Boston University 2016

[breadwinner]

Didn't see a current BU thread. I'm going to be attending the EBE program here. Anyone else in the bio department? Or just attending the school?

[nontradstudent22]

I haven't accepted the offer yet, but I am 90% likely to accept an offer in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at BU.  I am from Florida currently, born and raised in Georgia.  So, I have a lot of questions.  There is a massive thread about Boston that I have been reading, but a lot of the information is about the Cambridge and Harvard areas.  I would love to know more about BU graduate student housing, whether it is worth it to live in the campus apartments, good neighborhoods close by, etc. 

[rack_attack124]

Anyone has any questions, I attended a master's at BU in 2014. I would say most people in my program lived off campus. The only person I knew living on campus was an RA since undergrad. She attended undergrad at BU too. Not surprisingly, your rent is going to cost a lot in Boston. But you will likely not need a car. You can take the T or the BU shuttle. I forgot until just now I did know people who lived in BU apartments but she paid more than me in rent. Studios in Boston are going to cost you $1500-1600. Also, if you go with a realtor, they will usually all charge you a broker fee equivalent to one month's rent. I can provide the name of my realtor if you message me or give you the address of my old building. 

Also, since you're from Florida, I strongly suggest buying your winter clothes. It was brutally cold in 2014-2015. I hated it. You will for sure need snow boots and a huge jacket. North Face, Patagonia, Canada Goose. My jacket was from Spiewak. You have to dress in layers. I recommend hats, scarves, gloves, wool socks. Being from Florida, I'm guessing you don't have this in your wardrobe unless you go skiing on the regular or something. 

Housing has resources to help you find a place to live. You can message me if you have questions about good neighborhoods and bad. If you go further out, you will pay less in rent but I wouldn't recommend it. I walked to a bus stop and took BU shuttle to school. I couldn't understand these kids who lived far away and commuted 1 hour each way. 

7 minutes ago, nontradstudent22 said:

I haven't accepted the offer yet, but I am 90% likely to accept an offer in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at BU.  I am from Florida currently, born and raised in Georgia.  So, I have a lot of questions.  There is a massive thread about Boston that I have been reading, but a lot of the information is about the Cambridge and Harvard areas.  I would love to know more about BU graduate student housing, whether it is worth it to live in the campus apartments, good neighborhoods close by, etc. 

 

[rack_attack124]

16 minutes ago, nontradstudent22 said:

I haven't accepted the offer yet, but I am 90% likely to accept an offer in the Clinical Psychology PhD program at BU.  I am from Florida currently, born and raised in Georgia.  So, I have a lot of questions.  There is a massive thread about Boston that I have been reading, but a lot of the information is about the Cambridge and Harvard areas.  I would love to know more about BU graduate student housing, whether it is worth it to live in the campus apartments, good neighborhoods close by, etc. 

and also, I can say it's pretty hard to find housing if you aren't in Boston. If you didn't find housing yet, I would plan a trip. You don't really want to sign a lease just from seeing photos either. I would try to move before September 1st because the markets in Boston are all driven by students. Everyone will be moving that weekend and it will be a fiasco for you. I suggest roommates to make rent cheaper but a lot of apartments will have less bathrooms than bedrooms. I had a horrid experience sharing a bathroom and didn't know any of my roommates before so maybe paying more for a studio or 1BR is worth it for you. I would not live in Cambridge or Harvard I don't think. They are not very close. Kids will also live in Brighton/Allston. I don't know that area well but I didn't think it was that close. They took public buses to campus. I heard to avoid Dorchester but I never ventured there. I was on the med campus so I stayed around there. Around the med campus can be sketchy too. I never had any instances with crimes in Boston but it's not as safe as the suburb where I grew up in NC. If you ride the T, you will sometimes see some questionable characters but they won't bother you. 

I personally hated Boston but maybe you will like it. I don't know though because you're from the south too. It's going to be a lot different than where you're from. My best advice is get those winter clothes. Not to scare you, but in a city, you will probably have to deal with coin laundry. There are also mice. The apartments you see will probably be a lot smaller and older than what you're used to. The rent may shock you too. I felt like Boston was twice as expensive and half as nice. There is lots of good food. I could go on all day talking about Boston. 

