psycholinguist Posted April 14, 2010 Posted April 14, 2010 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 Heh...wishful thinking. I had a friend who went there every other week for lunch in the spring of our freshman year. But the Barn is certainly geared towards grad-students!
mmm35 Posted April 16, 2010 Posted April 16, 2010 Heh...wishful thinking. I had a friend who went there every other week for lunch in the spring of our freshman year. But the Barn is certainly geared towards grad-students! On Fridays for happy hour the BRB is only for grads, you have to show your ID to get in. Undergrads can only get in with a grad student. The rest of the time its open to anyone.
snowy Posted April 16, 2010 Posted April 16, 2010 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?
snowy Posted April 16, 2010 Posted April 16, 2010 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?
snowy Posted April 16, 2010 Posted April 16, 2010 Hi GradJen, I would be joining the genetics and develop track this August! Unfortunately I can't visit Ithaca before that. So I am thinking of staying in university housing for my first year. Do you have any idea how is the working culture like in Cornell? I heard some labs can be really competitive..
boblong Posted April 17, 2010 Posted April 17, 2010 Anyone get their housing assignment for those living on campus?
choijae Posted April 19, 2010 Posted April 19, 2010 Hey guys Ive applied to the off campus housing just now for Maplewood. Is that place ok? I dunno how intenese to get housing but I hope I can get one. @snowy hey I made it into field of gen & dev as well. Are you in for genetics or development?
ummmmmm Posted April 19, 2010 Posted April 19, 2010 I applied for housing in Hasbrouck yesterday since I got my acceptance pretty late. From all the posts here it seems like grad on-campus housing isn't great but I'm also coming back to the states after working abroad so I won't have a chance to see apts. Any thoughts on Hasbrouck?
so47 Posted April 19, 2010 Posted April 19, 2010 I applied for housing in Hasbrouck yesterday since I got my acceptance pretty late. From all the posts here it seems like grad on-campus housing isn't great but I'm also coming back to the states after working abroad so I won't have a chance to see apts. Any thoughts on Hasbrouck? I looked at both Hasbrouck and Maplewood when I was up a few weeks ago. I'm just going to link to my response since I am too lazy to type if out again lol: I definitely preferred Hasbrouck between those two options. The location is isolated, but the quality of the housing is much better. Maplewood just felt way too cramped for me, though location is better.
choijae Posted April 19, 2010 Posted April 19, 2010 meh I lived in dorm where my room was the size of those cages where KFC grows their chickens... but you guys know when they announce if you have got a room or not? Ive appied for the shared three room in maplewood and I think Ive made my chances of getting housing more harder by making that choice...
so47 Posted April 19, 2010 Posted April 19, 2010 Anyone have any feedback about living in the East Hill Plaza area? I'm thinking about getting a townhouse with some other Cornell grads in Plaza East. It's a little further from the downtown area than I originally wanted, but the units look really nice and are a great price. It looks like it gets decent bus service to campus, but how is it getting back and forth to the Downtown/Collegetown areas? Are there buses between there for nights and weekends? It looks like parking is cheap in the downtown area (I will have a car), I am mostly worrying about getting back if I go to the bars on occasion.
GradJen Posted April 20, 2010 Posted April 20, 2010 Hi GradJen, I would be joining the genetics and develop track this August! Unfortunately I can't visit Ithaca before that. So I am thinking of staying in university housing for my first year. Do you have any idea how is the working culture like in Cornell? I heard some labs can be really competitive.. Hi Snowy! I worked in two labs as an undergrad - one in neuroscience and the other in animal science. The neuro lab had a somewhat tense working culture but the animal one was very relaxed and I didn`t get any sort of bad competition vibes from it. I think what it comes down to is the PI. If he or she is really tense or competitive, the students in it will become so too. This is partially why I like the rotation-system idea, because it will give us the chance to see first-hand which labs have the kind of working environment that suit us best. I don`t have any experience in genetics-oriented labs at Cornell, but I visited and met with the people in two other labs through the veterinary school during the interview visit and they also seemed friendly and relaxed (One lab just found out a post-doc candidate they wanted was accepting, and the PI was all excited that his `team` was coming together for next year). If there was a sense of competition in them, it was the good kind. Sorry I can`t be of more help. Do you know what lab or labs you want to work in? I look forward to meeting you this fall! -Jen
ummmmmm Posted April 20, 2010 Posted April 20, 2010 I looked at both Hasbrouck and Maplewood when I was up a few weeks ago. I'm just going to link to my response since I am too lazy to type if out again lol: I definitely preferred Hasbrouck between those two options. The location is isolated, but the quality of the housing is much better. Maplewood just felt way too cramped for me, though location is better. so47 - Thanks so much for the advice. I don't mind living a little far from campus. I'm thinking about just getting a bike to commute from campus and so forth. Heard parking at Cornell is quite expensive also. Have you decided on your housing as well?
