Columbia Class of 2016 Forum

[francesfarmer]

Is everyone here living on campus?

Disclaimer: I'm still class of 2017.

[StillIll]

I think it's more that with three people in an apartment share they collectively end up paying 3x more for internet than a person in a single, because it's not like you get any "more" internet by having each individual pay a full ethernet fee.

In other words, it's lame that the ethernet fee is not divided into thirds for each member of the apartment share.

Perhaps bogging down / saturation has something to do with it too. I hope the connections are strong enough to support 3 peeps.

Yeah, that's sort of what I meant --I think they were also saying that because their apartment was larger (this was a 3 bedroom) there were certain areas where the signal wasn't as good. So maybe it's more about the size of the apartment rather than the number of people using it. Oh well. We'll see.

For sure. Which apartments did you end up in?

A 3 bedroom share on W. 111th. It's just over $1,000 and my bedroom is a decent size so I'm pretty pleased.

Cool. That's about the price of mine. What's your sqr footage? (not trying to pry, just genuinely curious... you don't have to share if you don't wanna ^^)

[StillIll]

Is everyone here living on campus?

Disclaimer: I'm still class of 2017.

Deferred? Or wishful / optimist thinker?

[ph5354a]

Nope. I'm sure headlines get an awesome click rate when they say "STUDENT LOAN RATES SET TO DOUBLE", but that doesn't seem to really be the case. Still though, it's adversely affecting the lowest income students, so definitely a major issue.

--LinkRemoved--

It's definitely a major issue, I agree. I just didn't realize I wouldn't be directly affected.

Yeah, I didn't either until I read an article about it. The headlines/tweets regarding it were very misleading.

[ph5354a]

For sure. Which apartments did you end up in?

A 3 bedroom share on W. 111th. It's just over $1,000 and my bedroom is a decent size so I'm pretty pleased.

Cool. That's about the price of mine. What's your sqr footage? (not trying to pry, just genuinely curious... you don't have to share if you don't wanna ^^)

My bedroom is about 11x14 --not sure about the whole apt. but the living room is 10x17 and kitchen is 17x7 so a good size. Honestly, just escaping the cluster fuck of the NYC rental market was huge for me, they could have put me in a cardboard box and I would've been thrilled.

[francesfarmer]

Is everyone here living on campus?

Disclaimer: I'm still class of 2017.

Deferred? Or wishful / optimist thinker?

Deferred. Ha.

[StillIll]

For sure. Which apartments did you end up in?

A 3 bedroom share on W. 111th. It's just over $1,000 and my bedroom is a decent size so I'm pretty pleased.

Cool. That's about the price of mine. What's your sqr footage? (not trying to pry, just genuinely curious... you don't have to share if you don't wanna ^^)

My bedroom is about 11x14 --not sure about the whole apt. but the living room is 10x17 and kitchen is 17x7 so a good size. Honestly, just escaping the cluster fuck of the NYC rental market was huge for me, they could have put me in a cardboard box and I would've been thrilled.

I have no experience trying to rent anywhere even remotely comparable to NYC, so I think that's a great point... more than happy to have it settled for me. I'm excited. What do CLS folks usually do for years 2 and 3? Stick with the UAH? Or branch out into the jungle that is NYC renting?

[StillIll]

Is everyone here living on campus?

Disclaimer: I'm still class of 2017.

Deferred? Or wishful / optimist thinker?

Deferred. Ha.

Right on man. Cool plans for this next year?

[ph5354a]

My bedroom is about 11x14 --not sure about the whole apt. but the living room is 10x17 and kitchen is 17x7 so a good size. Honestly, just escaping the cluster fuck of the NYC rental market was huge for me, they could have put me in a cardboard box and I would've been thrilled.

I have no experience trying to rent anywhere even remotely comparable to NYC, so I think that's a great point... more than happy to have it settled for me. I'm excited. What do CLS folks usually do for years 2 and 3? Stick with the UAH? Or branch out into the jungle that is NYC renting?

