<p>Hi, I see a lot of us have applied to the same programs (Harvard, Yale, Stanford, MIT, Princeton, Rockefeller, Berkeley, UWash, Wisconsin, UMich, CalTech, Cornell, etc.) Now of these places, where does everybody think is the nicest to live? Places where you wouldn't want to live? I am just curious because I'm sure many people have never visited all of the places they are applying to. It would be nice to have an idea of where the best places to live are located (in terms of quality of life, etc.)</p>
<p>Personally, I haven't visited very many schools. I know that the CalTech campus and surrounding area are beautiful -definitely a relaxing place to live. I've also heard that Cornell is in the middle of nowhere (Ithaca, anyone?) and is not a very nice place to live. There's the age-old myth of Cornell as the suicide capital of the Ivies, although I'm not sure if that's actually true or not. UMich is in Ann Arbor, a great college town with lots going on all the time (I would move there in a heartbeat) and I've heard similar things about Wisconsin, although I've never been there myself. Has anybody visited Stanford? What are your impressions of the campus? On the website it looks rather boring, but I had expected it to be nice since it's one of the best colleges in the nation. And Berkeley? Curious to hear about that one too.</p>
<p>Anyway, hopefully this might start some kind of a discussion. If not, oh well. Just passing time before the interviews and all.</p>
<p>A lot of my friends who went to Stanford/Berkeley love it there. They all came from NYC. Stanford is generally regarded as one of the most beautiful campuses in the country and San Fran has like the highest standard of living for any big city in the country.</p>
<p>Harvard is a big college town, lots of bars and a pretty active city. </p>
<p>I've been to Madison and it's nice, it's not a big city but the college atmosphere is definitely there. </p>
<p>Cornell is in upstate New York, so it's pretty cold. Not a big city, and from what I hear, not as big of a college town as Ann Arbor or something like that. But, here is a nice bonus, it's pretty cheap to live in upstate New York. Rents range from 300-500 for a nice place. </p>
<p>Rockefeller is in NYC, and it is very expensive to live anywhere in Brooklyn, Queens and forget about living in Manhattan (unless it's Harlem) on a grad student's pay. I'm sure Rockefeller scales their stipend a bit higher due to location, but NYC is really expensive.</p>
<p>And i've seen Yale and Yale is nice, but the city around it is pretty dull. I mean Connecticut overall is pretty dull. I think it's semi close to NYC, but still.</p>
<p>I have only lived in one of those places so that is all I can comment on. Madison is an awesome place to live, especially for graduate school. The population of Madison metro is around 400,000 but the school and capitol are on an ithmus at the center of the city and the student population makes up more than half of Madison proper. There is every stripe of housing available on the isthmus including large apartment buildings, co-ops, single family housing, condos, townhouses, dorms. The cost of living is relatively low (1 bdrm apartment is 600-700). The entertainment options are great as the lakes provide a lot of fun activities, the largest farmers market in the midwest, myriad student organizations, arboretum, hiking trails, dells. The job market has an extensive biotech sector meaning that there is a lot of opportunity for collaboration/industrial post docs or employment. </p>
<p>The weather is awful though. Windchill temperatures tend to be -30 deg F or colder during several weeks of the year. The summers are hot and humid. Bugs grow to unprecedented sizes and breed prodigiously. Flooding isn't terribly unusual during rainy times (that can last days at a time).</p>
<p>All in all, I think Madison would be great for grad school not just due to its excellent academic departments but also because of the great location.</p>
<p>I'm sorry, I don't meant to hijack this thread, but can i ask specifically about SD? I applied to UCSD for grad school and I was wondering if you could tell me about how expensive it is to live there? What is the average rent if I wanted to share a place? Are there a lot of places close to UCSD, like within walking distance? And how is the metro system?</p>
<p>I think a more useful discussion should include subtle things like food choices, population demographics and so on.</p>
<p>For example, it would be rather difficult for me to live in a town without a lot of ethnic diversity since I am an Asian.
This is pretty much the reason I chose not to apply to a few schools and may be the reason I don't go to one school.</p>
<p>You can take shuttles to UCSD but for shopping at markets and going to restaurants, you absolutely need a car.
