<p>I recently found a research position on campus this summer. Does anyone have any tips for the following?
-food options (meal plan? groceries?)
-activities/staying occupied (should I get a a job? only receiving credit for position...what are some fun jobs? )
-should I bring my car up?</p>
<p>Also, I don't really know how long I'm staying either. Can people suggest start and end dates?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I say bring your car up and get a rental on the lake. Why not cook for yourself. Most internships run for 8 weeks. </p>
<p>thank you for the advice…read your old posts…did your daughter ever stay during the summer? if so, what was her experience like?</p>
<p>Bring your car up, for sure, that’s for certain. but IMO live in Collegetown. The lake would be pretty for sure,but more lonely and isolated, and you’d have to drive to do absolutely everything.
Many students have year-long leases but are not staying for the summer, so there should be myriad sublet opportunities available in Collegetown. There may be rooms available in the coops, eg Watermargin, too, .</p>
<p>If you’re living in a house with a kitchen, you can just cook for yourself. But if there’s an available meal plan that you prefer, that’s really up to you. With a car you can easily drive to Wegman’s for groceries. You may also find you’ll be going out to eat a lot. Eg at the Farmer’s market, the restaurants downtown, brunch at ithaca Bakery, barbeque in the state parks, Purity ice cream,etc. </p>
<p>To me Ithaca was absolutely wonderful in the summer. D2 liked it too.</p>
<p>D2 lived in lower collegetown in the summer. she walked to campus for her job during the day, and at night she often walked to the Commons to meet up with friends there for dinner & stuff. So that would be one plan that worked for her.</p>
<p>Suggest start and end dates should be consistent with the dates you can sublet housing for. Eg, start date should be after many people will be vacating their houses for the summer and needing subletters; maybe a week after graduation? And end date should be before the people need to come back. </p>
<p>My kid(s) have never spent a summer in Ithaca, but we were in Ithaca for a week on the lake when D1 graduated and it was beautiful. I think a summer in Ithaca would be wonderful. I understand what monydad is saying, but I would still go for a house on the lake.</p>
<p>Suggest arrange your schedule so you can attend the Grassroots festival in July, if you are so inclined.</p>
<p>thanks for the tips! as for housing, I know someone whose subletting, so hopefully that works. If it doesn’t I’m probably going to look into subletting a coop, and then looking into college town</p>
<p>Suggest you make good use of your car, and explore the greater finger lakes, not just the area immediately surrounding Ithaca. IIRC D2 went camping with some friends in Fillmore Glen. Don’t know your age, but the wine trail is fun, all the way up to Geneva, and Finger lakes Distilling is great. And get out on the lake, of course. Last time I looked one could still rent boats at Stewart Park. But do NOT be out there without a motor close to the time that the tides are strong. I nearly couldn’t paddle back to the park the last time i did it!</p>
<p>This is a good opportunity to learn your upstate regional cusine. Try Dinosaur Barbeque in Syracuse, get a spiedie in Binghamton, find the best place for Cornell chicken. (which I’ve read is at the NY State Fair in Syracuse). They have good fish fry right in Ithaca, at a restaurant downtown, but I forgot the name. A lot of people laud Cayuga Creamery, near Interlaken… I didn’t think it was a big deal, but can all those other people be wrong?</p>
<p>And of course close to Ithaca there are the state parks, which are great, and the creeks, And the Commons is often quite lively in the summer.</p>
<p>There is a totally different, laid-back atmosphere in the summer that is really nice.</p>
<p>Food: I liked Wegmans for groceries, it’s not that hard to get there by bus and you’ll find everything you need in one stop.
Dates: Usually I’d get back to Ithaca around the beginning of June and often stay right through till the fall semester.
Car: If you don’t bring a car (which I never did) bring a bike. With the bike racks on the front of the TCAT buses, that can afford you a lot of freedom.</p>
<p>Back in the late 70s-early 80s, I spent four consecutive summers at Cornell–the first doing research, and the last three as a Chemistry TA. If you’re around Ithaca now, my best advice is to WAIT to find a place until the first week of May. There will be posts all over campus and in Collegetown for houses or rooms, and at that point, people will be desperate to get almost any amount for their sublets. (You might be able to pay 25-30% of what the entire unit would otherwise go for…) By all means, have a car. Ithaca and its environs are unbelievably beautiful over the summer, and weekends are for exploring. In particular, the Farmers’ Market and the nearby state parks are great over June-August, without nearly as many students hanging around. Find a place with a kitchen so you can have many of your meals in your unit (saving $). </p>
<p>again, thanks for all of the advice! </p>