Not sure! I know more than a few people, both law school and other grad students, that stayed there for the whole time. With the price/convenience, I'll probably try to do the same. I believe you're even allowed to stay there the summer after 3L while studying for the bar, but I would have to confirm that.

[francesfarmer]

Is everyone here living on campus?

Disclaimer: I'm still class of 2017.

Deferred? Or wishful / optimist thinker?

Deferred. Ha.

Right on man. Cool plans for this next year?

I'm just working and stuff! Waiting for the economy to get better. I've been out of school for a long time which is cool.

I fear I will be the only person who lives off campus as a 1L.

P.S. I am a lady

[StillIll]

Deferred? Or wishful / optimist thinker?

Deferred. Ha.

Right on man. Cool plans for this next year?

I'm just working and stuff! Waiting for the economy to get better. I've been out of school for a long time which is cool.

I fear I will be the only person who lives off campus as a 1L.

P.S. I am a lady

Hahah oops! Pardon me ma'm. Deferring is a pretty cool option that I would definitely have considered if I had a real job to tie me over / help reduce future loan amounts. With CLS on the horizon too, very cool. What's the reason for off campus living? ... do you already live in NYC?

[francesfarmer]

Hahah oops! Pardon me ma'm. Deferring is a pretty cool option that I would definitely have considered if I had a real job to tie me over / help reduce future loan amounts. With CLS on the horizon too, very cool. What's the reason for off campus living? ... do you already live in NYC?

Yeah, but I will have to leave my neighborhood to be closer to the school. On-campus housing is really nice but it's much more than I am willing to pay. You guys are making me jealous though!

[smdpnp]

Well, this is annoying. I just logged into SSOL to find my checklist wiped clean. Does anyone else have to resubmit their health and loan documents?

[StillIll]

Hahah oops! Pardon me ma'm. Deferring is a pretty cool option that I would definitely have considered if I had a real job to tie me over / help reduce future loan amounts. With CLS on the horizon too, very cool. What's the reason for off campus living? ... do you already live in NYC?

Yeah, but I will have to leave my neighborhood to be closer to the school. On-campus housing is really nice but it's much more than I am willing to pay. You guys are making me jealous though!

Can you find housing in the immediate (or at least an easily commutable distance) area that is cheaper than a grand per month? With utilities + internet factored in? I admit I am totally clueless to the NYC renting climate. But if so, I'd probably look to do that 2L and 3L to save $$

[francesfarmer]

Hahah oops! Pardon me ma'm. Deferring is a pretty cool option that I would definitely have considered if I had a real job to tie me over / help reduce future loan amounts. With CLS on the horizon too, very cool. What's the reason for off campus living? ... do you already live in NYC?

Yeah, but I will have to leave my neighborhood to be closer to the school. On-campus housing is really nice but it's much more than I am willing to pay. You guys are making me jealous though!

Can you find housing in the immediate (or at least an easily commutable distance) area that is cheaper than a grand per month? With utilities + internet factored in? I admit I am totally clueless to the NYC renting climate. But if so, I'd probably look to do that 2L and 3L to save $$

Yeah, totally, if you're willing to live in a neighborhood that people don't think is "nice," which I definitely am.

[francesfarmer]

Well, this is annoying. I just logged into SSOL to find my checklist wiped clean. Does anyone else have to resubmit their health and loan documents?

Did the school tell you to resubmit? I would check with them if it's a hassle.

[smdpnp]

Well, this is annoying. I just logged into SSOL to find my checklist wiped clean. Does anyone else have to resubmit their health and loan documents?

Did the school tell you to resubmit? I would check with them if it's a hassle.

It took a while, but I finally reached a human. SSOL got updated for the next billing cycle, so that might have reset my checklist. No need to resubmit anything from this end

[jbagelboy]

For sure. Which apartments did you end up in?

A 3 bedroom share on W. 111th. It's just over $1,000 and my bedroom is a decent size so I'm pretty pleased.

