<p>I will be a phd student in the fall and I'm currently looking for apartments in the region of the university. I am thinking of living off campus since i've been living on campus for the past 6 or so years of my schooling. One of the possible downsides is that the apartments I am looking at are a half hour commute to the university. This is only because I am not interested in living in the town that the university is in. Also, the village apartments I am looking at will probably cost about $1000/month with utilities included. I will initially be a TA so i'll have a $1500/month stipend which will more than cover the apartment rent.</p>
<p>What are your thoughts on this? Do you think $1000/month plus a half hour commute is worth it? Are there any other phd students who have a similar setup like this?</p>
<p>Is that $1500 before or after taxes? If it’s after, your budget will be tight but doable. If it’s before taxes, then I don’t think it’s possible. You also have to factor in the cost of commuting as well. As long as you think you can handle it, then go for it.</p>
<p>Commuting can be expensive not just because of the price of gas but also because of the cost of parking at the university. Check that out as well.</p>
<p>I don’t know any graduate students willing to pay $1,000 month for rent, with or without utilities. And if that half-hour commute is by car, your transportation expenses are going to be huge, hundreds of dollars more per month. Were you planning to eat, too?</p>
<p>What’s the part about “I am not interested in living in the town that the university is in”? Is that because it is too expensive, or because you are too snotty about something? If it’s the latter, you should get over yourself if you can. If it’s the former, start talking to existing grad students at the university about what they do.</p>
<p>I would be very wary of this. Ignoring the expenses, realize that PhD study is very involved, and can require frequent and irregular attendence. It is hard to just run into the lab to check on something if the lab is half an hour away. It is hard to drop your advisor’s office if that office is half an hour away.</p>
<p>I am currently living a similar situation - I have a wife at a different nearby school, and we both struggle daily with the commute (25 minutes for me, 45 for her!). She has actually been much more successful at managing it, while I have had a lot of problems with classes, meetings, and research. I would not recommend this course if you have other options.</p>