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Stony Brook, NY


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Do you mean on or off campus? There's LGBT housing on campus, and you can create any house you want off campus, so there's no such thing as housing off campus that isn't LGBT friendly.

 

Off campus. I'm talking about LGBTQ folks forming an intentional living space where everyone is either LGBTQ or a very committed ally. I think I know what you're trying to say with the last part of your sentence? But LGBTQ friendly housing is not a given anywhere.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm wondering when would be a good time to start my search? I live a few hours away and wouldn't mind making trips this summer to check out the area and housing. But I don't know when the ideal time would be. This seems to vary from city to city.

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I'm curious about this too. I'm going to be visiting campus to meet the department in a week or two, and I'll ask current students. Still given that Stony Brook and the surrounding towns with apartments are seasonal with regards to the student population, it's tough to know what to do.

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I grew up in Stony Brook also.  It's more of a place you'd want to raise your kids than a place you'd want to spend single in your 20s.  It is BEAUTIFUL during the summer.  I try to spend as much time there as I can during the summer.  Tons of outdoor activities and you're really close to the beach.  You can definitely live off of 17,5 if you have a roommate or two.  You absolutely need a car.  I would not live all of the way in BK/the city but I guess you could if you really wanted.  The LIRR runs very regularly (24 hour service) and the train ride is (I believe) an hour and 40 minutes.  There is a shorter train from Ronkonkoma, which is also nearby.  There are decent restaurants but only two or three bars and they will have a lot of locals in them.  Thankfully most of the locals aren't too grungy - it is Long Island afterall.  Very liberal environment.  Lots of white people; but the university attracts a lot of minorities.  It's kind of like a small town with a lot of people.  Lots of shopping in the big mall but no downtown area to speak of.  In conclusion, would I attend a PhD program there?  I'd lean against it, because it's not the type of environment I'm looking for.  But if you were settled down I think you'd be pretty happy there.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I visiting the math tower at Stony Brook yesterday. Was really quite disappointed of the looks of it. Seemed quite old and cramped. It really turned me off so now I am just trying to decide if the high-rank of their department outweighs moving out to Long Island (from CT), which is quite expensive compared to the areas of other schools I got accepted (unfortunately they are much lower ranked than SB). 

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Okay, thanks! Will more people post listings on SB's off-campus housing site by June? I liked that site better than Craigslist, but there isn't much right now.

I'm going on a trip out of the country for the entire month of June, so hopefully I can visit during May to secure something.

I work for the office. We're bound to only post what the town considers legal, which is extremely limiting. We're hoping there will be more listings soon, but definitely check out stonybrook.edu/offcampusliving for the resources you need to make sure stuff from sources other than our site is safe.

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  • 2 years later...

Hi all,

I'm seriously considering Stony Brook as my next destination for the next 5 years (it's my top choice school and very reputable in my research field). I've been offered a full-tuition and a stipend package, but I've been hearing from multiple people that my stipend may not be sufficient considering the cost of living in Stony Brook? What's the general cost of living in Stony Brook area, and would it be possible for me to live without taking out loans (I wouldn't mind living with a roommate) if my monthly income before taxes is ~$1,600? I can provide more info if needed, and I'd really appreciate any feedback!

Thank you so much in advance :)

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Hey, so I live in the general Stony Brook area right now with my significant other. My situation is a little different than yours, as he did not want to live with a roommate, so our current monthly rent is $1670/mo for a 789 square foot one bedroom apartment not including utilities. If you are willing to live with roommates, look for calls within your department for roommates, look on craigslist. Do not, DO NOT, look at one bedrooms in the general vicinity as they will all be about the same cost as mine or higher. One of the quotes we got for a one bedroom when we first were looking was $2000/mo because it was a nicer complex.

 

Also consider that lots of people live in roomshares in Brooklyn in their later years in school as they tend to be about the same price or cheaper than the island. 

 

I don't want to scare you away from Stony Brook, especially if it is your top choice. But it has an extremely high cost of living. 

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Hi!

I have also been accepted to Stony Brook and seriously considering accepting the offer. But from what I can see on on-campus living site from my acceptance letter all the dorm fees are under 5000/semester, which is lower than @indigopierogy said. I'd love to know more about living costs too. I'm also not sure how the housing works during summer -- should I pay a separate fee, find another place to live or is it included in semester fees -- as a foreigner I don't know the system.

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@skim497  what's the program you've been accepted to? I'm also considering going to Stony Brook this fall! 

I have some friends doing their PhD there, and they manage to live with their stipend, but they do share a house with multiple roommates. They also told me not to look for on campus housing because it's generally more expensive than what you can find off campus 

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@indigopierogy Thank you for your advice and suggestions! You're not scaring me away from Stony Brook lol. I'm visiting the school next week, and hopefully I'll get a better idea of the housing situations in Stony Brook/Long Island from current grad students there.

