The Next Step: Fall 2013ers

[bona_fide]

Househunting in Toronto starting Thursday... landlords have been responsive so I'm crossing my fingers! Has anyone rented as an American (with no Canadian bank account) in Toronto? How did it work out? I'm bringing travelers checks, will get bank checks once I get there, and I'm also bringing a wish and a prayer

[Gwendolyn]

Luckily my lease is already taken care of, now I just have to decide how I'll be getting my things to Columbus. 

[dazedandbemused]

Luckily my lease is already taken care of, now I just have to decide how I'll be getting my things to Columbus.

Same here. I'm kind of in a state of paralysis when it comes to getting my belongings from Pennsylvania to Austin. I've never had to move outside of an easily driveable distance. Plus, it's not even the kind f stud that I can sell here and re-buy, as my life is sadly lacking in furniture.

[Swagato]

31 days until I move.   <---my emotional spectrum at present---> 

[practical cat]

Just got my one-way ticket to Boston.

[Two Espressos]

I'm moving soon as well: less than a month, actually.  Grad school will be upon us before we know it.  

[jazzyd]

For those of you who've found a place or are still looking, how close to campus will you be or are you ideally hoping for? I feel like I'm still in the undergraduate mindset a little bit, where I'm used to being very close to campus and anything further than a 10-15min walk feels too far.

[Swagato]

For those of you who've found a place or are still looking, how close to campus will you be or are you ideally hoping for? I feel like I'm still in the undergraduate mindset a little bit, where I'm used to being very close to campus and anything further than a 10-15min walk feels too far.

 

My plan is to live quite near campus (three blocks, as it turns out) until quals. For the dissertating years I'll move off to a neighbourhood slightly further away (apparently in a better/more spruced-up area) where most of the graduate students live. Why? Convenience, mostly, but also because...it's frakking Yale and I'd like to absorb as much of it as I please. >.>

 

You're heading to Chicago. I had a great time living just a block from the Museum of Sci & Industry on E. 55th and South Hyde Park Blvd. It's quite close to amenities (all-night Walgreens, Treasure Island grocery, a bunch of cheap eats and reasonably close to better eats, a couple of bars as well). I remember there are a fair few highrises stuffed with graduate students and some faculty members too. It's a good area. Plus it's really close to Promontory Point so you can always walk the grad blues off. 

 

Best part is that it is right on the UChicago shuttle/bus routes, so you are never (at any time of night or day) more than 15-20m from campus. You can choose to walk it (it'll take about the same time anyway) but I don't recommend doing that too late at night. Good luck!

[Two Espressos]

For those of you who've found a place or are still looking, how close to campus will you be or are you ideally hoping for? I feel like I'm still in the undergraduate mindset a little bit, where I'm used to being very close to campus and anything further than a 10-15min walk feels too far.

 

Our apartment is ~2.5 miles from campus, which isn't exactly within walking distance but is still fairly close.  We're on a bus line, though, and the buses are free.

[Gauche]

For those of you who've found a place or are still looking, how close to campus will you be or are you ideally hoping for? I feel like I'm still in the undergraduate mindset a little bit, where I'm used to being very close to campus and anything further than a 10-15min walk feels too far.

 

My house is 3-4 miles from campus. Since it took me 45 min to an hour to drive to my undergrad institution, this is definitely a great improvement. Besides, I don't feel comfortable living too close to campus where all the students are, and I plan to drive anyway.

[practical cat]

For those of you who've found a place or are still looking, how close to campus will you be or are you ideally hoping for? I feel like I'm still in the undergraduate mindset a little bit, where I'm used to being very close to campus and anything further than a 10-15min walk feels too far.

I'm about 10 miles from my campus. (But I'm MUCH closer to Tufts, ha.)

[ProfLorax]

I tried to start packing today. It lasted a good five minutes before I melted into a puddle of anxiety, fatigue, and distraction.

 

This is gonna be a fun few weeks. 

