Columbia Law School 2012! Forum

[Lem37]

which banks are you guys signing up for? I remember this being posted in one of the Columbia threads but I can't find it.

lex and I talked about it a bunch in this thread, I think. I decided on Chase and I think she was talking about Citibank.

Pros for Chase for me were:
Getting a Chase rewards credit card with $50 reward for signing up and being able to link that easily to a free Chase checking acct
Chase ATMs all over campus and at every Duane Reade

I'm sure Lex can tell you more, but I think two of the big pros for her for Citibank were no fee ATM withdrawals at any ATM and lots of Citibank ATMs in Manhattan. I can't remember what her other ones were....

FWIW I'm also maintaining my existing B of A acct because i already have a credit card/checking/savings with them.

Chase also gives you discounts on MTA cards.

[06132010]

gracias. I have an M & T bank account because it's pretty much the only bank in Ithaca, so I definitely have to switch to a more widely accessible bank.

[frank_the_tank]

Just got back from the hospital...Looks like I only got the first of the MMR shots. Now I have to go find a clinic or something and get the second round

[Antipodean]

Just got back from the hospital...Looks like I only got the first of the MMR shots. Now I have to go find a clinic or something and get the second round

I hear you on that one. When I first came to the US for college, I couldn't find the records from my second MMR shot, so I had to get another. After graduating and coming back with my new visa, I couldn't find the records of either my second OR my third MMR shot, so I had to get another. Now that I'm enrolling at Columbia, I need to prove that I've had at least two MMR shots in my life. You can probably guess where I'm going here...

[SleekFire]

which banks are you guys signing up for? I remember this being posted in one of the Columbia threads but I can't find it.

lex and I talked about it a bunch in this thread, I think. I decided on Chase and I think she was talking about Citibank.

Pros for Chase for me were:
Getting a Chase rewards credit card with $50 reward for signing up and being able to link that easily to a free Chase checking acct
Chase ATMs all over campus and at every Duane Reade

I'm sure Lex can tell you more, but I think two of the big pros for her for Citibank were no fee ATM withdrawals at any ATM and lots of Citibank ATMs in Manhattan. I can't remember what her other ones were....

FWIW I'm also maintaining my existing B of A acct because i already have a credit card/checking/savings with them.

Chase also gives you discounts on MTA cards.

Really? Whats the discount?

[MeTalkPrettyOneDay]

Chase also gives you discounts on MTA cards.

Lem, did they extend this program? I thought it expired on 4/30 --LinkRemoved--

gracias. I have an M & T bank account because it's pretty much the only bank in Ithaca, so I definitely have to switch to a more widely accessible bank.

Gotta love those CNY banks, huh? Gotta use em up there, cause they're the only ones around... but can't use em anywhere else, cause they don't exist anywhere else.

[express01]

lil update for myself for those who are interested.

I panicked, I called, and a nice lady changed the move in date for me. I was really excited because 530 West 112th Street sounds pretty close to the law school.

--LinkRemoved-- <- After seeing this, however, my excitement quickly abated. Meh.

[Joan Manuel Serrat]

http://gslounge.com/node/684 <- After seeing this, however, my excitement quickly abated. Meh.

shit.

[Unemployed]

lil update for myself for those who are interested.

I panicked, I called, and a nice lady changed the move in date for me. I was really excited because 530 West 112th Street sounds pretty close to the law school.

--LinkRemoved-- <- After seeing this, however, my excitement quickly abated. Meh.

Looks like a typical NYC apartment that doesn't cost 2k+ a month, IMO

[Lem37]

lil update for myself for those who are interested.

I panicked, I called, and a nice lady changed the move in date for me. I was really excited because 530 West 112th Street sounds pretty close to the law school.

--LinkRemoved-- <- After seeing this, however, my excitement quickly abated. Meh.

That looks like...a typical NYC apartment. Kinda nice, actually.

Honestly, what were you expecting? That's actually pretty decent, considering what most New York apartments look like.

[acegikm]

Eh, it definitely looks grosser than the places I looked at at the admitted students' event. At least it's not the Arbor!

[acegikm]

Did everybody who received a housing offer also get a floorplan? I saw some posts where people said they got a floorplan with the email housing offer, but I didn't get one...just checking to see if I have to call UAH or something.

I didn't get one either. Any idea how we can get them? Or is it just a big surprise?

Don't know if either of you called UAH. I just did, and they said if we didn't get a floorplan, it's because one doesn't exist, and we can't know the dimensions, layout etc. until we move in. At least it's not the Arbor!

[SleekFire]

Haha....

This years motto?

"At least it's not the Arbor"

[Skadden Stairs]

Haha....

This years motto?

"At least it's not the Arbor"

And at least it's not NYU.

After browsing the NYU 2012 thread, some of their rents are upwards of 10K/semester. Jesus.

[aspasia]

lil update for myself for those who are interested.

