ideal living situation

[meowkat444]

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I have in my mind a big house with 4-6 people and my kitty in it (ideally some not medical students), a yard where I can garden a little, and a way to get to school without driving (shuttle, bike, whatever.)

Yes, probably not possible in some cities, but a girl can dream!

 

[Neuronix]

Depends how much parent money you have... There are many students at my school that do exactly that in West Philly but you can't buy the house just on your stipend (more like a studio condo).

I'd imagine you could actually afford something like this in Shaker Heights and walk into CWRU... Where else could you afford a decent sized house with yard on a stupid stipend and still walk to class? it's a curious question and I'm curious about the answers.

 

[meowkat444]

No parent money. I'm not necessarily looking to buy a house, though. This scenario is possible as a rental as well--it certainly happened in certain neighborhoods in new haven when i was an undergrad, i just wasn't interested back then.

And I am aware that it may not, in fact, be realistic.

I was also curious about how the rest of you are seeing your living situation for MSTP?

 

[jlamacc1]

If money were no object, I'd live by myself in a spacious, quiet apartment with a dishwasher (doorman, room service and sauna optional). But because it is a formidable object, I'm either going to (1) live by myself in a teeny-tiny studio, or (2) live with an apartment-mate in a well-equipped 2 BR unit. Ideally, I'd love to be able to buy something within the next two years (whenever the housing market hits rock-bottom), but this will largely depend on where I end up. My housing priorities are: 1) peace and quiet, (2) proximity to school, (3) a big, clean, well-equipped kitchen.

 

[Ruz]

3-4 people. Less than that gets to lonely for me. More than that is just a headache and you can't get close with everyone. I agree, it would be nice to have a couple non-med students to help expand social circles and just give you a break from it. Although, one med student would be good too so someone else feels your pain when your law school friends want to get hammered every night. I could go apartment/condo/house but I have to be able to BBQ near my house and throw little get-togethers around the grill.

Preferably not near old people too. We have these damn neighbors hear that call and complain about the dumbest things. Last year we got a noise complaint for two of us sitting in a room and talking. They admitted we we're throwing a party or playing music, but that the sound reverberates between the buildings and it was as if we were in their bedroom. I mean, heaven forbid they close their window!!! Although every time they yell at us now we call a noise complaint on them before they can call it on us...suckas.

 

[j-weezy]

No parent money. I'm not necessarily looking to buy a house, though. This scenario is possible as a rental as well--it certainly happened in certain neighborhoods in new haven when i was an undergrad, i just wasn't interested back then.

And I am aware that it may not, in fact, be realistic.

I was also curious about how the rest of you are seeing your living situation for MSTP?

I'm pretty flexible - but I'd like roommates my first year (studio apts can be too lonely)

 

[WaltzingMatilda]

I have in my mind a big house with 4-6 people and my kitty in it (ideally some not medical students), a yard where I can garden a little, and a way to get to school without driving (shuttle, bike, whatever.)

I have friends in Baltimore who has exactly what you just described. It's either NY or Boston for me right now. Either way, it will probably be a tiny little apartment, with very little space. Oh well, I WILL get my herb garden some day LOL.

 

[Neuronix]

I have a 1BR with 200sq ft private deck where I garden... You don't need a house and a yard you know.

 

[meowkat444]

good point! i'd like roommates though 🙂 and I'd rather live in a part of a house than in a multi-unit complex.

 

[magwi11]

I actually found an apartment this past weekend (scary huh?). Fairly large one bedroom with hardwood floors and lots of light. Walking distance to school (on a nice day) and the shuttle (on less nice days) plus walking to grocery, movies, restaurants, coffee shops.

Pretty much exactly what I wanted. So yeah, that's sweet.

 

[MNIkid87]

My ideal housing situation would probably something like what I have now(during undergrad) (but that depends on whether I will live in a rural or city like area). But if we just stick with the bigger city example (like right now) I would love to stay in a cozy, nice one bed room apartment by myself...I am a clean-freak, and I swear to god if my kitchen is not completely immaculate I will be going insane....the thought of having to clean after another person...not fun, did that with my ex, did not work for me.
Furthermore I like my quiet when I study 😀

 

[Picklesali]

Meowcat - you've described my dream situation. I want to live in a house with roommates, because it would be fun (less lonely than my current studio) and a great investment. In fact, I was just looking at Michigan real estate to see what the options are. I had to free-register to look at the listings, and I immediately got a phone call from a real-estate agent. It was so funny, I told him that I'm not even sure I'll be living there but that I was just messing around. Anyhoo, it seems like it is something that could definitely be possible on my piddly little stipend. At least in Michigan.

