Cornell

[Philippe]

Hi everybody! I'm a French student and I just accepted Cornell's offer. I study philosophy by the way. It seems absolutely fantastic, I can't wait to be there! I also submitted an application for university housing yesterday. I think it might be the best solution for my first year, until I know more about Ithaca and find something cheaper.

[red_crayons]

Living on campus, in brief:

You will pay about twice as much as living off-campus with 1-3 roommates, and as much as a beautiful 1 bedroom apartment near cool places.

You will probably live in a really stupid place and have a hard time having a social life.

There have been bed bugs in university housing several times this year.

The furniture is awful and the on-campus housing literature said they won't remove it for you.

There are about 800 on-campus housing units and thousands and thousands of grad students, meaning on-campus housing is by no means guaranteed!!!

Just FYI.

Also, let me reiterate that Craigslist is totally legit in Ithaca. Real landlords, homeowners with an extra studio apartment, and rental agencies all advertise on there. It's really the easiest way to find housing. The Off-Campus Housing office also has some nicer rental listings that are around general market prices (a bit higher) that are exclusively for students.

Also, in July, there will be few options off-campus and you will have to just take the first thing you can find, because there will be no guarantee that there will be anything else at all opening up. It's a ridiculous student rental market in Ithaca, so that's what happens, bleh.

I'm sooooooo excited to be a student again! I already live in Ithaca and I'm not moving, but I'm going to decorate! I've lived in the same building for a few years now, so my rent is well below market, and my landlord is doing all kinds of repairs and putting laundry in the basement! I'm sooooooo happy to just take a few classes and be on fellowship and not have to work two office jobs for more than 50 hours a week!

[Philippe]

Thanks for the advice, I understand that university housing is less than ideal, but I thought that it could be the best solution in my case. Indeed, I won't be able to visit apartments until June, and I don't feel like picking one I haven't seen. But then it's true that I won't be able to see the apartment I'm offered by university housing either, provided I'm even offered one, which, as you said, is very hypothetical. There's also the fact that I thought that first year graduate students like me would most likely go through university housing to find a place to live, so I would be around people who are in the same situation, lost and confused that is I guess I'll still check craiglist and see if I can find something better than university. What about the other students in my situation, first year students that is, what are your plans regarding the housing issue?

[Phedre]

Hi all,

I'm a current Cornell grad student and thegradcafe.com definitely helped me a lot through my decision process.

My roommate and I are leaving our rooms next year (I'm moving in with my bf-- yes, one CAN find true love in Ithaca! and my roommate wants to bring her cat over from France). We live in the best house in Ithaca, it's a gorgeous historic property, fully furnished, ideal location downtown (ie walking distance to the bars and also to campus, 3 min from the bus stop) and we have two cool Ph.D roommates who are staying.

There are two living rooms, a dining room, plenty of basement storage space with washer/dryer included, a huge kitchen with dishwasher, beautiful patio in the backyard overlooking a gorge-- it's basically the best house ever. Rent is extremely reasonable and I actually haven't found anything cheaper in Ithaca: $485/month.

Here is the craigslist posting with info and pictures: http://ithaca.craigslist.org/apa/1644158022.html

PM me if you are interested or if you have any questions about the house or Cornell in general!

[DJLamar]

Thanks for the advice, I understand that university housing is less than ideal, but I thought that it could be the best solution in my case. Indeed, I won't be able to visit apartments until June, and I don't feel like picking one I haven't seen. But then it's true that I won't be able to see the apartment I'm offered by university housing either, provided I'm even offered one, which, as you said, is very hypothetical. There's also the fact that I thought that first year graduate students like me would most likely go through university housing to find a place to live, so I would be around people who are in the same situation, lost and confused that is I guess I'll still check craiglist and see if I can find something better than university. What about the other students in my situation, first year students that is, what are your plans regarding the housing issue?

I recently accepted my offer for the Cornell CS PhD. I was able to visit the school (I live only 900 miles away ) and as part of the open house, the grad student hosts took us to see one of the on-campus apartments. I would say they are a very bad deal indeed. The bedrooms and common areas are all very tiny, the interior is drab, and even the general area of the housing looks very bleak and boring, especially compared to the interesting-looking neighborhoods where you could rent a house (the on-campus housing area that we visited, Maplewood Park I believe, was right across the street from a beautiful power station! ooooh ahhhh). They are also, as was already mentioned, quite overpriced for what you get and not any more convenient in terms of location. I would definitely recommend to everyone here to just seek off-campus housing. By the way, before visiting I had the same idea as you -- to get on-campus housing the first year for convenience and to meet people -- and after seeing the difference between on-campus and off-campus housing I decided it is just not worth it at all.

