Starting over in a new place....

[St Andrews Lynx]

I suspect that most schools will have some kind of off-campus messageboard or listings (either official or unofficial) that current students will post on when they're looking for roommates. Personally I'd check on those before I went to Craigslist - at least that way you get to choose from a pool of fellow graduate students. 

 

Cash-wise I'd go ahead and beg my parents for a donation or no-interest loan. There's also enough time to hunt for a stop-gap menial job (stocking shelves in a supermarket, waiting on tables, cleaning) before Fall 2014 and start saving. It might take a couple of months to find such a job...but that still gives you 5-6 months of payslips before the move.

[TakeruK]

In addition, if you have a job now, even a crappy minimum wage job to save up, you can apply for a credit card (if you don't already have one) and that can help cover necessary expenses if you are responsible with it. I always pay my credit card bill before the due date so that I don't have to pay interest. The due date is usually 3 weeks after your statement is issued, which usually happens monthly. So, if you know your statement is issued on the 15th, then for example, if you time big expenses (e.g. your first grocery run in your new place) to be on e.g. September 16th, right after you move in perhaps, then your statement won't be issued until October 15th, which means you don't have to pay it off until 3 weeks later, in early November. Hopefully that would be enough time for a loan to come in. This only works if you only use your card for things that are absolutely necessary of course, and you have to be sure you're able to pay it back so that you don't waste money on interest charges. But when used correctly, a credit card can help you delay some charges and save yourself taking out a loan with interest (but again, be careful because credit card interest is usually much higher than personal loan rates).

 

Some landlords will allow you to use your card to pay rent (they may charge a small fee) but this might be necessary for the first month. But not all will allow this. You can use the card to delay some costs like utility bills (which won't come right away anyways) and utility deposit (one place wanted a $200 deposit because we were new to the US and had no US credit!!). 

[LittleDarlings]

I don't know, but you should have known that it wouldn't be free to move across country and settle down in your own place. You have to pay rent to live anywhere in America unless you're homeless. Depending on what city you'll be moving to, rent can vary. If it's a big city like New York, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, it's very hard to find anything for cheaper than $1000 a month. If it's a small town you can probably find something for $500 a month. Most places are somewhere in between those two prices. Most mid-size cities where universities are located, the lowest possible places you'll find are $600 to $800 a month. And I'm talking about Craigslist prices. This means you'll have to be willing in living in a less than ideal environment. Now, you have to try to find a place that has the lowest possible down payment. Most respectable places require first month, last month, plus security. I don't know if I've ever seen a place that only required the month up front. You might find something that only requires the month up front plus a rather cheap security deposit (like $200 to $400). 

 

Okay, so now you're moved in. Well, how are you gonna get there? Plane, bus, car, etc. I have a friend who finds me cheap plane tickets because he's good at navigating all those "name your price" websites. But if you're not so savvy, you can overpay on plane tickets. It could be cheaper depending on how far you're traveling and what time of year it is. So, now you've gotten your plane ticket, you paid for your apartment. Now how are you gonna get to school for the first month until your money arrives? Do you have a car? Then you have to pay for gas. Are you paying $5-6 a day on bus fare? Are you going cheap and walking or riding your bike? That's if you found a place close to school. Finding a cheap place on Craigslist usually gives you an inconvenient location. Okay, so you found a way to get to school every day. Now what are you gonna eat? You get my point. 

I get it, I do have a car, all the places I applied I have the ability to drive to, my parents would also help me physically move. I knew that moving wouldn't be free but I don't think I thought about how much everything would cost.  I knew my parents would help, I also knew I would have a small stash but it all just seems like a lot.  I am not going to super worry about it though until I find out if I got into any other programs though.  I can't stress myself out. 

[LittleDarlings]

You just have to make smart decisions when you move. It's a lot cheaper to find someone who is in need of a roommate and already has a place than to go looking for your own place to rent. You might even be able to find an already furnished bedroom. Choose a school that is a reasonable driving distance so you can drive yourself, if you have a vehicle, or your parents wouldn't mind to take you - 8 hours or so? Choose a city that has a lower cost of living. You eat very cheaply in the beginning - ramen noodles, rice, etc. Perhaps your parents will even buy you some starter groceries before they return home.    

