Living in Baltimore

[kltmd]

I'm going to the U of MD SOM next year, and just received my financial aid award letter. The projected cost for the year is about $35,000 (for tuition, off-campus housing, etc.). Is this realistic? How much does it really cost? I'm going to live with some friends, so the cost of living should be drastically lower than expected, but I'm not sure how much money to budget above the cost of tuition. Any pointers?

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[conrad]

Congratulations on your acceptance. For a city that is less exciting than Washington, DC, cost-of-living is similar. Tuition and fees are fixed, of course, but as far as living expenses go, housing options around campus can range from $300-500/month to live in a rowhouse a few blocks south of campus, to $700-1000/month for a studio or one-bedroom apartment in one of the luxo-apartment buildings (which tend to be in safer areas). On-campus housing is either dorm-style ~$350/month or apartment-style ~$600-800/month. Restaurants are expensive here but if you are frugal, I think you can definitely spend about $700/month = $8,400/year for living expenses. For more info you can try <a href="http://www.housing.umaryland.edu/" target="_blank">http://www.housing.umaryland.edu/</a> to see the housing department's website. Hope this helps...

 

[ckent]

A lot of students live in these "luxury" apartments. They are generally very nice places to live, but singles cost ~800 per month and doubles can cost 600-700 a month for each person. Some students live in the 300-400/month townhouses, but they are not in a very safe area (their cars get broken into all the time, some of them have been mugged at gunpoint before too). On campus housing fills up pretty quickly so if you wanted to do that, you should turn in your app ASAP. I don't know exactly how much tuition is going to be next year, but you should expect to pay ~15,000 in tuition and fees (including the cost of your new laptop which will be in your tuition bill). Congrats on your acceptance.

 

[ValleyGal]

Going to Maryland next year too -- how is fells point to live in?? I hear that it is fun but it is safe?

 

[Coalboy]

Fells Point is nice enough, but I wouldn't want to live anywhere near Broadway/Thames Street. On weekends, the crowds of drunks would be pretty distracting. Also, parking on weekends would be a nightmare. The farther north you get (towards Hopkins), the sketchier the area gets.

I would think Canton would be a little nicer, if a little further away from UMD. It would probably not be that bad if you take 95 and the Fort McHenry Tunnel ($1 each way) to I-395. If the traffic is light, it would be easy to take Eastern Ave/President St/Lombard. Canton and Fells Point are pretty trendy, so prices might be high, but I don't have any hard info on that.

 

[kltmd]

Thankfully, I have a place to live (and it's cheap) in Halethorpe. What other costs do I need to consider in budgeting? I know transportation is a big one. Any idea of what the extra fees and books will amount to?

 

[mr.annoying]

my brother goes to U of M dental school, and I stayed at his place for a week over spring break. The med school is like across the street from the dental school, so I can give you a decent picture i think.

my bro lives like an 8 minute walk away from the school, and in my opinion it seems like a pretty decent place to live. He lives in a townhouse and has his own room for like 320/month or something. His car has been broken into three times... and his house was robbed last month... but it's still not that bad.

I wouldn't mind living where my bro does, but there are areas right outside of the city that are very nice suburban type places. I actually felt like I was in Orange County, CA in some places... and it's only a short commute (less than 30 mins maybe). Anyways, I don't know what my whole point was with this post... just telling you my perspective of the area. Oh.. and Inner Harbor was a pretty cool place to hang out too.

 

[oldman]

the area north of the jhu undergrad campus has a lot of decent housing, it would be a bit of a drive to the medical school, but i know of one guy who is at maryland and lives in that area.

 

[ckent]

Sorry, I don't know the answer to that Fell's Point question, I know that there are other Maryland students that come here (less frequently) so hopefully someone will know the answer to that and post it. I don't know anyone in my class who is living in Fell's point, but I think that one of my tour guides told me that a lot of students do live in Fell's point. Another good place to check out would be Catonsville. You can live close to the UMBC campus, I think that there is a shuttle that runs between them and our school, and rent is pretty low and I have heard that it is a really safe area.

As for the question about what additional fees you will have to pay when you start school here, your laptop computer fee will be included in tuition, so tuition and fees will probably run ~15,000 next year. Don't buy any books until you start school, sometimes your lbig sib will have books that you can borrow during first year. Most of the first year books that are "required" are really useless. Everyone told me not to buy the books, but of course I ignored them all, and I bout practically every book. I will actually be selling them used next year, so you can buy them used for cheaper from an upperclassman. My advice would be not to buy them at all, but I didn't listen to anyone about that and a lotof my classmates wouldn't listen to anyone about that, so I don't think that I could say anything here to convince you not to buy all the books if you are convinced that you need "required" books. If you do buy every required book from the book store, brand new, you will probably spend ~1,200 on them all during first year. Your big sib or another second year will tell you what books you really "need" though, and i would highly recommend that you listen to them. I actually didn't even learn from my bad experience with books during first year and wasted all this money on "required books" that I never touched for second year too .

There are some people in my class that live in their old apartment from the Hopkins undergrad and just commute, it's not that bad of a commute, but parking is a hassle. Parking in the student parking garage is 3.75 per day, and is a block and a half away from the lecture hall, so you should factor that into your cost of living off campus/ travel time.

Let me know if you guys have any other questions about Maryland. Hope you all decide to come here, it's a really good school and a good deal financially for in-staters and out-of-staters.

 

[Coalboy]

•••quote:•••the area north of the jhu undergrad campus has a lot of decent housing, it would be a bit of a drive to the medical school, but i know of one guy who is at maryland and lives in that area.••••Yeah, that area (Charles Village) is pretty nice, but also has its urban crime problems, though not as bad as the area around the med school. It shouldn't take but about ten minutes to get to the UMB campus from there.

•••quote:•••I actually felt like I was in Orange County, CA in some places</font>•••Wow, I've lived here forever, and I've never seen that place.

 

[conrad]

Fells Point isn't too bad though on Friday and Saturday night it's a huge party scene... They don't take breaks for Monday tests!

Federal Hill is reasonably close to campus (20 minute walk, 5 minute by car), quiet, and has some nice places to eat and coffee shops. It has an older crowd (ie, young families, professionals, etc.) than Fells Point.

If you're willing to drive to campus and want to live in the suburbs which tends to be safer and quieter, Glen Burnie or Catonsville are reasonable choices. Glen Burnie is about 10 minutes away from school on 295, which drops you off right on campus; Catonsville is about 10 minutes away on I-95 and I-695. There tends to be less traffic (relatively) on 295 than on 95/695 during rush hour...

 

[DrStacey69]

I agree with Conrad. Federal Hill is a nice area, much safer than East Baltimore (where the Hopkins Medical Campus is) and cheaper than Fell's Point. Canton is also a beautiful area, but my understanding is that the rents are rising. Still, it's definitely worth checking out. Catonsville and Glen Burnie are also very nice, and not far away at all.

I lived in East Baltimore when I was in grad school at Hopkins. Avoid this area at all costs. There is a reason why rents are so cheap -the neighborhood sucks. My dorm was directly across the street from Hopkins Hospital, which is the safest part of East Baltimore, and still I often heard gunshots.

It's better to pay a little more per month in rent in exchange for peace of mind. Believe me.

Good luck!

 

[oldman]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by DrStacey69:
•I lived in East Baltimore when I was in grad school at Hopkins. •••••what did you do for grad school? i suppose you were in a graduate program at the medical campus?