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Austin, Texas anyone?


Not_a_sausage

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Anyone for Austin, Texas?

In what regard?

Personally...I'd take a ride with UT-Austin in less than a heartbeat. Due to parental issues (such adults they all are) the application-fest didn't make it to Texas. I'd have done it if I could've though. Toured the campus once. Loved it. Loved the program. Loved the library.

Love Austin in general though.

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I've lived here for the past 7 years. About to leave, hopefully*! :)

*nothing against the town, just ready for a change.

Feel the same way about where I'm at...sometimes its just time to close up shop and move on.

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I'm international and am greatly anxious regarding weather and culture---can bear one of the shocks somehow!

The weather at my current location is hot and heat may not be an issue as cold is. My other fave choice of study is UIUC, but I'm not sure about the climatic conditions( I know that heat/cold shouldn't matter when you're getting what you want the most , academically).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Cost of Living Question: So, I've received a TA'ship for years 2-5. I'm wondering: how far will about 1500 a month go during the nine-month calendar year? I'm looking to get a one-bedroom apartment, have a vehicle, want to live near campus. Rent goes for anything between 600-1000. I'm looking at places in the 600 area. While I understand the "broke" perspective that grad students talk about; I'm also not too keen on literally being broke. Is Austin fairly expensive?

My other option is Michigan State in East Lansing, which is throwing a lot more money at me. There, I'd be living comfortably, especially in an economically depressed town. But, I'm much more interested in attending UT Austin, a few hours from home, and in warm weather.

Any suggestions, ideas, would be helpful. Have you been in a similar situation?

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$14K is doable in Austin (my budget in undergrad was around that) of course, you won't be able to live right next to campus, but you could get a cute little house North of campus with a roommate and live a nice existence. The bus system is pretty good, and UT students ride for free.

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My budget in my undergrad was about $1000 a month, and I was able to get by. However, prices (especially rent) have gone up quite a bit since then.

If you're like me and don't care about having cable tv, aren't big on spending $4-8 dollars a drink on 6th street, don't have a car payment, etc. you should be fine on $1500.

I'm not aware of any $600 1 bedroom apartments around UT anymore, so I'd be careful and make sure you look at it before signing a lease. I'd budget more like $750-$800 to get a habitable 1 bedroom near campus.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I accepted my UT Austin offer a few days ago (Computer Architecture). Looks like 14k is the baseline fellowship but I was able to get a 9k/yr supplemental fellowship on top of that. I think that's an ECE thing only, sorry guys :( Any other ECE people here?

I'm considering the Riverside for housing. Can any residents comment about it?

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although i havent officially accepted yet, i am just waiting for a few details to shake out and i will be likely accepting for a spring 2010 start date (deferring a semester due to logistical reasons). i visited austin a few weeks ago and had a great time! im very excited to spend a few years there... would be moving around november. congrats to everyone!

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Just accepted yesterday for ECE. I really wanted to move to a bigger city, but I couldn't turn down their funding offer. Oh well. That's not such a bad problem to have.

dzhang, can you be more specfic? There's a whole neighborhood called Riverside, and lots of apartment complexes in the area have Riverside in the name. My ex lived down there, and it was a total ghetto; I use that term lightly, though -- there's really no place in Austin where I don't feel safe, but it's a neighborhood where cars get broken into, you see police hassling people at 2-3am on the side of the road, etc.

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Yup I'll be heading to UT - Austin this fall. I'm taking a trip down there next month to hopefully find a place to live. I'm looking for a 1-bedroom, very preferably furnished. I'm only going for a Masters, so I can't see purchasing furniture for an apartment for only 2 years, and plus it'll make moving A LOT easier. I guess my budget is around $800-1000 based off of my funding and savings (I've worked for 3 years).

It looks like on paper that there are a few nice places in Riverside, but I hear it isn't a great place to live. Are the apts there really that bad? I'll have a car so I don't mind the distance (~6 miles is still way less than I currently commute to work).

I guess the other area I'm looking at is North Campus/Hyde Park. I hear that's where many of the grad students live, but I've heard from a few Realtors that there aren't many furnished apts in that location. Any suggestions in this area?

I've done my research so West Campus is definitely out :shock:

Any feedback is appreciated! :D

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Yup I'll be heading to UT - Austin this fall. I'm taking a trip down there next month to hopefully find a place to live. I'm looking for a 1-bedroom, very preferably furnished. I'm only going for a Masters, so I can't see purchasing furniture for an apartment for only 2 years, and plus it'll make moving A LOT easier. I guess my budget is around $800-1000 based off of my funding and savings (I've worked for 3 years).

It looks like on paper that there are a few nice places in Riverside, but I hear it isn't a great place to live. Are the apts there really that bad? I'll have a car so I don't mind the distance (~6 miles is still way less than I currently commute to work).

I guess the other area I'm looking at is North Campus/Hyde Park. I hear that's where many of the grad students live, but I've heard from a few Realtors that there aren't many furnished apts in that location. Any suggestions in this area?

I've done my research so West Campus is definitely out :shock:

Any feedback is appreciated! :D

I used to live in a furnished complex called Century Square Apartments located at 3401 Red River St. It has (had?) furnished 1 bedrooms with all bills paid (electric, water) for $725, but keep in mind this was back in 2003-2004. It is an older complex, but fairly well maintained.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think that living $1500/month is definitely doable in Austin if you don't have any debt payments weighing you down. I managed on about $15k a year and lived comfortably, although not luxuriously.

I would avoid Riverside as a grad student. I went to UT for undergrad and grad school, and Riverside is not that great. The rents are cheaper, but a lot of the big complexes down there are all undergrads, and are super noisy. UT's not a top party school for nothing. ;) Also, as someone else mentioned, it's one of the least safe areas in Austin. It's not on par w/ SE DC or anything, but a lot of my friends who lived down there had their cars broken into and one even had his car stolen.

As a grad student, I'd check out north campus/hyde park, Far West, Camino La Costa/Cameron Road, and Manor Road/Cherrywood. Those areas are nice enough, with good access to campus, and not too noisy/overrun w/ undergrads. Happy hunting.

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Thanks for the feedback lbjane and was1984. I'm going down there May 20th to find a place. I'll definitely give Century Square a look - the location is about perfect for me. Otherwise, I'm going with a realtor around the Hyde Park area. Riverside is officially out except as an absolute last resort.

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