 

CorruptedInnocence, how many miles away is the furthest school you applied to?

The farthest is 5 hours and I looked at a few places there and if you live on the outskirts of the city rent is about 500-600.  There is also an apartment there that is right near the campus and fully furnished and with a roommate it is about 400 a month (400 for each person). I have done a little bit of research probably not enough, but I am afraid of jinxing myself. If I plan too much or get too excited I won't get in.  A few of the other schools I applied to I know people who go there or live nearby so they can help, and even possibly be a roommate.

[nugget]

The fall semester is more than half a year away. The good news is that there is still time to find a job, even one that pays minimum wage, if you need to. You should be able to save $3,000 or more as long as you aren't too picky about where you work. As an added benefit, time may pass by more quickly if you are busy working next year and keeping you mind occupied on other things while you wait on admissions decisions.

Edited December 30, 2013 by jenste

[Sigaba]

Tell that to Sigaba. He's threatening to tell my prospective schools that some guy on the internet is attracted to college freshmen. 

 

 

The one who is going to be telling your prospective schools about you is you.

 

Either when Jaklin Kornfilt and her colleagues review your application materials or when they've admitted you to a program and get together and talk about your conduct, and your work ethic, they will decide what to do with you.

Edited December 30, 2013 by Sigaba

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

The one who is going to be telling your prospective schools about you is you.

 

Either when Jaklin Kornfilt and her colleagues review your application materials or when they've admitted you to a program and get together and talk about your conduct, and your work ethic, they will decide what to do with you.

What to do with me? If I've already been admitted, I assume they'd let me take classes and do research. That's what I'm applying for. And what does my work ethic have to do with anything? I'm really confused by what your fascination is. You've already snooped in on my prospective programs. I doubt you'd be so familiar with the world of computational linguistics, ya know, being a historian and all. 

Edited December 30, 2013 by Gnome Chomsky

[Loric]

The one who is going to be telling your prospective schools about you is you.

 

Either when Jaklin Kornfilt and her colleagues review your application materials or when they've admitted you to a program and get together and talk about your conduct, and your work ethic, they will decide what to do with you.

 

Your behavior is beyond the pale.

[Sigaba]

What to do with me? If I've already been admitted, I assume they'd let me take classes and do research. That's what I'm applying for. And what does my work ethic have to do with anything? 

 

Gnome--

 

At the end of each academic year, the progress of graduate students in a program is reviewed at the departmental level. These reviews inform the decision to continue funding a student. These reviews also help professors decide the degree to which they want to help/mentor a graduate student. (There are many threads on this BB that discuss the inner workings of academic departments and graduate programs and the ways professors quietly nudge out the door graduate students they want gone.)

 

Since your arrival at this BB, you've gotten several polite hints from experienced graduate students that you might benefit from taking a step back, dialing down the attitude, and showing a greater willingness to find answers to your own questions. (What is computational linguistics? Why it is inappropriate for an aspiring graduate student applying to Syracuse to joke around about having sexual relationships with undergraduates? Why is it simply unsatisfactory to make jokes about peoples' sexuality?)

 

Despite these hints, you've made it clear that you're going to do things your way. You've also made it clear that when you don't get your way, you're going to generate controversy for its own sake. Time will tell if your approach is sustainable in graduate school.

[VBD]

To add in my two cents on the cost of housing and such. 

Case -- rents are gonna run you around $500-600. Efficiencies will be higher (Watch out for some landlords, there are some in the area who take advantage of the UGs who are renting for the first time).

Pitt -- rents would be a little higher. BUT since Pitt allows student to do off-campus housing earlier, there's more competition. Some of my friends at Pitt had to show a statement to their landlord that they do have x income amount, or x amount saved, and can in fact pay the rent on time. 