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@Arkhy Awesome! For CS? Yeah it's really not clear yet, but once I come back from Stony Brook next week (visiting Mar 7th-8th) I'll share more information with you (if I find any useful info lol)!

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@thevphone Political Science! I really wouldn't mind having a roommate or two if that's what it takes to pursue my academic/career goals lol. But I would love to live in a pet-friendly apartment/house!

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12 hours ago, skim497 said:

@indigopierogy Thank you for your advice and suggestions! You're not scaring me away from Stony Brook lol. I'm visiting the school next week, and hopefully I'll get a better idea of the housing situations in Stony Brook/Long Island from current grad students there.

 

Hi, I have also been admitted to Stony Brook this cycle and I suspect my funding is about the same range as yours. I'd love to go to the university if it could only be guaranteed that the stipend would be enough to live semi-comfortably on Long Island; i.e. I have pretty identical questions to those that were in your original posting. Since I can't make the visiting weekend, I'd really appreciate it if you could share here after your visit whether such range of stipend would be enough. I have asked similar questions about the cost of living to the recent graduate students at SBU around me (but no one current!), and will also share it here once I get something back.  Cheers. 

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13 hours ago, skim497 said:

@Arkhy Awesome! For CS? Yeah it's really not clear yet, but once I come back from Stony Brook next week (visiting Mar 7th-8th) I'll share more information with you (if I find any useful info lol)!

Oh, thank you, that would be very useful! And yes, I was accepted for Computer Science.

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On 1/3/2018 at 3:00 AM, skim497 said:

@thevphone Political Science! I really wouldn't mind having a roommate or two if that's what it takes to pursue my academic/career goals lol. But I would love to live in a pet-friendly apartment/house!

I'm in for Linguistics! If we end up going to SBU we can also team up with someone else and try to find a house! I heard that it can be easier to rent a whole house, as opposed to find a room

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On 3/26/2012 at 11:14 AM, sunnynero said:

I currently live in Brooklyn, and I am considering my options for commuting... LIRR vs. car. I already have a car, so that isn't a problem. From what I have gathered so far, the LIRR can take a really long time depending on where you are in Brooklyn. Since I am in Park Slope, I would have to first take the subway and then transfer.

 

The car looks like the way to go - my next concern is parking. I spoke to an undergrad at Stony Brook who told me that the university requires that you park 30 minutes away, and then take a shuttle-bus to campus. Does anyone know anything about this? If not, I'll make the trip sometime in the next couple of weeks and update anyone who wants to know the answer.

It depends if you're an MA or a Ph.D. lots of Ph.D. students are considered "staff/faculty" by their departments, so you can get a staff or faculty parking pass, which will enable you to park in lots much closer your building. I'm currently an MA, and I have to park in the "commuter" lot-- basically 1-2 miles away from the building that I take classes in and the place on campus where I work. I add 15-20 minutes to my commute to account for the bus ride, so I usually give myself almost 30 minutes extra from driving to taking the bus to walking from where the bus drops off to my classes/work. I like to get places early rather than on time. All in all it takes about an hour for my commute and the bus. It's not unbearable, but it is a bit inconvenient and you are forced to never be in a rush to go anywhere.

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So I just came back from Stony Brook, and I loved it! Also, I talked to multiple grad students (I actually even talked to my Uber driver about it lol) and it is definitely possible to find an affordable option. It's definitely not super easy to find a cheap place, but most grad students in the department live in Stony Brook (off-campus), or Port Jefferson paying under $1,000/mo (most people said they pay $700-$900/mo including utils). That being said, they all said that finding an affordable option that's around $700-$900/month would be much easier if you can find one or two people that you can room with. One of the grad students said there's a Stony Brook undergrad/grad housing group on Facebook, and some people in the department found roommates and living options there. Also, some people live in "basement apartments" and I asked what that meant cus it sounded very sketchy and wrong. They said some houses restructure their basements and make them look like apartments (kitchen, bathroom and everything). I had two concerns with this: 1. Will I get in any legal trouble if I decide to choose this option? and 2. What if people upstairs accidentally (or intentionally) come into my "basement apartment"? The answer to the first question' is no; if anyone gets in trouble it'd be the landlord. The second question shouldn't be a problem either, since they restructure the basement such that nobody can access the basement from inside the house (and vice versa, you can't enter the house from the basement).

I don't know if this information is helpful enough. If you wanna know more, you're more than welcome to pm me. I really loved the visit and it's a great fit for me. I still have another visit to make in late March, but I'm almost certain that I'll choose Stony Brook over the other (mostly due to research interests). @thevphone @Arkhy @goatorsylvia I hope you guys find this helpful!

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