I'm looking for a place preferably either around the middle of the hill (around Stewart Ave. and E. Buffalo) or in Belle Sherman in order to maximize walking convenience to downtown and collegetown (and some interesting looking bars and cafes between the two ) as well as to my office (Upson Hall, towards the south center of campus near Schoellkopf Field). I would most like to have a 3 bedroom house (I've been living in a 4 bedroom unit for the last couple of years and three roommates is at least one too many). There was a very interesting looking place in Belle Sherman that fits this description that has deep blue cabinets and bright lime green walls and ceilings in the kitchen (funky, I like it), but the guy renting it is absolutely hellbent on only renting the entire house at once. I know two other CS PhDs that I've actually met that will probably accept and go to Cornell, but other than that I don't know what to do about roommates... I'll probably be able to visit Ithaca again to see places in person before/during the Summer too.

By the way, how often do the buses in Ithaca (namely the ones that go between downtown and the campus) run? I've been living in Atlanta and mostly taking the bus to school (even though I have a car) for a couple of years now, but with my personality it is a significant hurdle to my productivity to only be able to catch a ride to and from school every thirty minutes...

[psycholinguist]

On weekdays during workday-hours, the buses along Route 10 are very frequent and convenient. The 30 comes around every 15 to 30 minutes as well, including on the weekends. http://www.tcatbus.com/

Just wanted to congratulate everyone off to Cornell; I did my BA there and had absolutely the most amazing time. Enjoy!

[red_crayons]

I second checking out the Tcat website. They recently changed some routes, too - although bizarrely not for the better, and not on popular routes that could have USED some improvement.

In general, Belle Sherman and lower Collegetown ("middle of the hill") don't have direct bus service. But they're also walking distance.

It's easier to get quick bus service by living farther from campus, near the Commons or in Fall Creek. You'll get to campus faster taking the bus from Fall Creek than walking from Stewart and Seneca.

[Philippe]

Thanks again to you all for your advices and information. What I'm thinking right now is that, since I wouldn't be able to visit apartments until June, at this time of the year I would probably have to take whatever I can find, no matter how shitty it is. So, I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't take an apartment right now, while there's still choice and the prices have not gone stratospheric yet, without even having seen the damn thing first. After all, I was going to do the same with university housing, and yet it looks like it's really bad from what you tell me. What do you think about that solution? Does that seem wise to you or completely crazy? Do you know if there are other people, international students presumably, who have done that?

[red_crayons]

Thanks again to you all for your advices and information. What I'm thinking right now is that, since I wouldn't be able to visit apartments until June, at this time of the year I would probably have to take whatever I can find, no matter how shitty it is. So, I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't take an apartment right now, while there's still choice and the prices have not gone stratospheric yet, without even having seen the damn thing first. After all, I was going to do the same with university housing, and yet it looks like it's really bad from what you tell me. What do you think about that solution? Does that seem wise to you or completely crazy? Do you know if there are other people, international students presumably, who have done that?

Checking the Ithaca Craigslist would be one option. Looking for open rooms in an occupied unit might help with getting honest answers about what the apartment is really like, rather than just getting the landlord's pitch: http://ithaca.craigslist.org/

Off-Campus housing is another. I recently met someone from that office, and she was energetic and dedicated to helping students: http://dos.cornell.edu//dos/ocho/

International Student Services Office might have helpful advice, or mentors who you can talk to. Duh, if only I had followed through and BECOME a mentor this year, I might be able to offer you formal help!: http://www.isso.cornell.edu/

Also, talk to your department. Ask to be put in touch with current students, postdocs, or young faculty. Some of them may be looking for housemates, or have friends who are. They'll probably be very honest and willing to help, since you'll be their friend and colleague for the next few years!!

Talk to people. Get in touch with landlords, current tenants, or someone you might be able to sublet from via email. See if they'd be willing to talk on the phone, or via Skype. Everyone has a camera, at least on their phone, so ask if they'll give you a photo tour of the apartment (may work better with current tenants than with landlords).

All of this carries the caveat that I haven't done a long, blind move, but this is what I would do. I charted this out for myself when I thought I might be leaving Cornell for Madison or Boston. Also, you can PM me with specific questions.