so47 Posted April 20, 2010 Posted April 20, 2010 so47 - Thanks so much for the advice. I don't mind living a little far from campus. I'm thinking about just getting a bike to commute from campus and so forth. Heard parking at Cornell is quite expensive also. Have you decided on your housing as well? Yeah, just last night actually! It came together miraculously fast I'm getting a townhouse near East Hill Plaza off campus with 2 other first year grad students in my program. It looks REALLY nice, each bedroom has its own attached bath (which is AWESOME for a house full of girls) and the buildings are pretty new. It is a little further from downtown than I was shooting for, but the quality of the place for the price really sold me. Just need to sign the lease this week! As far as commuting, you could use a bike in the fall, spring and summer, but it will be pretty hard in the winter. But Hasbrouck has good bus service, I think it comes every fifteen minutes? And I know at least in my department, you get a free bus pass your first year, though I am not sure if that is a University-wide policy. I would recommend getting a bus pass if you don't have a car up there, so you can get to grocery stores, shopping, etc. I think it's around $400 for the year if your department isn't covering it.
red_crayons Posted April 20, 2010 Posted April 20, 2010 Yeah, just last night actually! It came together miraculously fast I'm getting a townhouse near East Hill Plaza off campus with 2 other first year grad students in my program. It looks REALLY nice, each bedroom has its own attached bath (which is AWESOME for a house full of girls) and the buildings are pretty new. It is a little further from downtown than I was shooting for, but the quality of the place for the price really sold me. Just need to sign the lease this week! Congrats on finding a place! Lots of people really enjoy East Hill. There is a nice wine store, a cafe/coffee shop, a grocery store.... which might have just gone out of business, though... the shuttle to campus, a drug store... it's a little satellite town. You'll want to have access to a car, though, if you plan to leave the area on the weekends. The buses to other parts of town are complicated on the weekend routes, although they seem to be pretty efficient during the week. As far as commuting, you could use a bike in the fall, spring and summer, but it will be pretty hard in the winter. But Hasbrouck has good bus service, I think it comes every fifteen minutes? Yes, and if you walk 5 minutes, you'll be able to catch a few other bus routes that come about every 10 minutes on weekdays, and every 15-30 on evenings and weekends. And I know at least in my department, you get a free bus pass your first year, though I am not sure if that is a University-wide policy. I would recommend getting a bus pass if you don't have a car up there, so you can get to grocery stores, shopping, etc. Free bus passes to all new Cornell students is a university policy. It's programmed into your student ID, and you just wave your wallet in front of a sensor when you get on the bus. I believe it works 24/7. After that, to have bus access during the week, you'll need to buy a bus pass. Weekend service used to be free for students who didn't buy bus passes, but I'm not sure if that is still the case. It's like $200 a year when you buy it. Who else has received the Welcome to Cornell email and postcard??? I was so excited when mine came! Even though I'm not moving cities and my office is only moving about 1000 feet across the ag quad... But now I need to figure out how some things, like parking and bus passes and email server, will work. I'm transitioning BACK from staff to student, after going the other way almost 3 years ago. They changed my email server last year, which meant I had to start using Microsoft Outlook/Entourage. I really like Entourage for Mac, actually. I don't want to have to move to the Cmail server, bleh, why would I want two Gmail accounts??? But I think I'll be able to get around it. Plus, since I'll be working a little bit still (regular employee under a contract, but minimal hours), I don't know where I would fall in terms of bus pass and parking eligibility... But those are just details. I'm super duper excited! Yay being a student! Yay going to lots of random talks every week again! Yay for going to Pixel and Stella's on a regular basis again! Yay for having some say over my schedule! Yay for grad schooolll!!!!
