I’m so happy you were able to work it out. You will love Stony Brook. My son did. He is graduating this year with his masters. He also got his undergraduate degree there.
@Dinacoltrane I’m glad that you liked Stony brook but I still think it’s a mistake going there with your financial situation. It is going to be very difficult to find housing in the vicinity of Stony brook since its not a college town. Also will have to sign on for a 1 year lease not paying month to month. Have you figured out how you are going to get to the campus from your offcampus housing because you don’t have a car. What about meals and food since you won’t be on a meal plan… Plus going to Stony is not a guarantee for dental school…if you get into dental school prepare to borrow $400,000 and add your undergraduate loans to that amount…anyway good luck cause you are going to need it!
Actually, my thinking is if you REALLY want to go to Stony brook then you should go ALL IN. Just borrow more money enough that you can live on campus and study your butt off so you can get into dental school instead of wasting time working part time and/or wasting time commuting back and forth. Trust me…the science classes at Stony brook are very hard…and every hour that you are spending working or commuting, your classmates are studying and doing their hospital/dental volunteer hours to boost up their dental applications…
I Found a room yay
And I don’t have to sing any leases
Wait what? A room without a lease s a huge red flag.
Right… if you don’t have a lease tying in your room, then neither does your landlord.
What if they change the arrangements-- either the availability or the price-- during the year?
Renting a room in a stranger’s house without a lease doesn’t offer you any protections. They can raise the rent whenever they want or change the terms (require you to pay for utilities, for example), and you’ll have no recourse. You’ll have to pay up or get out. If they change the verbal agreement while during the semester, what will you do?
I’ve read the Craigslist room rentals for the Stony Brook area. Some are very restrictive regarding visitors (none permitted) and kitchen access (use of a microwave only). So you may not be able to have friends over or cook a decent meal. Living on precooked, microwave ready food will be expensive. How would you get to campus? Do you have to pay for transportation or would you have to walk? How far is the nearest grocery store and how will you get there? When will you have time to shop and cook? You’ll likely need to invest in a sturdy cart to transport your food. Will you have a fridge and cupboard space to store your groceries? Can you use the kitchen (stove, coffee pot, dishes, etc)? Where you be doing your laundry?
I think it’s also a bad idea to depend on the rent of a friend living with your mom to pay your rent on Long Island. I would hope you give them the protection of a lease. If your situation at Stony Brook doesn’t work out, will there be room for you at your mom’s? If you rent a private room to your friend, I’m not sure that you could require her to share it with you if you have to move home. What will you do if, for whatever reason, she can’t pay? Or her payment is late? Your Long Island landlord doesn’t have to let you to stay.
It’s 15 Minutes Walk from campus. One day a week I can do laundry. I’m allowed to cook and to use microwave, fridge. If my friend won’t live in my house I have savings to pay. At least it’s cheaper than a dorm
Does the $700 include all utilities or will you have to pay for your own? You’ll likely need internet service to do your homework, so make sure you have access.
How far is the nearest grocery store? Walking 15 minutes puts you about a mile from school, so you’ll already be doing lots of walking in all kinds of weather just to get to class and back. Is it a 15 minute walk on sidewalks or along the side of a road?
It’s all utilities included , walk on a road
Have you asked them for a lease? What’s their reason for not offering you one?
Yes, what’s the reason for not offering a lease? Can you get something in writing (ie., I, Dinacoltrane, promise to pay $700 for a room + full access to the kitchen and bathroom + once a week access to laundry; I, landlors, promise Dinacoltrane access to a room+ full access to kitchen and bathroom+once a week laundry, for $700. date, signature). in case the main reason is for you to pay “under the table”, in cash - so that if theytry to swindle you, there’s a small recourse, but their “under the table” operation isn’t jeopardized?
