<p>I'm wondering if it is possible to survive in Boston as a poor, starving college student.. more specifically as an MIT student. S hopes to attend MIT, but $ will be an issue. I know the cost of living is extremely high there as compared to here, but will he be able to earn enough with campus or off campus or UROP jobs to stay in Boston over the summers or move out? (Hopefully without sacrificing his education.)</p>
<p>What is the going price for a gallon of milk?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Yes, although of course it’s not totally trivial. Many of MIT’s fraternities are open for summer boarders, and they’re reliably cheaper than the dorms over the summer. There are reasonably-priced supermarkets in Cambridge, and of course cooking for oneself is usually cheaper than eating out. Boston is a city of students, so there are lots of free or low-priced things to do for fun.</p>
<p>Campus minimum wage is $9 an hour, so a student working 40 hours a week can expect to make at least $4300 in a summer before taxes. There are UROPs and off-campus jobs that pay more than that, as well – my husband’s UROP paid him $20 an hour.</p>
<p>The city seems pretty expensive when you search from internet(especially housing), however when you are actually here, it isn’t that expensive. You can have a decent dinner for about 4-6 bucks. I’m not a student (prospective :D) however that is my experience from summer.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, what happend to the financial aid?</p>
<p>^ Yeah, you shouldn’t need Boston housing. Something like 97% of undergrads live in a dorm or affiliated FSILGs, and you have four years of housing. You won’t get any sort of pressure to go rent some expensive Boston apartment :)</p>
<p>There are some supermarkets here in Boston/Cambridge that are more affordable than others, if you’ll willing to travel a bit farther. I’m not very knowledgeable about MIT, but I do know that its neighboring school on the other side of Cambridge provides generous grants to students who want to stay on campus over the summer for research related activities. The school can sometimes subsidize the housing or transportation costs, so living in Boston won’t be as daunting of a task financially as it may seem.</p>
<p>(I’ll make sure to check the milk price the next time I stop by the store, crazymomster :))</p>
<p>@Calico - thanks :). Milk here can still be found frequently enough at 1.99/gallon, but usual price is around 2.29/2.39.</p>
<p>@- others - I didn’t know that campus affiliated housing was possible over the summers. That’s good news.</p>
<p>@mollie - I’m not sure how far $9 an hour is going to go… however most college students don’t have “grown up” bills to pay… however most “grown ups” don’t have tuition and books to pay :-). Can you work a UROP for 40 (+) hours a week for the entire summer?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
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<p>You can definitely work a 40hr/week UROP, and most people who UROP seem to do so. You can’t work more than 40hr/week, though, through any combination of MIT-paid jobs (ie, UROP and desk work and library work - you can only total to 40hrs).</p>
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You can’t get paid for more than 40 hours a week. 
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Speaking for myself, I worked full-time during the summer and IAP and part-time during term (12-15 hours a week). My parents/financial aid paid for my tuition and housing, but I made enough from my UROP to pay for pretty much everything else – food, entertainment, clothes, textbooks, stuff (computer, pots/pans, new bookshelf, etc.). I also graduated with a nice nest egg in savings. Functionally speaking, $10 an hour was plenty for me, although I was fairly frugal.</p>
<p>La Verde’s Market in Student Center(just opposite Rogers aka. 7) may not be the cheapest market in Cambridge/Boston but has relatively good prices. Service seems to be a little slow in summer(don’t know about spring/fall), however they got everything one may need.
If you aren’t a vegetarian, try their Meatball Parmesan ;)</p>
<p>@Phoestre - as S is on the MIT campus for another 3 weeks, I’ve passed on your suggestion of meatball parmesan :-).</p>
<p>@mollie - S is going to be concerned over the summers of making enough to be helping to pay tuition/housing. I realize that isn’t what this thread is about though :-). He’s a very frugal kid!</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>