<p>Hey everyone, </p>
<p>I am applying for grad school at berkeley and was trying to research all of the possible housing options. someone mentioned the co-ops to me so i visited their website. can anybody give me their opinions about it? i know there are two for grad/re-entry students but am i restricted to only those? which ones are the best? are they worth it? </p>
<p>also, is it possible to get around without a car? im from florida and really don't want to drive across the country. </p>
<p>thanks!</p>
<p>Cars are almost completely superfluous, especially for first year graduate students. I assume most of your conferences and traveling will be reserved to later on in your program.</p>
<p>I have a friend who is applying to the graduate-student coop. He said they require a minimum of 5 hours work each week, so if you can fit that into your schedule it may be a good option. Though, when he told me he was applying, I must admit I was wary of any sort of coop even if it was targeted at grad students. They tend to have a reputation for being dirty and drug-addled.</p>
<p>Also, there’s I-House (International House) which houses a mix of undergraduate and graduate students. If you don’t care about food (they force you to buy into their atrocious meal plan), and can get a room on a floor above 4 (3 and 4 are where most undergraduate students are – and the noise level reflects this) you may want to look into this.</p>
<p>thanks for the advice! i did see the thing about the 5 hours of work which didn’t bother me at all. what i was concerned about was the ages of people living in the grad co-op. the pictures i saw made it seem like there people much older than me. i will be 22 and want to be living with people around my own age.</p>