<p>I recently found out that I will be conducting research this summer in a lab at Harvard Med. Obviously I'm really excited, but the job doesn't pay for housing/living expenses; I'll get a pretty meager salary (not that I'm complaining--I'm really grateful for the job--it just provides a bit more of a challenge). I've applied for a few fellowships at my school to cover my housing, and while my chances of getting one are pretty good, I have to be pretty specific in where I would be allocating the money (More details = better chance of getting the stipend).</p>
<p>I guess my question is, are there common student housing areas that aren't terribly expensive? I don't know the area very well, and while I've done a lot of research online I haven't found anything decisive. I'd prefer living with a roommate to split costs, and I think I'm pretty easy to live with; I'm just looking to live fairly cheaply in a decent area around the university. Obviously this is for the summer, which makes it more complicated than simply renting a student-apartment. So: does anyone have recommendations for potential apartments/living areas in the area? I know the med school (and the school where I'll be living) is on Longwood, in Boston, rather than Cambridge, but other than that, I just don't really know where to start.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>EDIT: Forgot to add - the job is from June through August so I'm looking for about 8-10 weeks (dates are flexible; PM me if you are curious about the job).</p>
<p>Housing is NOT cheap in Cambridge. If you’re looking for cheap housing, MIT’s frat houses rent-out rooms for the summer and list on Cragislist. They probably won’t start listing though until March/April at the earliest.</p>
<p>You won’t find much help here, probably, because this is an undergraduate site and 97-8% of Harvard undergraduates live on campus. Is there a medical school forum you might try, where people would know the Longwood area better?</p>
<p>Wow, didn’t know the percentage living on campus was that high. I’ll definitely post on the parent/grad school boards as well, I just thought I might find something on this board to, although I didn’t realize so few students lived in the city.</p>
<p>Also the MIT frat house option is intriguing, and something I’ll look into - thanks for that.</p>
<p>You should definitely look into subletting a grad student or med student’s apartment for the summer – Harvard grad housing is considerably less expensive than market rates, and many grad or medical students need to sublet their apartments when they go elsewhere for the summer. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if there’s a centralized Harvard board with postings for apartment sublets, but I’ll ask a friend of mine who’s a medical student.</p>
<p>It won’t be a problem for you to live in Cambridge (in the Harvard or Central Square areas) rather than near Longwood. There is a Harvard-run shuttle bus (the M2) which provides frequent service between Cambridge and Longwood, and that’s how many students and employees at the medical school get to work.</p>