I panicked, I called, and a nice lady changed the move in date for me. I was really excited because 530 West 112th Street sounds pretty close to the law school.

--LinkRemoved-- <- After seeing this, however, my excitement quickly abated. Meh.

I actually stayed in that building during ASD. It wasn't bad at all- typical for what you'd get for that price, I think, and not shiny new or anything, but the girls living there absolutely loved it. Minimal pest problems, their only minor complaint is that you have to go next door for laundry. Honestly, I'd say you lucked out! : )

Now if only I'd hear anything from UAH...

[Skadden Stairs]

In case anyone else was wondering,
Chase ATMs

vs. Citi ATMs

In case anyone else was wondering,

BofA ATMs??

Not sure about morningside heights, but in New York in general, Chase has the most ATMs in the most convenient locations. Anecdotally, between 46th street and 22nd street on 5th avenue (my old ride coming home late from work) there are no less than 10 (yes, 10) chase branches.

Also, not sure if the map above covers it, but all duane reades in the city (the most popular pharmacy) have chase ATMs in them.

The one problem is Chase doesn't have a lot of locations outside the city, but then again, either does Citi. Bank of America is relatively rare (relatively meaning 1 every 4 blocks, instead of 1 every 2)

I just don't really like BoA. They seem to have higher ATM fees than other banks (Citi doesn't have any on its student account, Chase does), and I'm just lazy enough to prefer to use a bank with ATMs 5 blocks closer.

hth.

[Lem37]

Chase also gives you discounts on MTA cards.

Lem, did they extend this program? I thought it expired on 4/30 --LinkRemoved--

gracias. I have an M & T bank account because it's pretty much the only bank in Ithaca, so I definitely have to switch to a more widely accessible bank.

Gotta love those CNY banks, huh? Gotta use em up there, cause they're the only ones around... but can't use em anywhere else, cause they don't exist anywhere else.

I'm pretty sure they'll start it up again soon. It was totally awesome. May I recommend now that, unless you don't plan on leaving campus much, you all think about getting a monthly subway pass from MTA?

[06132010]

thanks a lot, lex.

[yqsong]

Just got back from the hospital...Looks like I only got the first of the MMR shots. Now I have to go find a clinic or something and get the second round

I hear you on that one. When I first came to the US for college, I couldn't find the records from my second MMR shot, so I had to get another. After graduating and coming back with my new visa, I couldn't find the records of either my second OR my third MMR shot, so I had to get another. Now that I'm enrolling at Columbia, I need to prove that I've had at least two MMR shots in my life. You can probably guess where I'm going here...

lol....or you can just order a blood test to prove that you had two shots..

my doc asked me 25 bucks for filling out the form, or well

[cameltaur]

gracias. I have an M & T bank account because it's pretty much the only bank in Ithaca, so I definitely have to switch to a more widely accessible bank.

I have M&T as well; it was the most convenient considering I lived across the street from the Collegetown branch and could go to the one in Willard Straight whenever I was on campus. I was thinking of getting B of A, but it seems like Citi or Chase may be a better call? I'm just going to figure it out when I move in, and there are like 8 or 10 M&T branches in Manhattan to hold me over. One is at 125th and Lenox which is easily walkable from Columbia (during the day...), so i'll probably just go there to close my account, etc.

[jessicaw]

Speaking of banking options,

I've read great things about e-banking. Has anybody delt with ING Direct? I'm considering getting both an online savings and checking account through them. The interest rates on both accounts are much better than on a comparable chase account, there are no fees or minimum balances and they offer free transactions at Allpoint ATMS. You dont get a physical checkbook, but they do provide a service where you can sign paper checks online and they will send them the next day. Here is a link to the checking account: http://home.ingdirect.com/products/products.asp?s=EOHP#

CHASE seems decent, but their puny interest rates annoy me. They do have ATMs everywhere, though... maybe its a good idea to get an online savings account and link it to a CHASE checking account?

Just some thoughts on the banking stuffs.

oh and... TWO MONTHS UNTIL COLUMBIA WHAT WHAT!!

[frank_the_tank]

Did anyone do the entrance interview for student loans yet? WTF..umm..giant waste of time

[Skadden Stairs]

Did anyone do the entrance interview for student loans yet? WTF..umm..giant waste of time

We do those during orientation?


BTW, does anyone know what the orientation schedule looks like? I looked over Penn's, and they have a bar crawl and phillies game scheduled...

[frank_the_tank]

Did anyone do the entrance interview for student loans yet? WTF..umm..giant waste of time

We do those during orientation?


BTW, does anyone know what the orientation schedule looks like? I looked over Penn's, and they have a bar crawl and phillies game scheduled...

nah we do it online sucka. and P.S. it is really retarded and unnecessary

[06132010]

Did anyone do the entrance interview for student loans yet? WTF..umm..giant waste of time

where do we do that?