Graduate Housing
Living On-Campus at BU (Kat T.)
Once you’ve been accepted to grad school, everything starts piling on – the decisions, the fears, and, of course, the excitement! When I moved to Boston, I was very unfamiliar with the area and overwhelmed by the options. After several not so fruitful google searches for “cheap apartments in Boston,” I decided that living in graduate housing for my first year was the way to go. Overall, my housing decision turned out for the best, but there were definitely “pros” and some “cons” that became more apparent as time went on.
On the “pro” side: I was just a hop, skip, and a jump from the social work building. This meant rolling out of bed for those all-too-early 8AM classes and still claiming my seat front and center. Another “pro” to this shared living space was the opportunity to meet students in other graduate programs at Boston University. Many of the other students on my floor are in the Engineering program and I would not have had the chance to connect with them if I wasn’t in graduate housing. Finally, the maintenance staff for the building work tirelessly and are available 24-hours. This ended up being essential when I locked myself out of my building while doing laundry around the corner. They came to the rescue within 20 minutes!
Over time, the “cons” for me became apparent. When I moved here, I knew it would be a struggle to understand the train at first, so all I wanted was to live cheaply and be close to school. That worked for a while. However, after a year of living in what is essentially a dorm, I realized that sharing a kitchen and bathroom and having limited space of my own, wasn’t ideal. Since I like to think of myself as an amateur chef, the kitchen situation left much to be desired.
I learned a lot this first year, including about my own priorities and needs when it comes to living situations. Graduate housing was just right for my first year, but for year two, I’m going to branch out and try something new off-campus.