Cool. That's about the price of mine. What's your sqr footage? (not trying to pry, just genuinely curious... you don't have to share if you don't wanna ^^)

My bedroom is about 11x14 --not sure about the whole apt. but the living room is 10x17 and kitchen is 17x7 so a good size. Honestly, just escaping the cluster fuck of the NYC rental market was huge for me, they could have put me in a cardboard box and I would've been thrilled.

sounds like a great deal. I'm paying a ton more on 116th, altho its a 1BDR

[Monochromatic Oeuvre]

All of this talk about everyone's awesome apartments is super-depressing. The only housing people I've heard from are the ones in Charlottesville whom I apparently owe over a thousand bucks for an apartment I never set foot in. Meanwhile, exactly a week since I sent my housing app and...nothing. Even as other people are apparently getting housed within a couple hours. How many people could the housing department possibly be trying to place in July?

I'm going to email Juliana Utley and ask if she gets a super-specific flu that only manifests itself when trying to handle my app, or if I'm on some NSA "do not rent" database, or if my family's life would be in danger if I received any sort of update as to what might be happening.

[StillIll]

LOL. I'm sure you'll hear soon man. But to think we thought we were done with byzantine application processes after we got off this waitlist.

The UVA stuff sounds icky. I was lucky - UCLA refunded almost all (minus a couple hundred bucks) of a twelve-hundred dollar housing deposit I put down there.

[309020]

Nope. I'm sure headlines get an awesome click rate when they say "STUDENT LOAN RATES SET TO DOUBLE", but that doesn't seem to really be the case. Still though, it's adversely affecting the lowest income students, so definitely a major issue.

--LinkRemoved--

It's definitely a major issue, I agree. I just didn't realize I wouldn't be directly affected.

Yeah, I didn't either until I read an article about it. The headlines/tweets regarding it were very misleading.

As I understand it, there are some ways this could go that would affect us. The House and Senate Republicans (separately) and Obama have plans that would tie subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford and PLUS loans to the Treasury rate. This seems bad in the long run because as the economy continues to grow, so would rates, but right now, they would be less than the 6.8% and 7.9% we've been promised. Here's my source for those who want to check the receipts: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/won ... rate-hike/

[ph5354a]

Yeah, this is why I went with a fixed rate private loan.

[untar614]

Yeah, this is why I went with a fixed rate private loan.

What rate is your private loan at?

I've considered it, but also concerned it all goes to hell, private loans aren't IBR/PAYE eligible. What I may do is wait til I graduate, then once I have some legit income, then get a private loan to pay off my federal loans. It's 3 years of interest for the first year, which isn't great, but not the worst thing in the world.

[ph5354a]

Yeah, this is why I went with a fixed rate private loan.

What rate is your private loan at?

I've considered it, but also concerned it all goes to hell, private loans aren't IBR/PAYE eligible. What I may do is wait til I graduate, then once I have some legit income, then get a private loan to pay off my federal loans. It's 3 years of interest for the first year, which isn't great, but not the worst thing in the world.

Yeah that's not a bad idea. The only thing I would wonder about is what the interest rates are on personal loans at that point, since you'll no longer be eligible for student loans. My interest rate is 6.79% for my private loan. I'm still doing the Stafford though, so a decent chunk of my total debt will be federal loans. With my UG loans, it works out to about half federal, half private. I also liked not having origination fees with the private loan, plus they have a 2% graduation reward (you get 2% of your principal back either in a debit account or applied to your payments).

[309020]

My interest rate is 6.79% for my private loan.

This is interesting to me. What bank/institution are you using? I looked into a couple of providers (without ever actually talking to anyone or using my information) but it looked like the rates were either fixed and higher than federal loans or variable with really high limits that I wouldn't risk. It's a done deal for this year, I suppose, but I'd be interested in it next year, perhaps. I'm not likely to go for a LRAP qualifying job, so I'm not stuck with the feds. Although my mother was worried about cosigning any private loans with me because if I then died, my parents would still be liable for all the money. At least the feds forgive the loans if you die.