OSU -- similarly competitive, but the prices have a wider range. My one friend did have to get a credit check at some places which costs and additional $40. *shrugs* but that's the only time I've heard of that going on in Columbus

 

I don't know about the other places you are applying. Point being is that for moving there's a lot to consider. I had a friend move from the bluegrass area of Ohio to OSU and the cost was a bit higher than she was used to. She worked as a waitress for a few months and with just the move, finding a place, etc. She completely drained her savings (and the emergency-save-for-a-rainy-day-fund of $2200 from her job. I don't know why, but just keep in mind that sometimes crap happens when you move. XD Have you asked those acquaintances you know in the area whether they would be available to help you or are you assuming? I ask because when school time comes, many acquaintances are usually too busy to be able to help and flake on you. 

Social wise -- my friends at OSU were essentially forced to be socialable, but alcohol is usually involved. Also hope you like talking about football! (Jk -- I have some very home-body friends at OSU, and they are fine without forcibly talking about football) I have MSW friends at OSU, Case, and Pitt and they are usually somewhat tight knit since they share a lot of the same views, but of course, your mileage may vary. 

In addition to sites like idealist, I would recommend opportunityknocks Also, maybe you can go to your local community service fair. I'm sure there is one in Univ of Akron. Contact someone at your alma mater who was in charge of community service and they can give you a lot of advice on alternative post graduation. Americorp and Peace Corp are extremely competitive, but you would never know if you can even get it if you don't apply! Peace Corp though will require a LOT of independence. You will likely be in a foreign country you've never been to before and have just learned the language, and may even have limited communication with your family. My friends in the peace corp have to walk a good amount of miles before they can reach the village with a working satellite phone (He was in Francophone Africa though). 

[Guest Gnome Chomsky]

Gnome--

 

At the end of each academic year, the progress of graduate students in a program is reviewed at the departmental level. These reviews inform the decision to continue funding a student. These reviews also help professors decide the degree to which they want to help/mentor a graduate student. (There are many threads on this BB that discuss the inner workings of academic departments and graduate programs and the ways professors quietly nudge out the door graduate students they want gone.)

 

Since your arrival at this BB, you've gotten several polite hints from experienced graduate students that you might benefit from taking a step back, dialing down the attitude, and showing a greater willingness to find answers to your own questions. (What is computational linguistics? Why it is inappropriate for an aspiring graduate student applying to Syracuse to joke around about having sexual relationships with undergraduates? Why is it simply unsatisfactory to make jokes about peoples' sexuality?)

 

Despite these hints, you've made it clear that you're going to do things your way. You've also made it clear that when you don't get your way, you're going to generate controversy for its own sake. Time will tell if your approach is sustainable in graduate school.

Okay, well, I don't know what else there is to say. I have made some pretty immature comments during my time on GradCafe, pretty much out of boredom or compulsion. But I feel like the number of mature and hopefully helpful posts I've made far outnumbers the immature ones, especially lately. I initially came on GradCafe to ask people questions to figure out my own issues. But after getting most of them answered, I started lending my hand at trying to help others answer their own. I don't know much but I try to help when I can. I really don't know why you think I've been such a public enemy on these boards, but there's not much I can do to change your perception. So we'll just leave it at that. And I'm confident I'll do well in grad school. I've never had disciplinary problems in any realm since I turned 18, and I've always done good work and got my mentors to like me. Plus, I'm only doing a master's which is funded by the military, so I don't have to worry about getting professors to approve of my year-to-year funding. Maybe one day. I'll worry about it then. I'm really not worried. If I fail to get funding, it won't be because of conduct or work ethic--it'll be because I'm not very good at what I do. 

[Neocon]

When you get to your new school, beat up the toughest person there. Instant respect.

[Usmivka]

Pinkster/corruptedinnocence--Folks on this forum have made a solid effort to provide you with advice to help with your life transitions, grad school and otherwise. I also provided suggestions in good faith, including when I suggested that another online community might be a valuable resource for some of the issues you've presented (a sentiment echoed multiple times since). I'm not inclined to provide constructive comments on this or any of your other very lengthy threads if you downvote me for the trouble.