[nontradstudent22]

Thanks for all the advice!  I am from Florida, but I am also former military.  I lived in Korea for two years, so I thankfully have plenty of winter clothes.  I also have an okay stipend and the GI bill on top of that to get me through the first two years.  After that, things will get tough.  I am definitely going to try to save my money and make it last.  I believe if I really budget well I can afford about 1700 max for rent.  I am definitely going to try to find a one bedroom and make sure that includes heat and water!  I am searching by good biking distances to campus, but I can walk just as easily.  I prefer that so I get out every day and can try to find my way around. 

Did you use the Boston University property management suggestions, or did you choose another realty company? 

[rack_attack124]

7 hours ago, nontradstudent22 said:

Thanks for all the advice!  I am from Florida, but I am also former military.  I lived in Korea for two years, so I thankfully have plenty of winter clothes.  I also have an okay stipend and the GI bill on top of that to get me through the first two years.  After that, things will get tough.  I am definitely going to try to save my money and make it last.  I believe if I really budget well I can afford about 1700 max for rent.  I am definitely going to try to find a one bedroom and make sure that includes heat and water!  I am searching by good biking distances to campus, but I can walk just as easily.  I prefer that so I get out every day and can try to find my way around. 

Did you use the Boston University property management suggestions, or did you choose another realty company? 

sorry I just saw this. You know your program director might also be able to help you. I would find properties and ask her if it was good or not. I lived on Symphony Rd. It's closer to Northeastern, but my program was on med campus and Symphony was closer to the med campus. I don't know where your program is. My realtor's name was Hasan Katerji with Boston Off-Campus. I wasn't exactly thrilled with them because it was a 4 BR and he found 3 random roommates. They were in undergrad which didn't work well when I was in grad school. Oh yeah, don't worry heat and hot water are always included up there. I forgot to mention radiators are a real pain in the ass but in winter you will be like I love you radiator. Mine leaked and I was #notpleased. I lived at 74 Symphony. It was a nice building but more roommates just means more problems. I did pay $1400 in rent in 2014. For 2015, they were going to raise it to $1475. I liked that unit because it was renovated. We had stainless steel appliances and granite and new hardwood floors. I thought that was rare for Boston unless you pay a lot. Back Bay is also a nice area or Fenway or Kenmore Square? My friend in Back Bay lived alone and paid more than me. Her building was really nice and quiet but I feel like it was older, wealthier people living there. 

My friend lived in the new BU apartments on Comm Avenue. I never looked into BU apartments too much so I can't really comment on them. I think they cost more than what I paid. I knew kids paying as little as $800 in rent but I'm pretty sure they lived far away. I would not live that far away. A commute like that is just annoying to me. I'm sure the BU apartments would be fine. I did not like living in Boston so I had to find a subletter. I withdrew from my program. I can't live in Boston. Maybe you will adapt better than I did. 2015 was the worst winter. Like the one when it was 2 feet of snow every Monday. 

Edited April 8, 2016 by rack_attack124

[verycunning]

Hey all! I'll be starting my PhD in a humanities field in the fall. Excited to live in Boston. Just solidified housing plans for the fall, so it's beginning to fall into place.

[EveryDay]

I will be attending BU too! Psych BBC Ph.D. My wife and I are pretty pumped and nervous. Boston was always one of our top cities where we wanted to live.

[ac40507]

Hi!

Starting at BU Graduate Medical Sciences! I'm excited to start!

[nontradstudent22]

On ‎4‎/‎23‎/‎2016 at 9:21 PM, EveryDay said:

I will be attending BU too! Psych BBC Ph.D. My wife and I are pretty pumped and nervous. Boston was always one of our top cities where we wanted to live.

I am married,  but my husband is active duty military.  He is going to the United Arab Emirates, and I am moving to Boston (BU) for my clinical psychology PhD. I will be living in Brighton, and I found an apartment entirely by phone, Skype, and Facetime, which was terrifying.  The question of income is also terrifying, and I am thankfully supplementing with my GI bill.  Do you guys have an apartment yet?  If so, what area did you decide to live in?

[EveryDay]

On 7/22/2016 at 1:41 PM, nontradstudent22 said:

I am married,  but my husband is active duty military.  He is going to the United Arab Emirates, and I am moving to Boston (BU) for my clinical psychology PhD. I will be living in Brighton, and I found an apartment entirely by phone, Skype, and Facetime, which was terrifying.  The question of income is also terrifying, and I am thankfully supplementing with my GI bill.  Do you guys have an apartment yet?  If so, what area did you decide to live in?

Oh wow, finding an apt like that would be hard, but I'm glad you got one! We opted for Chelsea, since they have very dog friendly apartments. I'm used to 2hr+ commutes, so the 1hr it takes from there to BU won't bother me.