SMU 2010! Forum

[kalvano]

Here's one for you Dallas residents: which electric company is the best (least expensive) option?

Compare for yourself.

--LinkRemoved--

[Billy Batts]

Here's one for you Dallas residents: which electric company is the best (least expensive) option?

Compare for yourself.

--LinkRemoved--

Nice - thanks.

[tinyone]

Can anyone who lives in Dallas now give me a rough estimate on the total cost of bills per month for a 1 bed/bath? Electric, gas, TV/phone...the whole package? I'm just trying to figure out my max. rent.

[leraa6587]

Can anyone who lives in Dallas now give me a rough estimate on the total cost of bills per month for a 1 bed/bath? Electric, gas, TV/phone...the whole package? I'm just trying to figure out my max. rent.

on my phone... Dallas is mainly a commuter city. If you want more for your money but not nec. cheaper look for housing along the north tx tollway corridor. If you want more and cheaper look towards I75 but be warned about traffic. Undergrad housing would put you at $1000 or less per month (includes groceries, bills, etc) but it will be more noisy, busy etc. For a nice 1 br apt close to campus you're looking at $1000 easily. A bit of a commute and the price drops. I would also look into some home rentals in highland park with a realtor. Sorry, but Dallas isn't hurting much in terms of housing and the economy. I'll fix typos later on real comp.

[tinyone]

Can anyone who lives in Dallas now give me a rough estimate on the total cost of bills per month for a 1 bed/bath? Electric, gas, TV/phone...the whole package? I'm just trying to figure out my max. rent.

on my phone... Dallas is mainly a commuter city. If you want more for your money but not nec. cheaper look for housing along the north tx tollway corridor. If you want more and cheaper look towards I75 but be warned about traffic. Undergrad housing would put you at $1000 or less per month (includes groceries, bills, etc) but it will be more noisy, busy etc. For a nice 1 br apt close to campus you're looking at $1000 easily. A bit of a commute and the price drops. I would also look into some home rentals in highland park with a realtor. Sorry, but Dallas isn't hurting much in terms of housing and the economy. I'll fix typos later on real comp.

Sorry I need to clarify. I am looking at 1 bed/bath in Uptown. I already have several properties that I am considering and just need to know how much I should budget for gas, water, electric and TV/internet. So I am looking for feedback on the cost of bills only. I am guessing $250, but was hoping to get some feedback.

[bonnieblue]

Can anyone who lives in Dallas now give me a rough estimate on the total cost of bills per month for a 1 bed/bath? Electric, gas, TV/phone...the whole package? I'm just trying to figure out my max. rent.

on my phone... Dallas is mainly a commuter city. If you want more for your money but not nec. cheaper look for housing along the north tx tollway corridor. If you want more and cheaper look towards I75 but be warned about traffic. Undergrad housing would put you at $1000 or less per month (includes groceries, bills, etc) but it will be more noisy, busy etc. For a nice 1 br apt close to campus you're looking at $1000 easily. A bit of a commute and the price drops. I would also look into some home rentals in highland park with a realtor. Sorry, but Dallas isn't hurting much in terms of housing and the economy. I'll fix typos later on real comp.

Sorry I need to clarify. I am looking at 1 bed/bath in Uptown. I already have several properties that I am considering and just need to know how much I should budget for gas, water, electric and TV/internet. So I am looking for feedback on the cost of bills only. I am guessing $250, but was hoping to get some feedback.

I'm not sure how it would work in Dallas, but I know many of the nicer complexes down here in Austin often will include cable and internet. I know all the Jefferson (JPI) properties down here do and I know they have plenty of complexes in Dallas

[kalvano]

Sorry I need to clarify. I am looking at 1 bed/bath in Uptown. I already have several properties that I am considering and just need to know how much I should budget for gas, water, electric and TV/internet. So I am looking for feedback on the cost of bills only. I am guessing $250, but was hoping to get some feedback.

It almost certainly won't be gas, just electric. Your electric bills will spike. $90 or so in the winter, but it could easily be $200 in the summer when it's been over 100 degree for the 18th straight day. Most electric companies here offer an "average billing" option, which is cool because you overpay in the winter, but it evens out in the summer. It's nice having the same amount billed each month. Anyway, I would figure $150 just to be safe.

Water, probably $40 or so.

TV / Internet is up to you. If Verizon FiOS or AT&T U-Verse service the area, which I bet one does, you can usually get a package deal of fiber-optic internet and TV for around $100 a month. It's pretty good.

So there you go. I would figure on $300 to be safe, but of course, you can cut back on TV or something. Though it'd be worth $50 to me.

[wellington]

Depending on where you are, I know people who just have internet (the best choice, IMO, with streaming sites/netflix) for around 35 bucks a month. And a lot of the apartment complexes have antennas on the buildings that pick up 20+ OTA stations. I'm planning on doing just that, unless I can find a house to rent for cheap.

[justsmu10]

So, another week comes and goes without a status change. On a positive note, we should all know something within the next 4 weeks...unless SMU chooses to extend their "by the end of April" deadline.

