<p>So tuition, room, and meal plan aside how much should a student have as pocket money for a semester?</p>
<p>I don't consider myself as a gossip girl kid who prowls the high-end clubs every night...or ever really (more of a pub guy) but I do tend to eat out at restaurants (20$ tab range) 1-2 times a week. Along with some movies, the occasional concert and a few comic books. Nothing out of the ordinary. I was also thinking of joining a boxing gym while I'm there. </p>
<p>I know these things pile up very fast so feel free to impart on past experiences.</p>
<p>I think $1500-$2000 for a semester is reasonable. But i overshot that frequently, because I overspent on certain things. That leaves you with ~150/week which is pretty good if you've got a meal plan.</p>
<p>2000$ a semester?! Jesus Christ I was thinking half of that. Do you remember the title? I searched for pocket money and 'money' but just got financial aid threads....</p>
<p>like I said, I tended to overspend, in fact, if I remember correctly it probably was half that my freshman year when I had a meal plan. Sorry, didn't mean to shock ya :(</p>
<p>Nah I live in Montreal, Quebec so it's a pretty metropolitan area (we've even got ourselves one of them fancy Starbucks places since last winter :D). </p>
<p>Granted that the hotspot of french Canada may still be a hole by any other standards but I've spend a few summers in NYC and while there is a slight price difference but nothing too outrageous. 20$ meals are about the same at both places (we're talking fancy burger plates...not lobster or anything).</p>
<p>I guess I'll keep working till the end of the summer to save up around 6k for the year. Hopefully book costs won't be too insane. Oy.</p>
<p>PS. Thanks for the link, D. I saw your breakdown, it seems pretty normal/comfortable. Is this really frugal by Columbia standards?</p>
<p>If you're in CC and taking LitHum next year, before you go buy your boxed set from the bookstore, take a walk down Broadway and browse the used bookseller tables set up every couple of blocks. Some of them will sell LitHum books (perhaps older editions) for ~$3-$5 depending on the book. Even if you can get the same books used from the bookstore, the bookstore ones are probably still more expensive. I'd already bought most of my LitHum books by the beginning of the year, but on one of my walks, I discovered that those booksellers sell quite a few LitHum books.</p>
<p>
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but I do tend to eat out at restaurants (20$ tab range) 1-2 times a week. Along with some movies, the occasional concert and a few comic books. Nothing out of the ordinary. I was also thinking of joining a boxing gym while I'm there.
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</p>
<p>Good luck. While freshman year won't keep you chained to a desk doing work all the time (sophomore won't either), you'll often find yourself too tired/lazy to venture outside of morningside heights. The morningside bubble is very real although often a little exaggerated (I think 90% of people still get out at least once or twice a month). </p>
<p>While the above may not apply so much to social things like eating out or a concert or whatever, trying to join a gym or anything like it takes serious commitment. Getting on the 1 to TS or Penn and transferring (almost guaranteed you will have to) and coming back is a lot of effort and you will, most likely, go once a month if the cost of membership is negligible to you. However, that being said, if you REALLY are driven to do it, don't be scared off by my words. It will only get harder to start a routine like that after freshman year (in my opinion)</p>
<p>I haven't really researched it yet but I assume there are specialized gyms in Harlem and not too far from the school. They're usually every bloke around here. Bi-weekly classes is more what I'm looking for (not a Balbola set). I tend to get moppy when I don't put on the gloves for a while. :)</p>
<p>yeah you can take martial arts classes at CU. I get mopey too when I haven't worked out in a while, and the gym was sooo convenient. I do have a friend who for some bizarre reason decided to join equinox, and went pretty regularly. Don't ask. I don't know, but she kept at it.</p>
<p>i mean, maybe if you go between 5-7pm, it's a bit crowded. and i wouldn't run on the track there - you feel like a rat in a cage, much nicer to go running in the parks.</p>
<p>but aside from that it's rather well equipped and has a bunch of good workout places, clubs and other sport groups meet there a lot.</p>
<p>"I was under the impression that the CU gym was "a crowded nightmare"</p>
<p>no, not really, i go quite often, at all sorts of hours, it's a bit crowded at 7-8am and at 6-8pm, maybe also 9-1030pm, and crowded means you might have wait 30 minutes to use a treadmill, I switched treadmill to track easily. The other machines are usually available - you'll find few machines free at any point in time but come at 420pm and you'll be able to sign up for the 430-500 slot for pretty much anything. resistance machines are readily available. it's classic columbia, most are available and nothing waits for you.</p>
<p>it depends on timing. It sucked between 5-7PM, when everyone was out of class and the machines were booked up. I usually went around 11AM after my fencing class when it was fairly empty. It's also open till like midnight on weekdays.</p>
<p>To my knowledge there are no bags in the gym, heavy or speed bags. I could be wrong but I have been in most of the rooms in the gym and don't remember seeing any...</p>