Need advice from Current UCSD students

[Vacant]

Thanks for opening.
I need your practical advice on the followings:

- Apartments good for studio/1bed rental (since most likely I won't get the on-campus housing by Aug). Near or around campus.

- how's the parking situation on campus? how much? Better take a shuttle bus?

- Do I have to get a new computer meeting the requirements? For a laptop that's around $2k.

- Text books for 1 yr/ 1 semester? Which to get, which to pass?

Thanks Alot. And see you all in fall.

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[zephyr_97]

Since I don't see other replies, I'll take a stab (the MS1s and MS2s have a test tomorrow...)

1) La Jolla is a rather expensive area, so a single/studio near campus would run $1200-1400, unless you live on campus housing (single grads $400 to slightly better La Mesa $400 or Del Sol $550). I hope you had put yourself on campus-housing waitlist. If not, do so now and most likely you can get a place come end of Aug).

2) the parking costs about $213 a quarter and the lots are fairly close to campus (walking distance ~5min). Some students do take shuttles or buses but most students drive.

3) there is a loan for computer purchase of up to 2k, and as far as I can tell, there is no reinforcement of rule (I'm MS2 and it has been a while). If you have a working computer, that should be fine.

4) books, ask your big sib (you're assigned one when the school starts). I made the mistake of purchasing books and hardly use them; mostly the syllabus provides more than enough info so textbooks are just for background/additional reading.

Hope this helps. Good luck. Ok, back to studying...

 

[sdnstud]

How do i get on the housing wait-list? I am currently in the "acceptable pool" hoping to be accepted any day before aug

 

[Newquagmire]

you can't.

1) i agree with the above assessment that housing here is expensive. my best advice for affordable yet comfortable housing is the mesa apartments. del sol is nice too, but a bit farther away and more expensive (i'm almost certain a 1br costs about $1100)

2) for the grad student spots (the closest available ones to the med school), it's about $700 a year. difficult to find a spot if you don't show up for 8 am class. the shuttle is decent and extremely reliable, but a lot of people dont want the hassle in the morning.

3) no, there are computers available for you on-campus if you don't have one that can access pdfs, powerpoints, and run proxy server protocols.

4) some people buy books, but i have only purchased a single lab notebook. the profs put together syllabi of lecture notes and slides that (almost always) suffice as textbooks. some people pool together, buy one syllabus, and break copyright laws to photocopy at kinko's for cheaper. i'm pretty sure the rate of people buying "recommended textbooks" has dropped precipitously since the beginning of school.

 

[Vacant]

Thank you, guys for taking your time to respond during your exam period!
Very helpful. I did sign up for campus housing back in Oct last year when I got accepted. I truly hope that I will get one in Aug!!!

 

[Newquagmire]

glad to be of service. because you're not incoming until this summer at the earliest, the housing offices probably take that into account when they make offers. i believe the undergrads just finished their housing process. welcome to fun in the sun.

 

[Vacant]

4) some people buy books, but i have only purchased a single lab notebook. the profs put together syllabi of lecture notes and slides that (almost always) suffice as textbooks. some people pool together, buy one syllabus, and break copyright laws to photocopy at kinko's for cheaper. i'm pretty sure the rate of people buying "recommended textbooks" has dropped precipitously since the beginning of school.

How much are the syllabi? Must be expensive that some of you have to make copies.

 

[Newquagmire]

How much are the syllabi? Must be expensive that some of you have to make copies.

they're supposedly sold "at cost" plus ucsd bookstore tariffs. from what i've seen so far, they run from $30 to $70, the latter being for a ~2000 page Organ Phys syllabus.

i don't find that particularly unfair since the textbooks i was supposed to be using in undergrad cost $20 per paperback and $150 per hardcover. also, instead of taking 5+ classes as an undergrad, we're only taking 1 to 3 significant classes at any given time (which also cuts costs a bit).