[ComeBackZinc]

I definitely get the urge not to live too close to campus, especially because the immediate area around our campus are indeed very undergrad-y. At the same time, I've found that proximity to campus really is a great boon, all-in-all. That's true both for the obvious reasons and also because I've found that my mental state and feelings of community are intimately tied towards being on campus a lot. The more often I'm on campus doing anything, even if it's something I could be doing at home, the happier I tend to be. Grad school can be lonely and alienating in the best of times. Just something to think about.

 

That said, I'm taking advantage of a particular artificial boundary here. I live in Lafayette, over the bridge from West Lafayette. And for whatever reasons (classism, for one), the undergrads just do not come across the bridge, except maybe to go to one bar. And since I'm still thirty minutes walk from campus over the pedestrian bridge, and ten minutes on the bus, I really do get the best of both worlds. So I'm pretty spoiled. I walk 90% of the time, just because it keeps me active and gives me a period when I can think to myself.

[Gwendolyn]

Same here. I'm kind of in a state of paralysis when it comes to getting my belongings from Pennsylvania to Austin. I've never had to move outside of an easily driveable distance. Plus, it's not even the kind f stud that I can sell here and re-buy, as my life is sadly lacking in furniture.

I just don't know where to start.

[Gwendolyn]

For those of you who've found a place or are still looking, how close to campus will you be or are you ideally hoping for? I feel like I'm still in the undergraduate mindset a little bit, where I'm used to being very close to campus and anything further than a 10-15min walk feels too far.

I live ~3 miles from campus (45 minute - 1 hr walk at most), but I still live in a really "campusy" neighborhood as it's only about a 5 minute drive (it's actually a straight shot and right by a main bus line).

Edited July 5, 2013 by Gwendolyn

[jazzyd]

My plan is to live quite near campus (three blocks, as it turns out) until quals. For the dissertating years I'll move off to a neighbourhood slightly further away (apparently in a better/more spruced-up area) where most of the graduate students live. Why? Convenience, mostly, but also because...it's frakking Yale and I'd like to absorb as much of it as I please. >.>

 

You're heading to Chicago. I had a great time living just a block from the Museum of Sci & Industry on E. 55th and South Hyde Park Blvd. It's quite close to amenities (all-night Walgreens, Treasure Island grocery, a bunch of cheap eats and reasonably close to better eats, a couple of bars as well). I remember there are a fair few highrises stuffed with graduate students and some faculty members too. It's a good area. Plus it's really close to Promontory Point so you can always walk the grad blues off. 

 

Best part is that it is right on the UChicago shuttle/bus routes, so you are never (at any time of night or day) more than 15-20m from campus. You can choose to walk it (it'll take about the same time anyway) but I don't recommend doing that too late at night. Good luck!

 

Grad blues... a little soon to be thinking about those, eh?

 

It sounds like living close to the campus is the best bet. I figure between living closer to the loop and living closer to campus, the latter is far more practical. I talked to some students on the visiting day who lived on the northside even as far as Wrigleyville, which maybe a possibility after I finish classes but would be nuts to do at this point.

 

Thanks for the input everyone! I realize based on everyone's responses that the answer to the question varies quite a bit by campus size and type. My undergrad institution is very much situated in a campustown in the middle of nowhere versus Chicago which is, well, not.

[Swagato]

Ha, yeah. Living up north (compared to Hyde Park) can bite you in the rear end later on, simply because it's so, well, disconnected. I suppose that may work for some--you'd be the best judge. It's certainly easy to get up to the Loop/northern parts of the city--the 6 takes you straight there--but come winter, come late night hours, and it gets trickier. 

[somethinbruin]

For those of you who've found a place or are still looking, how close to campus will you be or are you ideally hoping for? I feel like I'm still in the undergraduate mindset a little bit, where I'm used to being very close to campus and anything further than a 10-15min walk feels too far.

 

The place I found is about 2.5 miles from campus. My housing search was tricky. I wanted to be outside of undergraduate areas immediately surrounding campus, but I also need to be somewhat close because my university does not offer parking, so grad students have to walk, bike, or take public transportation. The bus lines are really good in some areas and really bad in others (mostly because buses stop running to those areas around 5 p.m. and we all know graduate schedules do not work like that) so that factored into my search. Anything easily walkable (1.5 miles or less) was in undergrad central, and since I'm a few years out of undergrad that didn't appeal to me. Many of the outer apartments were out of my price range because they cater to medical residents (3 hospitals nearby) and professors.

