<p>Hi all! I'm posting because I had a few questions about U of C. I'm going to be starting grad school at Chicago this fall and I'm extremely excited. I'm 23 (I've been out of college for two years). I was wondering if any of you could comment on Chicago's diversity/latino community. I was pretty active with the latino organizations at the University of Virginia (where I did my undergrad) and I just wanted to know if any of you could offer some insight. </p>
<p>PS: Are any of you familiar with graduate housing? I don't know whether to live off-campus or on-campus...any suggestions? Which one would be cheaper? Thanks a million!</p>
<p>no clue about hispanic people, but they do exist and have some type of network like the chinese, koreans, south asians carribeans, etc.</p>
<p>As for housing, your definitely gonna wanna go for off campus. Even most undergrads ditch housing after their 2nd year because its like a significant amount more expensive. There are plenty of apartments right next to the dorms as well as a few tall towers closer to the lake. All of which are cheaper than than housing on campus if have roommates</p>
<p>MAC property management is the big one in Hyde Park. They’re pretty affordable. If you’re going for something ritzier, think about Regents. It’s almost entirely grad students and it’s really nice. Many grad students live at 5550 S. Dorchester, I believe. Keep in mind the distance from the grad school buildings. Apartments across the Midway are closer but often-times not as nice. There is a great bus system on campus but it’s obviously a perk to live close.</p>
<p>Thanks guys! Yea I was looking at the graduate housing that university offers and a studio is about $600, is that a lot for Chicago? I’m from D.C. so it seems reasonable, however, I will be a poor grad student and I want to save as much money as possible.</p>
<p>You can definitely pay less than $600/mo. for housing in Hyde Park, but it won’t be particularly attractive. $600 isn’t bad for a single on or near campus with university security and utilities (including WiFi?) included, but you can probably find something as low as ~$400 per bedroom, especially if you share (apartment, not bedroom) and you are OK with sketchier locations.</p>
<p>As for Hispanics – I know very little about Hispanic students at the University per se (except, of course, for the Latin American tradition reflected by the “Chicago boys”). But Chicago itself has a huge Mexican population and a really vibrant Mexican culture, especially in the Pilsen neighborhood. The neighborhood between Midway and the University is largely Mexican, too, until you get within a couple miles of the University. Once, just walking around the Millennium Park area downtown, I stumbled into a barely-attended free concert that turned out to be Lila Downs, a terrific Mexican singer-songwriter (and, as I subsequently learned, a Chicago resident since marrying someone who lived there).</p>
<p>JHS–I’m glad my thread got your attention! I’ve seen you give such great advice to future applicants and you seem to be really knowledgeable about the University of Chicago. I’m glad that I can find cheaper housing in Chicago than in D.C. I don’t know if you’re familiar with graduate housing at UofC, but do you think living off-campus would be a lot cheaper? $400 doesn’t sound bad at all…what are some not-too-dangerous places I can look for housing that are still close to campus? </p>
<p>I really know very little about graduate housing (and not that much about anything else – I’ve just had kids renting apartments in Hyde Park for the past few years, with friends also renting apartments in Hyde Park).</p>
<p>“Safe” is kind of a loaded word. It’s hard to say this is safe and that isn’t without knowing something about a particular person and what feels safe or unsafe to him or her. As applied to the University of Chicago and its neighborhood – and to DC, too, for that matter – too often the word is code for “what proportion of the people you see are white vs. black or brown”, as opposed to describing real risk differences.</p>
<p>Nowhere nice for under $600? That’s news to me. My girlfriend lives in a newly renovated building and has a dish washer, on top of being in a great location, having new floors, etc. and pays ~$525 for rent + utilities. I don’t mind living in an older building and pay $375/month + utilities (which are minor). I live only 2 blocks away from campus. All of the ‘nicer’ places, for the most part, are going to be further from campus. South of campus has some amazing deals (apartments with equal BR to BD ratio, washer/dryer in unit, dishwasher, covered parking, etc. for <$600/mo), but it is a trip to walk to campus from there in the winter time.</p>
<p>Being Latino at U of C… Well there are lots of people of a variety of races and ethnicities. There are different cultural groups on campus, though most focus on the undergraduate population.</p>