No I didn’t ask for a lease. I mean even for me, there is a downside of making a lease agreement. What if I will find friends at Stony and will want to rent a house with them? I will have to wait until the end of my lease
What if you don’t find friends to rent with and something happens that makes your landlord decide to quit renting? Without a lease they don’t have to give you any notice.
Yes, this is also right, but what should I do? There are different places with lease but they are about 800-1200, for a single room… it’s kind of expensive for me.
If you’re comfortable with this arrangement, I would ask for a lease that puts the agreement you have in writing. Mimimal the price and duration, any security deposit, and so on.
Yes, it does tie you into the arrangement, but it also provides you with security.
Because without one, you can wake up one snowy day in November and find you have 24 hours to vacate the property. Or you could come home to find that your landlord has been in your room, rooting through your stuff. Or any one of a hundred other things to violate your privacy or change the arrangement you have.
I know I may sound unbearable but i basically have a deposit in both universities right now. I didn’t drop hunter yet. I am telling that because I just googled NYU dental class of 2022,2021 and I found two people on their page who graduated from hunter (bachelors), and got in a dental school. Some days I think why make the life of my mom harder and uncomfortable (living with my friend) if I can study harder and still get in after Hunter. I also know one person from city college who got in SBU dental and he is the best student in class, I mean he is in a group with people from SBU, Cornell, NYU and bing. And still he is the best
At some point you’re going to have to decide.
For the vast majority of kids your age that point was 10 days ago.
You can’t double deposit at two schools. If they find out, they can rescind their offers. And since both are state schools, there is a greater possibility that they’ll find out than if one was a private university.
I was a low income student, so I understand your dilemma. You’re afraid of missing out so you try to stretch the budget. I’d go back and read both this thread and your commuting thread and really think about what people had to say. We can’t tell you what to do. You have to weigh the options with your mom and decide what’s best for your family.
My concern for you is that you’re planning your budget based on a best case scenario. You don’t have funding worked out for the next 2 years, you have a tentative plan that depends on your fall housing working out for an additional 3 semesters (meaning you hit it off with the owners and they continue to rent to you and not increase the rates), the commuting (back and forth to campus, a job, and to the store on foot along the side of a road in winter at all hours) is actually something you can safely do, your friend stays with your mom and pays rent for 2 full years, your mom’s health and job status remain unchanged, and your $10k savings isn’t needed for other things. Right now, it appears that you’re depending on the rent your friend will be paying your mom to cover your room rental. Will the other $5k you need come from your savings or work? Neither is ideal. If you empty your savings to cover your food and living expenses, you have no cushion. But if you try to work to raise all the money you need to live on, it’s likely going to be at the expense of your grades.
I think what I would do is sit down with your mom and create a tentative budget for both Hunter and Stony Brook. How much money do you need and where is it coming from? Write the source of guaranteed funding (grants, savings) in black and the sources of tentative funding (rent from your friend, earnings from work you haven’t done yet) in red and see what your sheet looks like. What percentage of the funding you need is guaranteed and what percentage isn’t? What are your backup plans if your friend decides not to live with your mom or has financial difficulties and can’t pay? Is your mom prepared to ask your friend to leave if that happens so she can get another renter? Your savings will cover your living expenses next year or it can be used as emergency funding to cover your room if your mom’s rental situation doesn’t work out, but it can’t cover both. What happens if your own rental doesn’t work out? You can’t afford to pay more and finding a room for $700/mo after the semester starts may be difficult. Discuss your options with your mom and decide together what’s best for your family. But do it soon so you don’t lose your spot at one or both of your schools.
I took in consideration all the suggestions that were given to me, and decided to commit to hunter college. I already have 73 credits so I thought it’s silly to go to SBU and take risks just for 3 semesters. Also I wanted to save money that I was planning to spend on a housing, because I will need to spend them for DAT and Applications to schools, which cost a lot. At least if I want to go to SBU that much I can apply there for a dental school.
Thank you all for your help and advices to me!
Hope I’ll get into a good dental school!