<p>Johnson - I literally laughed out loud reading your post. Excellent, and so true. NOLA is a more expensive place to go to school by its nature, even though cost of living probably looks the same “on paper”.</p>
<p>Anyway, I know this is off topic, but then I think the topic of this thread has already been covered anyway. She is very excited about being in New Orleans for school. She is already a writer, having submitted short stories to a few reputable publications, and might even get one published (long shot, but she didn’t get an outright rejection). So NOLA is just a great atmosphere for her, and Tulane’s English Dept. has a great reputation, I hope deserved. I took a lot of literature classes when I was there because I like American Southern and Russian Lit (not bad for a chem major, eh? They both tend to be quirky and full of sharply drawn characters), but I never took a stab at real writing. She’s also doing Asian Studies, which is one reason she was so attracted to Wash U (among many others). And like you, she is absolutely looking forward to exploring the food options. She has discovered beignets already, of course.</p>
<p>What part of NOLA did you grow up in? And your favorite Po-boy place would be? We need to know! Most of them have changed since I was there, and there are a lot of new ones.</p>
<p>Yeeps… even with scholarship, my parents can’t afford to supplement Room/Board costs with hundreds of dollars a month! I had no idea that this was even necessary!?!</p>
<p>How hard is it to get a job around Wash U (not a work study)?</p>
<p>Tetra: not very hard. There are tons of job openings on campus, and they all pay phenomenally well (this is coming from me - I’m used to minimum wage and labor, which is what I always did over the summer during high school), upwards of 10 dollars an hour. You may not get more than 30 hours a week though, and if you’re overly picky (several people that I know think working in a library for 10 dollars an hour is boring, I think it’s a godsend) your options may diminish. I wouldn’t sweat it though if you’re earnest about it.</p>
<p>As for spending money, I never spent more than 100 dollars a month throughout my freshman year. That covered alcohol, eating out occasionally, and miscellaneous expenses for classes. If you’re into drugs, you’ll probably need a job, as drug prices are fairly high on campus - I don’t do drugs, but some of my friends do and they all have part time jobs to pay for their expenses. If you smoke cigarettes, that will also add heavily to expenses.</p>
<p>I’ve personally found that the best way to save money is to cut out vices - cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol, drugs, gambling, and (yes) coffee are the major killers, and if you stick to just one on the list, you’ll be fine with 100 dollars a month. If you’re an online poker fan that likes to drink (a floormate), you’re looking at up to 200 a month. If you need cigarettes and coffee to function during the day and drink on the weekends (my roommate) you might need 300 or more, and it continues to stack. These are very rough guidelines, but they should be adequate for the first few months until you establish what your individual needs will be.</p>
<p>Johnson181: Yeah, my advice was geared towards single males. I remembered to mention that after I had already clicked the “post reply” button.</p>
<p>To answer your question, while some of those jobs are work-study, a good number of them are not. I didn’t have a job freshman year (I regret it now) but I know a good number of people who had jobs working in the library who were not in work study programs. </p>
<p>One thing I forgot to mention: psych experiments. They’re normally 10 dollars per hour, and the experiments usually take much sooner to complete than the time they pay you for. They’re not ideal as real jobs, but if you need some quick cash to hold you over, you can sign up for experiments the day of and be just fine. It’s a great way to make extra money when you run out of your allowance (if your parents do that) and you get cash in your pocket immediately.</p>
<p>Johnson181: my friends called some number that was on a flier outside Mallinckrodt, on the big billboard that has all of the ads on it. Unfortunately that number has long since been lost. I would try going to the libraries personally and ask for any openings - just make sure to hit up all of the libraries, not just Danforth. Also, if you really need money, I would suggest going to SFS, I’ve heard (but not confirmed) that if you really need money and can verify this in some way that they can get you a job on campus. Since you can probably demonstrate the need for one, with vehicle expenses etc. it’s worth a shot if nothing else.</p>
<p>I agree with royalcrown. Cutting out the vices really saves you money. </p>
<p>Many things on campus are free with student groups hosting events with free food and entertainment. Going to sporting events leads to free pizza, burritos and shirts.</p>
<p>I’m personally ok on $125 a month including my acapella concerts (5 bucks a pop), my frat dues (also 35 for the sem), the occasional off campus meal, a pro sport once a month, and some date money. I forgot to mention my phone bill is about $35 and my parent’s don’t pay for that. My parents do give me more but I’ve saved that in my bank account.</p>
<p>I would recommend the $100-200 range depending on if the cell bill is picked up and other miscellaneous expenses. Food on campus is great for college food.</p>