[Phedre]

Hey all,

My house is not longer available for rent!! sorry to let you all know.

I had to do the house search too from abroad-- I was living and teaching in Paris when I was accepted, and it was hard. I picked out three of my favorite craigslist places and convinced people I met during my visit weekend to go look at them for me. And I chose blindly (and it ended up being great!)

You can sometimes find great deals at the last minute in August. But one caveat-- DON'T live by the mall (Lansing area) or the airport (Sapsucker woods) unless you have kids or something. It's really far away and the buses come only every 30 minutes, also it's very hard to go out and have a social life.

best, J

[Subang]

Anyone else starting the Development Sociology program at Cornell this fall? Or working in the Southeast Asian program?

[GradJen]

Hello all!

I did my undergrad at Cornell as well, and I didn't think the on-campus graduate housing that I saw was all that bad - though it is expensive compared to off-campus housing (exe: I'll be living in a large 4-bdrm, 2-bath house about 5 min from campus for $375/mo - versus University housing of between 4-600/mo) . Though I am not choosing university housing myself next year, I can see the community and convenience benefits. I also agree that Craigslist for housing is not bad at all.

Feel free to contact me with questions about the Cornell/Ithaca area. And I can't wait to meet you all next year! Anyone else in biomedical sciences?

[so47]

So I was able to get a peek into some of the University Housing units when I was on campus last week. Here is my take:

Maplewood: Location is good. Very close to campus, and also very close to Collegetown area, so it would be good for those who want to have a social life. But the housing itself was in really small individual modular units, into which were crammed a 4 bedroom apartment. IMO, the living room is wayyyyy too small for that many people, didn't even look like there was room for a decent TV. Kitchen was okay, lots of cabinet space, but you are sharing it with 3 other people. The bedrooms were MICROSCOPIC! As in twin size bed, tiny dresser and a desk, and there was barely room to move. Literally just a small path around the bed.

Hasbrouck: Location wise, it's on the northwest border of campus, which appears to be a bit socially isolating (as others here at gradcafe had warned me). Lots of kids running around, so it was definitely obvious that there is a large number of families up there. But, I found the housing units to be more appealing. I looked at a 2-bedroom townhouse. The kitchen was very small (half-size stove) but seems adequate. The living room was much larger than Maplewood, with nice big windows. The bedrooms were a bit better here too. The "regular" sized bedroom is slightly bigger than the ones at Maplewood, and the larger bedroom is much bigger, even has a full/queen size bed.

So I am not sure what I am going to do at the point. My parents are really pushing me to live in the university housing so I don't have to deal with the "unknown" but I feel like I would have to choose Hasbrouck for the space, but am worried since my first year is the one I really want to try to be social! Yes there are buses, but from peeking at the TCAT schedules (correct me if I'm wrong) it looks like they don't run very late, so it doesn't look like that would be an option for weekend nights and such.

Ideally I would LOVE to find another female first year in my program to find off campus housing together, since it would be nice to live with someone going through the same thing as me! But, so far the people I met at visitation weekends have either decided to go elsewhere or have not yet decided. I'm thinking about emailing the admin after April 15th and asking if she could give me a list of the next year's first years so I can try to find someone else who might be interested in housing together.

I am so antsy! I just want to get my damn housing figured out so there is nothing left to worry about for next year!!!

[strangesteps]

After what was probably an undue amount of wavering, I accepted my offer from Cornell! I was not crazy about the weather when I visited the school in mid-February ( ), but apart from that it was such a good experience that I'm pretty sure I will like it there. Now, like everybody else, I just have to sort out housing. I have some friends who got their PhDs from Cornell and they actually said that Maplewood is an okay place to start out, and I think I would rather live in University housing at first just to make the transition a little less problematic. But, I realize it's not a guaranteed thing and so I'm also looking into other options... I'm about to write to my department in case they have additional info that would help.

But yeah, this is just a small and temporary damper on my excitement for the fall. Yay for Cornell.

[DJLamar]

Ha, when I visited around March 8th the weather was unusually sunny and warm. It barely even got below freezing during the nights! I brought a scarf, hat, gloves, and second jacket and ended up using none of the above while there. On top of that, I actually got some very light sunburn (though I am of mostly Irish ancestry).

