drive to Chicago, but there's also the South Bend Airport/Train Station/Bus Station about 5 miles from campus. That's it for this posting. Hi everyone-- I'm actually at ND right now finishing my MA, saw your post, and thought that I might try to save some of you from the mistake of grad housing at ND! I lived there my first year, in O'Hara Grace, and the apartments are absolutely abysmal...the Fisher apartments are much much nicer, but living off-campus is definitely the best option, especially if you can find a roomate beforehand. You can get a great apartment in the downtown area for $500 a month for a one-bedroom, less for a shared two-bedroom...Try Mar-Main apartments, Washington Colfax, and Central High Apartments, all great. So unless you are absolutely committed to being able to walk to your classes/lab/office, etc. living off-campus is a much better option, and can definitely be as inexpensive If you need any info that I can help with, let me know!
Guest michigander Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 To "Hayakwasright": Yea, I've had some of the same concerns regarding the department split and ranking. If you look at the full description of all of the courses available in the phd program, it seemed to me that they have maintained a little bit of the flavor of the social science feel. In regards to Ranking, US news and world report places a large chunk of the ranking based on a survey sent out to the directors of graduate studies accross the country and have them rank the schools. Then they give points for the quantity of publications in top journals. Lastly, they give points for the funding available in the program. That said, their formula supports a popularity contest with bias to large rich programs. Many other rankings are based on the network of professor's journal publication in top journals. Because notre dame was historically an unorthodox department, they didn't get the mainstreem publications, and certainly wouldn't win the popularity contest. My thought process is that notre dame is one of the most wealthy universities in the country and their dedication to improving the visibility of the department shouldn't be underestimated. Since the number of students have increased and the hiring of faculty is taking place, they will become more visible than other low ranked schools who do the same, because notre dame is a respected school. I think it sounds a little exciting to be one of the students to try to improve the image of the program. Columbia was once low ranked in economics and that's when milton friedman went there.
Guest HayakWasRight Posted March 24, 2006 Posted March 24, 2006 I think the term they prefer is "heterodox" hahaha. At any rate, it looks like they're trying to reinvent themselves as neo-classical with an emphasis on publishing in big name journals. I didn't know they were increasing the number of students though. It sounded like they were still aiming at 8 to 10 enrollments. Maybe something we can create as econometrics grad students is a new ranking system based on quality rather than popularity or quantity of publications.
Guest HayakWasRight Posted March 31, 2006 Posted March 31, 2006 Just to let you all know, I will be at Notre Dame this fall for Economics and Econometrics
Guest Guest Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 Congratulations everyone! On a side note, I noticed that the undergrads have a rule that people of the opposite sex can't be in their rooms (on campus) past something like 2am weeknights and earlier weekdays... for the Fisher Ohara Grace manual they mentioned nothing about that for grad students. Does anyone know definitively if it's ok to have a grad student's girlfriend stay the whole night?
HMCgrad Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 When I was visiting the school I found that rule out as well. I asked my friend who is a current senior at ND, he said he is almost certain that most of the rules that pertain to the undergrads (such as rules about hard alcohol, abstinence, and parietals) don't apply to grad student housing complexes. However I did not double check with any university officials. I decided to live off-campus so other than reading some of the university rulebook (which wasn't clear) and asking my friend I haven't pursued the issue. Sorry to not have a definite answer. BTW I know that the way students end up getting caught for this rule is that there are university staff (I believe someone of religious authority) living on each floor of the dorms for the undergrads, this is not so with the grad student housing and so my instinct is that it is not a problem.
Guest HayakWasRight Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Yeah, I just looked at their code of conduct stuff and was a bit disturbed. Some of the stuff seems to apply only to undergrads, but some of the more serious stuff about alcohol and abstinence looks like it applies to us as well. One of the more colorful entries includes, "Because a genuine and complete expression of love through sex requires a commitment to a total living and sharing together of two persons in marriage, the University believes that sexual union should occur only in marriage. Students found in violation of this policy shall be subject to disciplinary suspension or permanent dismissal." Here's the link: http://orlh.nd.edu/dulac/TableofContents/6%20Conduct%20and%20Disciplinary%20-%202%20Life.pdf They also ban things like taking shots, drinking directly from a bottle, playing drinking games, "possession or consumption of alcoholic punch or gelatin shots", and stuff like that. While I'm personally not that big of a drinker, this seems a bit overboard. Another part of their policy guide says you can't put paper products on your walls (I take that to mean no posters). The more I hear, the more off campus housing sounds like the best idea. In terms of having girlfriends/boyfriends visit overnight, it says 24-hour visitation is permitted, though specifics will be spelled out in the housing contracts. If anyone feels like chatting, my AIM name is JRogthrower.
shellybe Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 KHR, are you still out there? I would love to be able to walk or bike to campus. are there any apartments in that area just east of campus or just south of campus? i hope you know what i mean...the few blocks south of argos and the few blocks west of ironwood? could they really enforce those premarital sex rules? you guys are scaring me. i'm not really scared of getting in trouble, i'll be married, but scared to be somewhere where that's a serious rule. well, i'm going to south bend sunday and monday to apartment search, so i'll let everyone know what it's like when i get back! hopefully, i can find something good. my fiance is moving there in less than 3 weeks! i have a lot of phone numbers and a few meetings to look at apartments, so i could list some of them here to save everyone the work. good luck to everyone and congrats!
