WashU (wustl) Class of 2012! Forum

[gk101]

anyone still going up for the next housing day? I know Ill be up that wed-fri so I think a wed/thurs meetup may be in order...

I'll be there. I think people at the one in June went to Cicero's in the Loop and I liked that place when I visited earlier this year so that's an idea. I'd basically be down for whatever Thursday though.

I just made a post about this on the facebook group.

Cicero's was really good. Also check out the Eclipse bar at Moonrise rooftop. You guys would probably need to get your hotels booked sooner too since the housing day is right before the All star weekend.

[steindle]

Hope all of my Financial Aid stuff has been received...I'm pretty confident that it has, but I email the FinAid office so frequently that I'm afraid to do it again just to confirm this, lest they start thinking I am dangerously insane.

[ShaBam84]

anyone still going up for the next housing day? I know Ill be up that wed-fri so I think a wed/thurs meetup may be in order...

I'll be there. I think people at the one in June went to Cicero's in the Loop and I liked that place when I visited earlier this year so that's an idea. I'd basically be down for whatever Thursday though.

I just made a post about this on the facebook group.

Cicero's was really good. Also check out the Eclipse bar at Moonrise rooftop. You guys would probably need to get your hotels booked sooner too since the housing day is right before the All star weekend.

It was really good, but don't be fooled by St. Louis style pizza. Thinnest crap pizza I have ever had!

[rch0013]

I had reserved an apartment at Loop Lofts near campus. $800/month all utilities covered. I am now, however, no longer going to WUSTL. Anyone interested in sub-letting it please PM me and we can work something out.

[steindle]

It was really good, but don't be fooled by St. Louis style pizza. Thinnest crap pizza I have ever had!

My fiance and I tried this stuff while we were visiting in May. She liked it a lot, actually...I thought it was fine but not stellar.

Unfortunately we didn't end up getting it from (the infamous) Imo's, since we WAITED NINETY FREAKING MINUTES FOR THEM TO DELIVER (from 5 blocks away Downtown) before incredulously canceling the order and going to some bar down the street. Thinking about this has actually given me renewed anger.

[Lawrence]

It was really good, but don't be fooled by St. Louis style pizza. Thinnest crap pizza I have ever had!

My fiance and I tried this stuff while we were visiting in May. She liked it a lot, actually...I thought it was fine but not stellar.

Unfortunately we didn't end up getting it from (the infamous) Imo's, since we WAITED NINETY FREAKING MINUTES FOR THEM TO DELIVER (from 5 blocks away Downtown) before incredulously canceling the order and going to some bar down the street. Thinking about this has actually given me renewed anger.

Having grown up in St. Louis I feel like you can't beat the thin crust pizza. Maybe it's a St. Louis thing, but I've never met someone from here who didn't like Imo's Pizza.

[dpburm]

the new student survival guide is up on the admitted student site...just a heads up

[steindle]

the new student survival guide is up on the admitted student site...just a heads up

Hmm. That was a bit anticlimactic after reading the 2006 version or whatever . Oh well.

[Leeroy Jenkins]

the new student survival guide is up on the admitted student site...just a heads up

Hmm. That was a bit anticlimactic after reading the 2006 version or whatever . Oh well.

is there a huge diff between the two?

[steindle]

the new student survival guide is up on the admitted student site...just a heads up

Hmm. That was a bit anticlimactic after reading the 2006 version or whatever . Oh well.

is there a huge diff between the two?

I didn't notice any difference at all. Presumably the emergency/restaurant/etc listings have been updated?

[pumpkincrepes]

For those of you heading in for housing days, as long as you're going to Cicero's, you absolutely need to go to Blueberry Hill. It's just a little further down Delmar. This bar will be overrun with UGs during the year, but it's summer right now and Blue Hill is Chuck Berry's place, and a classic St. Louis experience.

[ArsenalGunner]

Did anyone notice that the first day of class date is off...Monday aug 26th? Aug 26th is a wednesday...so do we start school on the 26th or on a monday? Also current student how much do you budget per semester for books??

[Broy4mvp]

First day of class is Wednesday, August 26.

http://law.wustl.edu/registrar/academic ... ersion.pdf

[rhit2004]

Also current student how much do you budget per semester for books??

Last fall my total for books was $640.13 - That included new contracts books, new books for Legal Practice, new Legal Research Methodologies book, used property, and used torts.

That figure will vary depending on professor (some contracts sections had one book whereas we had three) and the availability of used books. I think my section was on the high end of the spectrum.

[gk101]

Is orientation for WashU unusually long (Aug 17th - Aug 25th)? What exactly are we going to do in 7 days of orientation?

[Leeroy Jenkins]

Is orientation for WashU unusually long (Aug 17th - Aug 25th)? What exactly are we going to do in 7 days of orientation?

Guessing it looks something like this: --LinkRemoved--

[steindle]

So what realistically are we going to have to live on, per month (if we take the full loan amount available), keeping in mind potential excess book money, etc? And what methods did previous students use to make sure that they were budgeting it effectively, taking into account potential problems/unexpected costs, etc?

I just ask because I have a few costs that other students may not (foremost a freakin' wedding but also car payment/insurance, renters' insurance, etc), so I'm trying to get a good idea of how much belt-tightening will be necessary.

P.S. To recap my previous posts on this subject, now that we're getting closer to this being an actuality:

Yeah, room/board + personal/misc = $17k together. So unless I'm missing something, that's kind of like receiving approximately $24k gross income before taxes...and since this is only intended to last the 9 months of school, we can say it's really the equivalent of more than $32k/yr, or about $1,888/mo.