[Philippe]

After what you said, I think I'll just wait to see if the folks from university housing makes me an offer, and if they don't then I'll start looking for something else. I'm so late in my work for my thesis that I don't have the time to look for a place right now anyway. Does anybody know when is university housing supposed to inform one whether they have someplace for him? Indeed, it could be a problem if their answer came too late, for I guess it would make things harder to find something decent off-campus then. Thanks again to everyone for your comments, I couldn't attend the visitation so I'm completely in the dark with regards to basically everything Just another question, can someone tell where there is a grocery store or a supermarket where one can buy food in Ithaca?

[Philippe]

Also, I don't know if there are any philosophy students reading this, but if there are and if they visited Cornell, I would very much like to hear about the impressions they had during their visit. As I said before, I already accepted Cornell's offer, so it won't affect my decision, but I'm really curious about how it was since I wasn't able to come I would also like to know if they already have any plans with regards to housing and if they received any good advice about that issue during the visit. You can PM me if you want, if you are out there that is.

Edited April 8, 2010 by Philippe

[feralaristotle]

I am going to accept Cornell's offer tomorrow for the PhD program in Philosophy. I visited last week, and I had a good time, Philippe. My impression was that the department is very friendly and collegial, and the interests of the faculty are quite broad, so you'll find someone there to work with no matter what area you end up focusing on. I didn't see enough of Ithaca to get a good impression, but the restaurants were decent and diverse.

Also, if anyone is looking to fill a room for the 2010-2011 academic year, please pm me or email me at hensley.ian@gmail.com. I'm a friendly, 23 year old male grad student who wants to live anywhere but Collegetown. Ideally, I'd like to move into a place with 1-2 other grad students of either gender in Fall Creek, but I am flexible.

[NEKENGR]

I just accepted admission into the MEngr program for Aerospace. I was given such short notice that I didn't have a chance to visit, so I'm about to go chat with one my professors who got his PhD at Cornell. Now I've got to figure out how to pay for this. It's nice to finally have a plan though.

[japanesekitkat]

Hi guys,

I'll be going to Cornell in the fall. I'm worried about housing and stuff, so if anyone wants to get together and plan on being roomies or something, AIM or gchat me (japanesekitkat for both gmail and AIM). ^^ I'll be going for Psychology!

[Philippe]

SomewhatFeral > thanks for telling me about the visit, it's nice to see that you got the same impression from your visit as I had from my discussions with professors and students there. I suppose you're the same somewhatferal from philprospective who's into ancient philosophy. That's great, I guess we'll see each other in the fall then! Also, if you happen to find a nice place to live and need a roommate, please don't hesitate to ask me. I'll do the same thing for you, but unfortunately I won't really have time to look for something until some time, and more importantly I won't be able to visit before summer (however, as I said before, I could sign a lease without seeing the place beforehand). If you're interested by the idea, feel free to PM me to ask about me and my lifestyle, just to make sure we'd make for good roommates.

[so47]

I am really really torn between Cornell and Yale. I still haven't made up my mind yet :( One of my main concerns about Cornell is the social life for grad students. I visited Cornell about a week ago unfortunately I missed the official open house so my experiences at Cornell were pretty limited. I was walking around Collegetown and the place was swamped with undergrads, preppy frat guys,scantily clad sorority girls and the like (to be fair, the weather was really nice that weekend). It seems like undergrads run the place. I was wondering where the grad students go have fun/socialize on the weekends, if they do. When I was there, even the bars in Collegetown seemed pretty empty. I assumed a lot of the undergrads go to frat parties. Do grad students from different departments mingle socially? Since there really isn't a grad student dorm, is it easy for first year students to meet people/make friends outside their respective departments? Also how bad is the winter at Cornell. Is it much worse than Chicago's winter?

It might be different for each department, but I was actually happily surprised how social the grad students in my department were when I visited. A lot of them said they make it a point to do something social at least once every weekend, and when I was there for visitation they took us out to bars both nights!I only went out one of the two nights, but the bars were pretty empty until like 10:30-11 when the undergrads showed up. I actually liked it not being as crowded the whole time, I live in a big city right now and I think it's refreshing to have breathing room at bars! The bars do apparently close at 1am which is a bit surprising, but I'm not one for staying out all night anyway lol.

There is also the Big Red Bard, did you get to see that when you were there? It's the grad student only hang out on campus. It seemed pretty cool to me, Fridays is TGIF-"Tell Grads It's Friday" and they had some free food and soda, and $1 draft beer. That seemed like a good place to me to meet other grads in different departments.

