Turning down albany was probably my hardest choice, I went to graduate school there and loved the people (particularly faculty and students). However, I will give some living advice and costs for all you out of the area....
my first year of grad school, they have a roommate listing book which is pretty good, however, I did find myself a psycho roommate (althouh I meet many who lived with the people they found for four years) cost for a 3 bedroom is about $500-$700 (no heat included) the area around albany med we use to joke is the albany med student slums...cheap housing which is acceptable not glamerous. My 2-5th years of grad school, I rent a 2 bedroom including heat for $450, some years I had roommates, some years I did not. Couple of ways to find places, the books in the student affairs office (however, many of these apartments tend to have slum lords), walking or driving around the area, or the timesunion is not bad (I found the later apartment that way), older students sometimes post on a buleton (sp?) board down by the bookstore. Roommates can be tricky to find...if you are looking in the fall many times you can find a roomate easily the rest of the year can be a crap shoot. The most fun place to live is probably down by lark street, however, it is very difficult at times (particularly during the day and late at night) to find parking....
One more thing, do not rush and buy all your books immediately, there is a used book sale fun by the students which is much cheaper...you also can not return books to that bookstore...and one more thing...do not buy books for inside the anatomy lab, there is an enormous supply from previous years (netters, grants, rohen and disecting manuals)!
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