 

Unlike some here I have taken a leap of faith and am assuming you 1) aren't trolling the forum and 2) are actually willing to act on some of the advice presented rather than throwing up more roadblocks and "woe is me" statements. Maybe this isn't valuable to you, but what is left if you drive these responses away are the (sometimes entertaining) verbal slapdowns taking over all your threads. The forum etiquette I try to follow is to upvote folks often, save downvotes for the posts that are aggresively disparaging to individuals or groups instead of expanding on some idea, and otherwise write a post to express disagreement. Clearly there are other models as well.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Usmivka

[LittleDarlings]

Pinkster/corruptedinnocence--Folks on this forum have made a solid effort to provide you with advice to help with your life transitions, grad school and otherwise. I also provided suggestions in good faith, including when I suggested that another online community might be a valuable resource for some of the issues you've presented (a sentiment echoed multiple times since). I'm not inclined to provide constructive comments on this or any of your other very lengthy threads if you downvote me for the trouble.

Unlike some here I have taken a leap of faith and am assuming you 1) aren't trolling the forum and 2) are actually willing to act on some of the advice presented rather than throwing up more roadblocks and "woe is me" statements. Maybe this isn't valuable to you, but what is left if you drive these responses away are the (sometimes entertaining) verbal slapdowns taking over all your threads. The forum etiquette I try to follow is to upvote folks often, save downvotes for the posts that are aggresively disparaging to individuals or groups instead of expanding on some idea, and otherwise write a post to express disagreement. Clearly there are other models as well.

... I didn't down vote you. I had no reason to, you weren't rude or anything. I'm willing to listen to the advice but I also have to consider other things. Edited December 31, 2013 by CorruptedInnocence

[Usmivka]

... I didn't down vote you. I had no reason to, you weren't rude or anything.

Yes, you did. We can see who votes up and down on each post.

 

Maybe it was an accident, in which case I'm sorry to be crabby. I hate it when I put time into a response and someone traipses through and downvotes it without taking the time to post why they disagree.

 

EDIT: in response to below, the easiest way to monitor what you are or or not voting for is to go to your profile, choose reputation, and look at the "reputation given" tab.

Edited December 31, 2013 by Usmivka

[LittleDarlings]

Yes, you did. We can see who votes up and down on each post.

What post are you talking about? I can tell you if I did or didn't. I'm pretty sure I didn't. If i did then sorry but there was probably a reason why. Like I said if I did I don't remember. I have down voted a ton but I honestly don't remember you saying anything super rude or mean that made me down vote you

Edited December 31, 2013 by CorruptedInnocence

[Lisa44201]

In smaller towns with larger schools, landlords are already leasing places for the fall. I signed a lease on the place we're currently living in in March, for a June 1 move-in date, and I was very, very lucky to get it. Did anyone mention security deposits? That's a month's rent up front. So, if you're renting a place for $500/month, the landlord would want $500 before you move in.

[LittleDarlings]

Yes, you did. We can see who votes up and down on each post.

 

Maybe it was an accident, in which case I'm sorry to be crabby. I hate it when I put time into a response and someone traipses through and downvotes it without taking the time to post why they disagree.

 

EDIT: in response to below, the easiest way to monitor what you are or or not voting for is to go to your profile, choose reputation, and look at the "reputation given" tab.

I'm sorry if I did down vote you because I don't remember. I'm sure nothing you said was that bad compared to other things I have heard.   

 

Lisa: I am freaking out I mean it wouldn't be smart of me to really look at places yet though right? I don't even know that I got into schools? I have looked on zillow at places and I know the areas in each place that I want to live and the price ranges but I am really afraid of jinxing myself. 

[i.am.me]

That depends on your city ^ I am in a college town and have already signed a lease for the next rental school year that starts August 2014. 

 

I'm sorry I don't know what's in...Ohio (?), but it's always best to start early. If you need help from Mom n Dad you can still get it now ( I did!). 

Edited December 31, 2013 by iampheng

[VioletAyame]

Sorry I don't mean to hijack your thread, but I got a (kind of) relevant question. Assuming I get in a program across the country, June/July would probably be too late to look for a place? I plan to go back home (across the Pacific) for a few months after all the decisions have been made, so that would be around the end of April. If I manage to fly to where the program is, find a place and sign a lease for August - September, is it advisable to leave the country for a few months in between?