bvang Posted April 20, 2010 Posted April 20, 2010 I realize that most grad students live near the Commons... and that area does sound pretty cool. But I'm curious, is it really realistic to take the bus every day? I heard from some current students in my program that the bus is really unreliable. But it sounds like it comes every 10-15 mins... which is quite often in my opinion. But from checking out the TCAT website it might take me 30-40 mins to get from the Commons to the Ag quad. I guess I'm curious, how many grad students actually do this commute (or plan to)? I think I've convinced myself that having a car in Ithaca will be a GOOD thing... but I just don't know how realistic it is to be driving to campus every single day. I would of course prefer taking the bus, walking, or biking but the latter two seem formidable with that giant hill everyone keeps warning me about (on stewart?).
red_crayons Posted April 21, 2010 Posted April 21, 2010 (edited) I realize that most grad students live near the Commons... and that area does sound pretty cool. But I'm curious, is it really realistic to take the bus every day? I heard from some current students in my program that the bus is really unreliable. But it sounds like it comes every 10-15 mins... which is quite often in my opinion. But from checking out the TCAT website it might take me 30-40 mins to get from the Commons to the Ag quad. I guess I'm curious, how many grad students actually do this commute (or plan to)? I think I've convinced myself that having a car in Ithaca will be a GOOD thing... but I just don't know how realistic it is to be driving to campus every single day. I would of course prefer taking the bus, walking, or biking but the latter two seem formidable with that giant hill everyone keeps warning me about (on stewart?). To get from my house downtown to Kennedy, on the ag quad, takes 20-30 minutes. I walk about 5 minutes to the bus stop, wait 0-5 minutes for the bus, spend 8-10 minutes on the bus, and walk another 3-4 minutes on campus. I could go to a farther bus stop where a bus goes straight to the ag quad every 20-30 minutes. It's about the same amount of time total - 20-30 minutes - since the walk there is longer. I just have to plan in advance more to make sure I get to the stop at the right time. When I lived in Collegetown, which is technically very close to campus, it took me 20-25 minutes of walking very uphill to get there, and I would be sweaty and tired. I really prefer living further away and taking the bus, and NOT showing up sweaty every morning. But YMMV. The Cornell-downtown shuttle (first bus scenario) comes every 6 minutes 7:30am-about noon, and every 12 minutes about noon-7pm. Other campus-downtown buses come at LEAST every 30 minutes, but the routes are all staggered, so it's functionally it's more often. Here's the TCAT bus website: http://tcatbus.com/ Many people take their bikes on the bus uphill on bus racks and ride them home. However, in the morning the bus racks are in high demand, so it doesn't seem like a good thing to count on. Everyone I know does this commute, grad students and young professionals and the occasional undergrad alike. With one exception, I guess, but she moved in with her boyfriend who already had a lease somewhere else... Edit: As far as reliability of the buses, it depends on the time of day. The middle of the day, they often run early. From 4-6, they often run just on time or a little late. You get to know what's going on, and you can plan accordingly. I think people miss buses midday because they get there just on time, when the bus went by 5 minutes earlier. The bus drivers are also pretty knowledgeable about other routes, which is helpful. If you're trying to get somewhere weird or wondering when a bus 30 comes, you can ask another bus driver who stops, and they'll either know, or they'll radio to other buses to get you the answer. Edited April 21, 2010 by red_crayons
choijae Posted April 21, 2010 Posted April 21, 2010 did u guys get ur netID from cornell?? i havent got mine yet
snowy Posted April 21, 2010 Posted April 21, 2010 Hi Snowy! I worked in two labs as an undergrad - one in neuroscience and the other in animal science. The neuro lab had a somewhat tense working culture but the animal one was very relaxed and I didn`t get any sort of bad competition vibes from it. I think what it comes down to is the PI. If he or she is really tense or competitive, the students in it will become so too. This is partially why I like the rotation-system idea, because it will give us the chance to see first-hand which labs have the kind of working environment that suit us best. I don`t have any experience in genetics-oriented labs at Cornell, but I visited and met with the people in two other labs through the veterinary school during the interview visit and they also seemed friendly and relaxed (One lab just found out a post-doc candidate they wanted was accepting, and the PI was all excited that his `team` was coming together for next year). If there was a sense of competition in them, it was the good kind. Sorry I can`t be of more help. Do you know what lab or labs you want to work in? I look forward to meeting you this fall! -Jen Thanks Jen! I am still deciding on which labs to join for the rotations. Do I have to remail the PI to ask if they are taking in rotation students? I would be nice to meet you in August!