Also, I found a Facebook group and site for the Grad Student Association ( http://www.gradschool.cornell.edu/index.php?p=106 http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=info&gid=57874230365 ) and it looks to me like they really try to organize social activities. There's movies, a "Grad Ball", etc.

So overall, I was happy with the social aspect when I visited, but I also haven't started yet, so I hope my info was helpful, but the question is probably geared more to a current grad

[red_crayons]

I am really really torn between Cornell and Yale. I still haven't made up my mind yet :( One of my main concerns about Cornell is the social life for grad students. I visited Cornell about a week ago unfortunately I missed the official open house so my experiences at Cornell were pretty limited. I was walking around Collegetown and the place was swamped with undergrads, preppy frat guys,scantily clad sorority girls and the like (to be fair, the weather was really nice that weekend). It seems like undergrads run the place.

Yes, Collegetown is the undergrad ghetto. I'm sorry that's all you saw of Ithaca! Students pretty much stay there, which means it's nice to go for a drink or cheap food, but you can go to other parts of town and mingle with young professionals, old hippies, and other grad students in relative peace. There are a few grad student oriented bars downtown, as well as plenty of restaurants, a few of which are both cheap and delicious.

I was wondering where the grad students go have fun/socialize on the weekends, if they do. When I was there, even the bars in Collegetown seemed pretty empty.

Undergrads don't really go out until 11 or later. Even though bars close at 1, a lot of undergrads socialize on NYC time, i.e. really late. The bars in Collegetown are crowded from midnight to 1, basically.

Downtown, like I mentioned, are more bars and restaurants. There is an independent cinema, as well as the really fantastic Cornell Cinema. There is the Ithaca Actor's Workshop, so there are lots of plays and performances. There are a couple guys who do concert promoting, so there's several music options every weekend night, and hipster dance parties at least once a month. There are literally hundreds - maybe 600? - clubs on campus, with many of them performing regularly. On a given Friday night, you could choose from several a capella options, maybe a comedy improve group, at least one classical music option (often famous touring acts, too!), and often readings by famous authors.

There aren't really any CLUBS in Ithaca, though, despite a few well-meaning efforts in the last 6 years.

I LOVE the Farmer's Market, personally. It's open on the weekends from April to December, with satellite locations May to October near downtown.

Having a car can expand your options, too. There are lots of hiking and swimming areas within a 10 minute drive of downtown, and dozens of wineries within an hour.

I assumed a lot of the undergrads go to frat parties.

Yes.

Do grad students from different departments mingle socially? Since there really isn't a grad student dorm, is it easy for first year students to meet people/make friends outside their respective departments?

Every Friday they have $1 beers at the Big Red Barn on campus. BRB is the "grad student union", although in practice it's just a dining hall open to everyone with occasional guest speakers on various topics that grads care about. The $1 beer starts at 4 or so, and it's a big event. The usually serve at least 1 nice regional microbrew, and Stella. I used to go regularly (...as an undergrad with grad friends), and I've been a few times again lately. It's always fun, and I always meet someone new.

I don't know much about BRB events, but they seem to happen a few times a week.

Every day there are dozens of public talks on campus. That can be a nice way to meet people beyond your department, since most of them have public receptions with mingling and free food.

The Chapterhouse is a bar between Collegetown and downtown. It's a grad student bar, and I think a lot of interdepartmental mingling goes on there. It tends to be heavily life sciences/social sciences folks, though.

Also how bad is the winter at Cornell. Is it much worse than Chicago's winter?

Probably not as cold as Chicago, and definitely not as windy. Much warmer than where I grew up in Maine, and much shorter. It's really tolerable temperature/snow/wind wise. It actually gets a lot less snow and warmer temperatures than surrounding towns because of its location on the lake.

The bad part is the grey. It's NEVER sunny. Never ever, from mid-October to mid-April. It gets depressing and feels longer and worse than it actually is. But then it goes from winter to summer in 2 weeks in April and you're REALLY happy to be here.

[red_crayons]

There is also the Big Red Bard, did you get to see that when you were there? It's the grad student only hang out on campus.

A pet peeve: This is basically a marketing lie, it's open to everyone. Even for the beers, anyone can come in and hang out.

[so47]

A pet peeve: This is basically a marketing lie, it's open to everyone. Even for the beers, anyone can come in and hang out.

Aww boo. The grads in my department said undergrads couldn't get in. Oh well, as long as the majority of the crowd is grads, I can live