 

[Dodo23]

My ideal living situation is this: a single in a dorm for the first year or two, followed by an apartment shared with 2-3 other friends, within walking distance of class/lab/hospital, etc. I've lived in dorms right through college, except for a couple of summers spent in an apartment with friends, and I'll need time to wean myself away from the college dorm lifestyle. Besides, it's a great way to meet fellow med/mudphud students during 1st year, form study groups, etc. Eventually I might want to move into a nice flat shared with 2-3 of my closest friends. (Living alone in a flat would be too lonely). Finally, I don't like to drive much, so hopefully I won't have to do that until the clinical years - either walking or taking a shuttle would be best.

 

[Mazelia]

This website (which I found out about from the Freakonomics blog) is one of my new favorites for comparing potential apartment/home locations:

http://www.walkscore.com/

You need to give it an address/cross-street to calculate the "walkability" of the location, so it is not a fantastic comparison between cities.... but once you know where you're headed, this website is 👍.

 

[jlamacc1]

This website (which I found out about from the Freakonomics blog) is one of my new favorites for comparing potential apartment/home locations:

http://www.walkscore.com/

You need to give it an address/cross-street to calculate the "walkability" of the location, so it is not a fantastic comparison between cities.... but once you know where you're headed, this website is 👍.

hey, this looks cool!

 

[seraph524]

Depends how much parent money you have... There are many students at my school that do exactly that in West Philly but you can't buy the house just on your stipend (more like a studio condo).

I'd imagine you could actually afford something like this in Shaker Heights and walk into CWRU... Where else could you afford a decent sized house with yard on a stupid stipend and still walk to class? it's a curious question and I'm curious about the answers.

Hey Neuronix,

Typically what type of housing do Penn students live in? 2-bedroom apartments? 1-bedroom? Condo? Studios? Houses? And which ones are affordable on the stipend?

 

[Picklesali]

Hey Neuronix,

Typically what type of housing do Penn students live in? 2-bedroom apartments? 1-bedroom? Condo? Studios? Houses? And which ones are affordable on the stipend?

I stayed with a girl who lived in the medical frat. She paid like $200 month!

(<-- need to find like 10 really cheap people to live with 😀)

 

[magwi11]

hey, this looks cool!

Sweet!

Walk score for my current location:8
Walk score for my new apartment: 89

I freaking can't wait to move.

 

[jlamacc1]

Sweet!

Walk score for my current location:8
Walk score for my new apartment: 89

I freaking can't wait to move.

That's fantastic. I am really entertaining the thought of selling my car and doing the bike/bus/train/plane thing. This obviously depends on where I end up, but I am just so sick of using dirty "horse and carriage" technology. Cars are SO 20th century!

 

[Neuronix]

Typically what type of housing do Penn students live in? 2-bedroom apartments? 1-bedroom? Condo? Studios? Houses? And which ones are affordable on the stipend?

It varies pretty widely. Your stipend will allow you to get up to a 1BR on your own generally in the area of the med school. In CC you have to look at the cheapest 1BR options and in West Philly on your stipend the further you get from the school the bigger and better options you can get for your $1000/mo or whatever you wanna pay for rent. Some people do take studios as well. Condos are almost out of the question on stipend only with a few exceptions--and those are small studios, usually far from the school.

Some students do coordinate to rent out larger things and share many rooms. 2BR arrangements aren't particularly a good deal because you can easily get a studio for less than half of the 2BR price and a 1BR for not much more than half the price of a 2BR. Some students rent out houses or parts of houses and coordinate room sharing agreements. These can get pretty cheap depending on just how bad the apartment is and how far into the ghetto you go.

Just ignore everyone who lives in an apartment building like 2400 Chestnut or owns a nice condo. Tell them to thank mommy and daddy for that.

I stayed with a girl who lived in the medical frat. She paid like $200 month!

There's around a dozen people in the entire medical school that live there. It's a very unusual arrangement that many applicants get exposed to because those guys host all the time. There's many more applicants for that than there are spots, and girls get preference because there's almost always more guy applicants than girl applicants.

 

[magwi11]

That's fantastic. I am really entertaining the thought of selling my car and doing the bike/bus/train/plane thing. This obviously depends on where I end up, but I am just so sick of using dirty "horse and carriage" technology. Cars are SO 20th century!

I'm not going to sell my car just yet, because it seems that most people felt it was really good to have one in Cincinnati, and because I would like to be able to drive to visit my sister (about 1.5 hours away) and my boyfriend (about 3 hours away once he gets back from Iraq) without it being much of a hassle. We'll see after the first year...

I will however, be reducing my footprint pretty significantly. Right now I drive close to 400 miles a week most of the time (awful I know). With my new walk score of 89, I should be able to cut that down to 1/10 max, and that will be wonderous.