 

In the end, I went with a one bedroom that was farther away than I wanted to be (but nicely finished and well within my price range). It is near several bus lines and on a dedicated bike path that gets me to my office in about 3 miles/15 minutes. I plan on biking to work most days, and using the bus when the weather is bad. If I had to, I think I could do the walk in about 45 minutes. 

 

If my school had parking for graduate students, I would probably live about 12 miles out from campus, where a lot of really nice apartments and townhomes are being built. But alas...maybe in years 4-5 when I have to be on campus less frequently. Until then, I'm thrilled to be on the bike path so that I can cyclo-commute without battling traffic.

[egwynn]

Oh, man, my primary goal was to not be in the undergrad area.  When I was TAing during my MA I would always always always see my students when I was on my way home from bars, doing the walk of shame, taking the trash out at 6AM with my hair looking like a tsunami, heading out for cycling in a onesie with butt pads, etc, etc, etc.  On one memorable night I saw no fewer than five of my students while I was walking home from hockey and drinking a beer out of my bag, so I was tipsy, sweaty, smelly, AND my hair looked like it had large rodents living in it.  (Also undergrad neighborhoods are, in my experience, littered with trash, loud, have more petty crime than other places I've lived, and the businesses in those areas are less friendly and interesting because they're catering to the frat-minded customer.)

 

I am living in an area with families and other grad students that is somehow by the grace of please-let-me-embarrass-myself-in-peace about a 30 minute walk from campus.  It's slightly more than I want to pay and I'm tentatively planning to move quite a ways away and maybe even buy a house next year, but for now it is fabulous and I love it.

[somethinbruin]

Oh, man, my primary goal was to not be in the undergrad area.  When I was TAing during my MA I would always always always see my students when I was on my way home from bars, doing the walk of shame, taking the trash out at 6AM with my hair looking like a tsunami, heading out for cycling in a onesie with butt pads, etc, etc, etc.  On one memorable night I saw no fewer than five of my students while I was walking home from hockey and drinking a beer out of my bag, so I was tipsy, sweaty, smelly, AND my hair looked like it had large rodents living in it.  (Also undergrad neighborhoods are, in my experience, littered with trash, loud, have more petty crime than other places I've lived, and the businesses in those areas are less friendly and interesting because they're catering to the frat-minded customer.)

 

I am living in an area with families and other grad students that is somehow by the grace of please-let-me-embarrass-myself-in-peace about a 30 minute walk from campus.  It's slightly more than I want to pay and I'm tentatively planning to move quite a ways away and maybe even buy a house next year, but for now it is fabulous and I love it.

 

Being away from undergrads was my primary goal. I love my students, but I do not need them to see my taking my trash out in my pajamas, particularly when my recycling will be full of wine bottles. Also, I agree with everything you said regarding the quality of neighborhoods--undergrad neighborhoods have more crime and litter. The neighborhood I found is mostly owner occupied with a few rentals. There is pride of ownership/upkeep. I just think it will be a better environment in which to study.

[Porridge]

Should I buy a macbook air or pro?

[Swagato]

Air. Emphatically, Air.

 

My Air is a late-2010 model. 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 256GB SSD. It's blazing fast. I have 30-40 tabs open in Chrome for weeks at a time, no noticeable slow-down. Near-instant waking from sleep, exceptionally fast boot times, etc. On top of that, it'll easily last you any class (battery life with a fair number of apps open is between 3-6 hours), and is so, so light. Really, until you move from a Pro to an Air it's hard to appreciate the lightness. 

 

I can only imagine how much better the current generation of Airs are. 

[ProfLorax]

I second everything Swagato said. My Air is light, fast, efficient, and really freakin' cool. 

 

I love my Air more than my husband. Not really, but it's close. 

[Porridge]

Will it handle heavy graphics and video editing?

Edited July 16, 2013 by Porridge

[ComeBackZinc]

Nope. You should go for a Macbook Pro if you want to buy a Mac then. (says an anti-Mac person.)