[JMBrown32]

Toured SMU yesterday and was really impressed with their campus and the area in which the school's located. I'm fairly certain that's where I'll be this fall.

[CV108]

So, another week comes and goes without a status change. On a positive note, we should all know something within the next 4 weeks...unless SMU chooses to extend their "by the end of April" deadline.

ughh i really hope they don't extend it.. I just want to know! Waiting is no fun..neither is forfeiting seat deposit money for lesser schools
Common smu!

[wellington]

ughh i really hope they don't extend it.. I just want to know! Waiting is no fun..neither is forfeiting seat deposit money for lesser schools
Common smu!

They did it last year ... wasn't fun to deal with

[rtx10]

It seems from the SMU website that a Mac isn't their recommendation. Is it okay to use one or is a PC laptop the better choice? Just wondering what yall thought.

[tinyone]

When I sat in on a class there were a lot of kids w/ Macs

[SpencerPratt]

It seems from the SMU website that a Mac isn't their recommendation. Is it okay to use one or is a PC laptop the better choice? Just wondering what yall thought.

Hey can you link this info? Thanks.

[fathergoose]

I asked a person from the admissions office the same thing and she told me that their exam taking software currently does not support mac but that it might/will very soon. Otherwise I gathered that it didn't matter what you picked.

[rtx10]

Yes, here's the link: http://www.law.smu.edu/Default.aspx?DN= ... b505b1be68

And I agree, from the tour, I saw Macs being used but I wondered if it was mainly their personal laptops and if they were using a PC for the actual exam. Hmm. Thanks guys!

[SpencerPratt]

Thanks. I'm still using my college laptop I received in 2006 (T60 Thinkpad), and it's about time to move on. People were telling me I need to switch to Mac, but this would obviously change things. It does sound like they're trying/will to try to integrate Mac software into their IT department to handle Apple users.

[nontradintexas]

Lots of Mac users here. In my class, probably close to 50%.

It's not an issue of SMU IT not working with Macs, it's that the exam software SMU uses does not support Mac yet. The exam software is from a third party vendor and you buy an annual license to download and use it. I can't remember exactly, but we received an email that they expect it to be Mac-friendly either fall 2010 or 2011.

Almost every Mac user I know just partitions part of their hard drive and uses Boot Camp to run Windows. From what I understand that works fairly well.

[rtx10]

Lots of Mac users here. In my class, probably close to 50%.

It's not an issue of SMU IT not working with Macs, it's that the exam software SMU uses does not support Mac yet. The exam software is from a third party vendor and you buy an annual license to download and use it. I can't remember exactly, but we received an email that they expect it to be Mac-friendly either fall 2010 or 2011.

Almost every Mac user I know just partitions part of their hard drive and uses Boot Camp to run Windows. From what I understand that works fairly well.

Oh that's great news! Thank you!

[leraa6587]

Can anyone who lives in Dallas now give me a rough estimate on the total cost of bills per month for a 1 bed/bath? Electric, gas, TV/phone...the whole package? I'm just trying to figure out my max. rent.

on my phone... Dallas is mainly a commuter city. If you want more for your money but not nec. cheaper look for housing along the north tx tollway corridor. If you want more and cheaper look towards I75 but be warned about traffic. Undergrad housing would put you at $1000 or less per month (includes groceries, bills, etc) but it will be more noisy, busy etc. For a nice 1 br apt close to campus you're looking at $1000 easily. A bit of a commute and the price drops. I would also look into some home rentals in highland park with a realtor. Sorry, but Dallas isn't hurting much in terms of housing and the economy. I'll fix typos later on real comp.

Sorry I need to clarify. I am looking at 1 bed/bath in Uptown. I already have several properties that I am considering and just need to know how much I should budget for gas, water, electric and TV/internet. So I am looking for feedback on the cost of bills only. I am guessing $250, but was hoping to get some feedback.

Sorry, that was a little confusing I guess. In my experience, $250 is reasonable, but I have had electric bills in the summer that are $250 without other bills factored in. I think satellite is around $100 if not more. Water is cheap, gas is cheap (since you rarely use it). It depends how tolerant you are of heat though, I prefer it freezing all day everyday. Groceries are reasonable, we have high end options with prepared foods for reasonable costs (Marketstreet), and the world killer Walmart is also prevalent for cheap groceries. Tom Thumb, Target and Kroger provide a median between the high and low ends. I travel a lot and IMO food is cheapest in TX because we have so much land and a great import/export center in Houston.

edit: i'm sure you can find cheap cable/ internet

[SpencerPratt]

Officially decided on SMU (well, now I'm rocking the "A" on LSN haha) regardless of what SCU and USD say. See y'all in the fall.

[Billy Batts]

Officially decided on SMU (well, now I'm rocking the "A" on LSN haha) regardless of what SCU and USD say. See y'all in the fall.

We've got eight As on LSN.

[keg411]

I'm wondering if they're even going to accept anyone else at this point.

[maxpayne]

Being one of the eight on LSN, I hope to have more company in the near future. Good luck to you guys and gals.