Hey, I did it last summer... It was honestly a pain in the ass to find housing. I searched Craigslist for weeks w/o any luck and then luckily got in contact w/ 2 other people from the program through email....we ended up sharing an apartment at a short-term rental place called Canterbury Ct. The rental had to be for 3 months, but by splitting it b/w the three of us it was less then 2 grand a person (this was splitting a one bedroom w/ 3 people though...I slept in the living room). RIC is in one of the nicest areas of Chicago....so anything near it will be very expensive. If you don't mind commuting a decent distance you can probably find something cheaper...but it will likely involve searching craigslist. You can also try going through Northwesterns grad housing website, but by the time I found out that I got into the program there was nothing left available to sublet through that. If you have any friends in the Chicago area you should seriously try to work out living arangments with them. Besides myself and my roommates, only 1 out of the 10 externs found a place on their own...the rest went to school in the area or stayed w/ friends.
If you get in it will be well worth it to do whatever you have to do to find housing....it was a great experience.
Hope that helps...feel free to PM w/ me any other questions if you want to
Edit: about the broke part...you do get paid a salary that should be plenty to live on for the 8 weeks....I prob shouldn't post the exact amount on the public forum though...so ask me if you're curious.