so47 Posted April 21, 2010 Posted April 21, 2010 did u guys get ur netID from cornell?? i havent got mine yet Yup, I got mine last week. But I also accepted my offer over a month ago, so if you accepted more recently I wouldn't worry about it too much yet. Did you get the email saying they would be mailing it to you shortly? The email said that it could take 2 weeks for domestic and 4 weeks for international students to receive it after you get that email.
so47 Posted April 21, 2010 Posted April 21, 2010 Congrats on finding a place! Lots of people really enjoy East Hill. There is a nice wine store, a cafe/coffee shop, a grocery store.... which might have just gone out of business, though... the shuttle to campus, a drug store... it's a little satellite town. You'll want to have access to a car, though, if you plan to leave the area on the weekends. The buses to other parts of town are complicated on the weekend routes, although they seem to be pretty efficient during the week. Yeah, I am super excited! I think I also found a sublet in that complex for July too, since our lease isn't starting until August 1. I am so happy because the difference between this place and the type of crappy apartments I have lived in throughout undergrad, it's unbelievable. A nice townhouse like this makes me feel like more of an "adult," that even though I am still a student, I feel like I am moving up in the world! I know it's just in my head, but it makes me so happy! And I really like that there is the cute little plaza right there. Sounds very convenient, just to run over there to grab something when you need it. I really hope it works out! My current Ithaca resident roommate is hopefully signing the lease tomorrow! *crosses fingers*
red_crayons Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 I am so happy because the difference between this place and the type of crappy apartments I have lived in throughout undergrad, it's unbelievable. A nice townhouse like this makes me feel like more of an "adult," that even though I am still a student, I feel like I am moving up in the world! I know it's just in my head, but it makes me so happy! I know exactly what you mean! I'm staying in my apartment for that reason. It's on the top (3rd) floor of a big house with 4 apartments, and it feels very independent somehow, like a house. Maybe because there are windows on each side? Because the stairs come up to my door but don't keep going? I don't know. When I moved in, I totally had that "adult" feeling. I've slowly gotten some furniture I like and had my boyfriend make me some artwork, and it's starting to feel homey. And more adult.
bvang Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 red_crayons: wow thanks!! your posts are SO HELPFUL!! choijae: i got mine the week after I accepted
psycholinguist Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 I know exactly what you mean! I'm staying in my apartment for that reason. It's on the top (3rd) floor of a big house with 4 apartments, and it feels very independent somehow, like a house. Maybe because there are windows on each side? Because the stairs come up to my door but don't keep going? I don't know. When I moved in, I totally had that "adult" feeling. I've slowly gotten some furniture I like and had my boyfriend make me some artwork, and it's starting to feel homey. And more adult. I lived on the fourth floor of a house like that back in Ithaca. It had its own private entrance and was big and private. I loved it!
matcha Posted April 22, 2010 Posted April 22, 2010 Anyone know anything about Cayuga Heights? I'm visiting next week and have arranged an apartment visit in that area. It seems very close to campus and in a very nice neighborhood, but I was wondering if anyone had any other experiences about that area. I am hoping to take public transit or walk to campus.
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