[MadtownJacket]

Depends on where you're moving to.  If you're moving to a college town where it's notoriously hard to find places, then you should have started looking in October (yes, October of this year).  I live in Madison WI, and it's extremely common for people to start signing contracts for the following year shortly after school starts.  Maybe that's an extreme, but I would start looking as soon as you make a decision just to be on the safe side.

 

And I don't see why you can't leave the country for a few months after signing a contract.

[123hardasABC]

I'm moving to New York City and I start late August/early September.......so I should be starting soon, huh?  This is going to be rough considering home base is California.

[St Andrews Lynx]

I'm moving to New York City and I start late August/early September.......so I should be starting soon, huh? 

For NYC I think you can hold off several months - it isn't exactly what you'd call a small college town. Also, there's more than students living in the city, so the start & end date of leases won't be tied to the academic year as much. 

Looking through the archives of housing messageboards at your university of choice should tell you when the majority of students start advertising for spare roommates and how long before Fall semester apartments are put on the market.

[TakeruK]

I agree that timelines really depend on the location. Right now, I live in a very non-college town (students probably make up less than 3% of the population) so other than the areas immediately adjacent to campus, the rental market is like any other "regular" town. We have been following the rental listings all year because we are looking to move if there is a good option and it's very rare to be able to find a place more than a few weeks in advance. In California, the law is 30 days notice to vacate, so at the earliest, you will see something up for 1 month from now. But most places will want you to move in much sooner than 1 month!

 

We did fly out to pick out an apartment about 4-5 weeks before our move-in and we were almost too early. Luckily, while responding to a "move in ASAP" ad, the landlord told us that they actually have another tenant who is planning on leaving by September 1, so we were lucky to be able to sign a lease to begin Sept 1 when we visited (about August 1). It really looked like we would have to sign a lease to begin in August and pay double rent for awhile!

 

Alternatively, there are other places where the market is almost the opposite. In another town we moved to in the past, students make up almost 40% of the population and the law was 60 days notice to vacate. For all of the decent, well upkept properties in town, they are almost immediately snatched up within a few days of being available. In that place, we signed our August 1 lease back on June 1 or so. When we moved away, the landlord notified us that someone else has already agreed to take our apartment within 4-5 days of us giving our 60 days notice (which was great, since we would not be disrupted by them showing potential tenants around our place). 

 

For people who are able to get paid visits to their schools, I strongly suggest spending some of that visit time talking to students about housing. If you plan to live off-campus, spend some of the time walking around and getting to know the neighbourhoods so that when you look at ads later, you know how the area feels. You can and should ask students where they live so you know which areas are safe etc. Also, see if you need to sign up for any on-campus housing stuff earlier. Some of these places have applications that open in March or April. At my current school, there is a first-come first-served waitlist for off-campus unfurnished campus owned housing and you're allowed to put your name on the list as soon as you are accepted (you don't even have to accept their offer yet). So, once a school accepts you, look into all of this and put your names on any waitlists or sign up lists that you are able to. You can always take your name off the list if you decide that you don't want that housing option.

[rising_star]

For NYC, you don't need to look more than a few weeks before you want to move, unless you're trying to get university-subsidized housing. Anything earlier than that, and they'll be expecting you to move in sooner than you are prepared. Also, for NYC, you might want to look into a sublet or roommate situation, which again, will not mean that you need to find something now since they won't know about the vacancy yet.

 

As for college towns, it really varies from one college town to the next. I did my MA in a classic college town and was able to find fall housing in mid-July, with August 1 for the move-in. I ended up in a really fantastic place with an awesome roommate that I'm still friends with. On the other hand, the big rental companies in town were always advertising in January for August 1 move-in and getting undergrads to lock in their leases when the ball drops for the new year. I never did that because, quite frankly, I wasn't interesting in living where the undergrads are congregating. I now live in a different college town. I got there at the end of July and then found a place once I got there. It only took a few days and I had way more options than I expected for apartments.