<p>I'm an undergraduate at Michigan State University in my third year now, and I'm starting to look for graduate schools. Since I'll need to be involved with research, I'm somewhat restricted in which schools I can select. The noise level I've experienced here at MSU is almost unbearable though. I would really appreciate any recommendations for a quieter college. I'm open to basically anywhere in the US except Illinois.</p>
<p>Also note that I've already gone through the regular methods for reducing noise in my room, moving to "quiet" floors, using ear-plugs, calling R.A.s, etc. In short, it's not enough.</p>
<p>Right now, it would be prohibitively expensive. I would be willing to get an apartment during graduate school though, if there were quiet areas somewhat near the college. In my experience here (from visiting with friends that do have apartments), the available apartments are not any less noisy. The college ‘mentality’ of noise seems to seep miles out into the city.</p>
<p>Hm, maybe Michigan State is different but at least at my university there are plenty of off campus apartments where non students live. From what I’ve seen they’re extremely quiet save for the occasional kid running around.</p>
<p>Most graduates don’t live in student housing. Also, shared apartments are cheaper than dorms a great many places. My daughter goes to grad school at a large state flagship and has always had reasonably quiet and inexpensive shared housing with other grad students off campus. She is paying a tad more for her own place now.</p>
<p>It is hard enough to get accepted at a program and to rule universities in or out because of potential noise level seems unfeasible. I’ve seen the very nice grad student townhouses at UCLA but no one is guaranteed that particular lot of dorms, much less admission to the program.</p>
<p>I don’t know why you think your choices are limited because of research, because grad schools are in the business of doing research, it is not the exception. I think looking for a quiet uni will be your limiting factor. It would be quite the joke if you found a quiet uni and happened to be next to a noisy neighbor.</p>
<p>Anyway, grad school discussion belongs in the grad school forum.</p>
<p>Those that do live in student housing often live in housing specifically for graduate students, who tend to be less rowdy than undergraduate students.</p>
<p>Grad school is not like college.
Grad students are extremely dedicated (a joke is that they’ll have class even if the professor isn’t there :p) and spend hours upon hours immersed in their subject. Research is what they do. You’ll come to think of a 15-10page paper as a “short” paper.
You’ll have a personal cubby in the library (all you have to do is request one), you’ll either live in grad housing (which is apartment-style and quiet) or off campus in areas where adults live. You’ll socialize with other grad students (many of whom will be adults 25+). If you don’t like noise and huge parties, you’ll learn to avoid the town on Friday and Saturday evenings except in specific bars, your parties will be grad student parties, in short the kind of sophomoric behavior that is both annoying and noisy will be reduced to a minimum unless you seek it out.</p>
<p>BrownParent - the reference to research probably has to do with the fact that the OP is interested in a specific topic, and hence must elect from a fairly short list of graduate programs in order to be able to join an appropriate research group.</p>
<p>Jeydon - As others have written, grad school is quite different from undergrad. It is most likely that you will live off campus, in which case you can carefully select your neighborhood for features that are important (quiet being just one of them). If you do end up in a graduate residence hall, it is most likely that it will be significantly quieter than any undergrad dorm you have ever been in.</p>
<p>I’d recommend that you first narrow your choice of schools to those with professors who are doing research that particularly interests you, and then look at the area around the school. You may be able to get advice from current grad students or professors about quieter areas to live, but I find it hard to believe that there is absolutely nowhere you can live and/or study that is quiet enough for you (unless, perhaps, you need absolute silence, in which case I’d recommend really good noise cancelling or reducing headphones possibly coupled with earplugs). If you’re applying to programs that interview or if you’re in a position where you could visit the schools, you might want to take some time to search around the area for quieter places. I know of many schools that have reading rooms for graduate students and faculty that might help, if you’d like to study in the library, or there may be other graduate student lounges or areas around campus. I know of many graduate students that spend much of their time off campus, and that might be a good option for you. On campus graduate housing may be a good option, but many graduate students also live off campus. If the immediate apartment complexes around campus tend to cater to undergraduate students, you could search a little farther out and look for places that tend to rent to working professionals or other adults, like yourself. The longer commute may be worth it if you’re able to work more efficiently without dealing with all the noise.</p>