shellybe Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 In terms of having girlfriends/boyfriends visit overnight, it says 24-hour visitation is permitted, though specifics will be spelled out in the housing contracts. just a funny note. my undergrad dorm has 24-hour visitation, but opposite sex people aren't allowed to "sleep" overnight in your room. so if a resident assistant seriously wanted to bust you on having an opposite sex person stay the night, you could just say, "we were awake". so silly, but a resident assistant would never care about that, so it isn't a serious rule. i hope that's the case w/ these nd conduct rules....eeeek
Guest shellyb Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 ok, i browsed through that pdf. it's not so bad, because they do mean all of that stuff for on campus, right? we can still get intoxicated at bars so long as we take a taxi home, that is...? my campus here is a "dry" campus...supposedly. so i find it very odd that that pdf says undergrads 21 and up can have alcohol in their dorms...interesting. is my school the only dry campus? of course, i have my beers in my underwear drawer. I thought this piece was weird: Every student must carry their Notre Dame Campus Identification Card and surrender it when requested by any official of the University, including members of the faculty, residence hall staff, Notre Dame Security Police and dining hall staff. Every student must identify himself or herself properly when requested to do so by any representative of the University, including members of the faculty, residence hall staff, Notre Dame Security Police and dining hall staff. why would they have to make a rule for that?
Guest HayakWasRight Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 That's so kids who cause trouble can't lie about who they are. Underage drinkers have been known to pretend that they aren't students at a given school or are students at a different school so that campus police will just let them go rather than filling out extra paperwork. But if they get caught doing it, it's a violation of just about every school's honor code, so the student is almost always either suspended or expelled. But yes, I imagine this stuff generally just applies to on campus students and even then, probably more for undergrads than us. I especially liked the part of the alcohol policy that limited what undergrads could possess to 14% alcohol by volume or less. Where do they get that number?? Anyway, I don't think it will really matter either way, because I imagine most of the next five or so years will be spent in the library. On other topics, is anyone else not Catholic? Do we need to form a support group or something? lol
Guest shelly Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 i'm not catholic either, but my undergrad is a methodist university supposedly and i think it usually doesn't mean anything. the geographic area here does mean there are a lot of zealots though. i think i saw somewhere that about a third of the students are catholic...that's not so bad. i do wonder how conservative the area is. it's in indiana (bad), but near chicago (good)...? oh well, we'll see. i just hope to not see all of these "it's adam and eve not adam and steve" and "in case of rapture this car will be unmanned" bumper stickers anymore...the second one isn't so bad i guess. i can accept other people's views if they arent being hateful
Guest KHR Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 Hey all-- Okay, in terms of housing rules (no overnight guests, etc), they don't apply to graduate housing...they aren't nosey at all about what goes on in the FOG apartments. At the same time, though, I still recommend off campus...much better quality apartments for cheaper... there are a few places that you could walk to from campus, I think Clover Ridge? Or Campus View? The Mar-Main is a great building for a great price, and you could definitely bike from there...right down Michigan Ave, quite a few people I know live there, and they also do 1/2 rent in the summer if you want to go away but keep your lease. If you aren't concerned about walking/biking, Washington-Colfax apartments and Central High Apartments are great as well, Wash-Col for 1 bedrooms and Central HIgh for 2 or 3. If you want to live in Mishawaka (where all the chain stores, chain resturants are), try Main Street Apartments or Indian Villiage, but those are a good 10 minute drive from school and the apartments don't have much character. If you are looking for newer apartments, though, those are good. Let me know if I can help!
Guest shelly Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 i'm just going to have to suck it up and live far from campus because those that you mentioned don't allow pets--i've already contacted them. i love my puppy more than being able to walk to campus.
shellybe Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 actually clover ridge allows pets but they are high! according the their website $750 for a 1 br! i guess that's typical for apts so close to campus?
Guest bighark_nli Posted April 6, 2006 Posted April 6, 2006 i'm just going to have to suck it up and live far from campus because those that you mentioned don't allow pets--i've already contacted them. i love my puppy more than being able to walk to campus. --- I did my undergrad at Notre Dame, and while the campus is lovely, it doesn't take long for on-campus residents to develop a sense of cabin fever. The University is completely self-contained, and does not integrate with the surrounding neighborhood. As a grad student, I think living off campus will allow you to decompress and get the University (that's with a big U, by the by) out of your hair at the end of the day. Besides, grad housing isn't really that close to campus in the first place. The student parking lot and grad housing facilities are equally far away from classrooms and such. Just something to think about. Also, graduate housing at ND is way more expensive that what you'll be able to get on your own.
shellybe Posted April 11, 2006 Posted April 11, 2006 i went to south bend and got an apartment saved. that's one relief. it's small but not too expensive. about 2 miles from campus. close to walmart (ICK). it's less than $550/month for a one bedroom with a washer and dryer and pet rent included, they pay gas, trash, and water, we pay electric, $100 deposit, $30 application fee, $150 pet deposit, if you're curious. i'm sure you'll all be looking within the next few months. now i need a job for the summer! i walked around the campus and that was exciting. walked by the building i'll be working in, the library, the main building, went to the bookstore, grabbed some brochures and their newspaper. (one of the brochures talked about the golden dome, that it's regilded about once every 20 years and the last time it cost about a quarter million dollars! wow.) i didn't have too much time, but it was nice to see everything. i didn't get to see much of the city, like restaurants, parks, businesses or anything. i did start getting familiar with the streets though. i can find my way around a little bit. i also got a city paper. in the news? smoking ban in the works. i'll be moving in less than 5 weeks! wow!
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