Rent costs anywhere from 700 (single room, shared apt) to 1200-1600 (single room, NICE own apt).
You can live outside of La Jolla but I wouldn't recommend it because commuting is a waste of time unless you can make use of UCSD shuttles.
But other people's experience might differ. I'm lazy and I don't like buses.</p>
<p>I have been to SD in the summer a few years ago, and I loved the city. The weather was to die for. The campus was very nice, close to the beach and actually pretty big. So you would want to get a bike. But I am disappointed by the public transpo in the city. You definitely need a car, like shnjb said. And I heard housing are not cheap. </p>
<p>My top places would be SF, SD, LA area and Boston area. (Lots of opportunities and majority of biotech companies are situated in these two states).</p>
<p>As far as weather goes, I'd recommend they SF bay area. It's not warm in the winter (although the last 2 weeks it has been!), but it's not cold either. And the summers are not very hot and are not humid at all. Many people back east don't seem to realize this, but in the SF bay area it does not rain even a drop during summer. It's sort of backwards compared to the east coast and midwest. Everything gets green in the winter and dries up in the summer.</p>
<p>For me, the SF bay area weather is the best in the world. I especially like the fact that it's never humid and rarely very hot. But then again, I grew up here. If you're more of a beach person, San Diego is probably a better choice.</p>
<p>SBUMathgrad, for what it's worth, I lived in La Jolla for 4 years without a car and I managed just fine. UC San Diego has an extensive network of shuttles and completely subsidizes many of the metro buses going to and from the university. Shopping is definitely <em>not</em> an issue. There is a WholeFoods, Trader Joes, Vons, and Ralphs all a short walk from the campus. If you are of the lazy type, they are all accessible via shuttle and/or metro bus. </p>
<p>As shnjb mentioned, the rent is pretty expensive-ish. However, you can share a really nice 2 bedroom 2 bath apartment in La Jolla with 3 other people for about 450.</p>
<p>BTW, If you have any questions about the math department, I know it quite well ;-)</p>
<p>
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A lot of my friends who went to Stanford/Berkeley love it there. They all came from NYC. Stanford is generally regarded as one of the most beautiful campuses in the country and San Fran has like the highest standard of living for any big city in the country
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</p>
<p>The SF Bay Area is indeed beautiful and San Francisco is a very interesting city (as is Berkeley). But, let's face it, Stanford itself is in a boring suburb. There's basically nothing to do in Palo Alto beyond a small strip of restaurants and bars around University Ave which you will quickly exhaust, and getting to anywhere else around the Bay Area such as SF via public transit is highly inconvenient. You basically need a car if you want to have any kind of a life.</p>
<p>I'll put in a plug for Boston -- I think it's a great place to be a grad student. There are a lot of other students in the area, public transportation is pretty good and fairly reliable, and there are lots of fun things to do and places to eat on a grad student's salary. If you have a car, within a few hours you could be at the beach on Cape Cod or skiing in New Hampshire. Housing is pretty expensive, but everybody I know is pretty happy with their respective living situations.</p>
<p>The weather occasionally leaves something to be desired, although the winter wonderland looks nice through the window right now. (Just not when you actually go outside.)</p>
<p>
[quote]
The SF Bay Area is indeed beautiful and San Francisco is a very interesting city (as is Berkeley). But, let's face it, Stanford itself is in a boring suburb.
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15 minutes from downtown San Jose and about 30 from San Francisco.</p>
<p>If Georgetown pops up on anyone's grad school list, DC is a great place to live, especially if you don't have children. For the carless, it has a terrific public transit system and cabs are pretty inexpensive if you need one upon occasion. If you need a car a few days a year, much cheaper to rent one rather than maintain & pay for parking.</p>
<p>A few people mentioned Ann Arbor. It's a great college town and I enjoy working here. Lots of restaurants, a nearby shopping mall, and pet-friendly. Metro Detroit is only a 20-30 minute drive away. If you're a nature enthusiast, I definitely recommend this area for its numerous parks. You can drive up US-23 to see the national and state forest parks.</p>
<p>You're also only 5 hours from Chicago and Toronto.</p>