In Pittsburgh I can live on $33k very comfortably, and that includes having a good deal of debt already. According to the COL Comparison Calculator, "A salary of $33,000 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania could decrease to $31,335 in St. Louis, Missouri." And, once again, Pittsburgh is already an unbelievably easy place to stay afloat. And St. Louis is...easier.

So when COL is taken into account, in effect I am actually getting a "raise" of about $1k/yr gross from the school/government.

That's how I like to rationalize it to myself anyway.

I think that my view is a little skewed because taxes in my city and county are higher than the national averages, but yes...I actually take home 74.3% of my gross income. Extrapolated to the situation of receiving an untaxed $17k, that would be equivalent to making $22,863 before taxes for me. So my math was a little off, but not by that far.

Divided by 9 (months of school) and multiplied by 12 (months in a year), to me that living stipend is essentially equivalent to receiving a $30,484 yearly salary. That's peanuts compared to what a lot of people make, but it's certainly not a pittance. And St. Louis is, amazingly, 5% cheaper than the already stupid-cheap Pittsburgh -- so in "Pittsburgh dollars," that $30.5k comes out to $32,103. In other words, at the (perfectly comfortable) salary that I have now, I will be taking a $897 yearly pay cut.

Am I basically right about this, or am I missing some obvious key? It seems insane that I should be able to maintain my current lifestyle while living entirely on loans in school, but that's what these stats are telling me.

[seatown12]

Is orientation for WashU unusually long (Aug 17th - Aug 25th)? What exactly are we going to do in 7 days of orientation?

Here's last year's schedule: [EDIT: Lxw's link (LinkRemoved) is better]. Looks like it's all half days so we'll have plenty of time to demonstrate our professionalism. I'm thinking beer pong tournament/barbeque one of those days depending on where I end up living.

[gk101]

Is orientation for WashU unusually long (Aug 17th - Aug 25th)? What exactly are we going to do in 7 days of orientation?

Here's last year's schedule: [EDIT: Lxw's link is better]. Looks like it's all half days so we'll have plenty of time to demonstrate our professionalism. I'm thinking beer pong tournament/barbeque one of those days depending on where I end up living.

yeah I just saw that. 7 days looked intense but I guess half days aren't that bad. time to get my liver in shape

[Leeroy Jenkins]

So what realistically are we going to have to live on, per month (if we take the full loan amount available), keeping in mind potential excess book money, etc? And what methods did previous students use to make sure that they were budgeting it effectively, taking into account potential problems/unexpected costs, etc?

I just ask because I have a few costs that other students may not (foremost a freakin' wedding but also car payment/insurance, renters' insurance, etc), so I'm trying to get a good idea of how much belt-tightening will be necessary.

From my calculations, I currently live on ~$1k/month (rent+food), so call that $10k for 9 months (or $13k for the year). Budget books at $2k for the year, and tuition is ~$41k. So I'm that's around $55k for the school year. I think you can take out $65-70k in loans, so that leaves $10-15k for discretionary purposes (like a car!). I have no idea how much it costs to have a car, but luckily I'll only be paying gas, parking and insurance on that front, and I don't really see that going over $2k for a year.

yeah I just saw that. 7 days looked intense but I guess half days aren't that bad. time to get my liver in shape

this reminds me, I have all this booze left over from my friend's wedding. I should probably start working on it at some point

[steindle]

P.P.S. It might seem that I am thinking about finances a little obsessively, but I am pretty precariously perched right now in that respect so I need to be 100% certain that this is doable.

Here's a basic budget, assuming that the only cash we have on hand will be loan money (thankfully not entirely the case for me).

We receive $17k of room&board/personal cash for the semester. That comes out to $1,888.89, which I will round up to $1,900.

$1,900 (to start)
-$400 (rent)
=============
$1,500
-$150 (food)
=============
$1,350
-$75 (gas, on average)
-$30 (electric, average)
-$30 (internet)
-$60 (phone)
=============
$1,155
-$130 (car payment)
-$125 (car/rental insurance)
=============
$900

I must be missing something...it just seems insane that the loans you can take out allow $900 in essentially discretionary spending each month. I mean...assuming that you never ever go out or do anything .

[AndrewD]

Just joined the Facebook group. Look forward to gunning the crap out of all of you.

Kidding. Laid back guy, just hoping the stress doesn't get to me too much y'know?

[Leeroy Jenkins]

.

[buslaw4302]

Looking at your numbers, it seems like you may need to adjust your budget a bit. Food costs are considerably more than $150 for a month, based on your numbers at 3 meals a day for a month would total about $1.67 per meal...

You also aren't considering that each disbursement also has about 3-4% deducted from the top as well as "loan fees"...

Also $400 per month for rent may also be tough considering you will also be parking a car and $400 isn't quite St. Louis average rent.

But I do agree and I definitely do appreciate a higher than necessary budget-- would you rather be short and concentrate on having to make rent or take out a bit in excess, not worry, and just adjust future disbursements...

[bigdtrain]

I have had this same conversation over and over with myself. I think there are a certain amount of expenses that may come up throughout the year that a couple extra K (budgeted for) will prove useful. Think about a lost cell phone, immediate need to take your laptop in for service, getting a suit tailored, the need to escape for a weekend mid semester to relax, extra cost for finals when you might eat out more and have less time to cook, etc.

Also though to be fair to Steindle are you also considering your food costs to be lower bc you are living with a SO? The same would go for anyone living with a roomy. My .02