Urbana-Champaign is NOT suburban. It is a small town and is not near any major cities in any sense of the word. There are other small towns nearby of about the same population (120k), but wtf do you use as a definition for suburban?
It's three hours from Chicago and two hours from Indianapolis and is surrounded by cornfields. Just because it's a small town doesn't make it suburbia.
That said, UIUC's Ed. Psych, Ed. and Phil. of Ed. programs are really good, and the area it's in isn't terribly bad. You also sound generally interested in the program, which is WAY more important than where you live.
See, problem #1 might be that I've never been to U-C. I need to do that, you know, yesterday. Unfortunately, they notified me of admission this week...
I realize that academia is becoming an abandoned mine shaft, and that you have to be sharkish to get a position -- sometimes any position at all. However, I have lots of QOL-type concerns; I'd like to be happy in my environment for the next five (six? seven?) years.
I'll try to visit next weekend and update you guys.
I think coaldustcanary's point was that if you care so much about QoL, it's going to be difficult to deal with job searches once you're done, unless you want to work outside academia. Once you get a job you're going to be there for a very long time until you can convince another (better) school to pick you up.
Yeah, my point is what hkitsune said, but if you can get to C-U this week to visit, that may be helpful. If you are from CA, it probably will be a culture shock. (I've lived in the Midwest in towns that make C-U look like a big city most of my life, so, there you go.) But if you can handle it for 5 years, that might be good practice for needing to handle it for the rest of your life. You can find out if the tradeoff is really one you want to make to work in academia.
just a quick note to say that TC is awesome, and there are some serious benefits to living in NYC over irvine even financially - you don't need a car, you can sublet a beautiful room close to campus for less than $700 a month . . i actually found it cheaper to live in manhattan than california, especially as a student.
but TC is in the city, and the city is big and different, and that's a lot of money. i do know that a lot of courses at columbia/barnard are open to TC students, so there's lots of opportunity to take courses that interest you.
that said, the new york city school system is a weird beast. i don't know anyone who has gone through TC for theory - everyone i know went for their MEd.
but if UIUC is where all the critical theory is being cooked up, that's where you want to be. QoL issues are negotiable in a lot of cases - if you love the work you are doing, you won't mind being in a less than perfect place.
I don't know where you looked and what you found, but subletting or renting a room for less than $700 in Manhattan is going to be a rarity. More than likely she'll be paying between $800-1000 in rent and that's if she's lucky.
I have nothing particularly helpful to add, but I just wanted to say that I'll likely be going to UIUC this fall for Library and Information Science, and your "cons" sound like they were picked straight from my brain...haha. The location is definitely a bit of a scary prospect...
If you do go to UIUC, feel free to email me @ briankinney@gmail.com if you have any housing questions. Everyone has probably already told you to (or will tell you to) email the tenant union for advice, and they're right to do so. There are a shocking abundance of 'slum lords', especially on craigslist. From what I can tell, none of the good places need to list their units.
I was also horrified by the idea of living in central Ilinois. (HORRIFIED.) Now I just kind of live in denial...which is possible to do, because the grad community is very international. It's just weird when you look at the undergrad population and realize they're mostly from suburban Chicago.
Wow, I just checked out the Tenant Union site and it is SO helpful. I'll definitely get in touch with them. I've been casually checking craigslist, but it seems like such a crapshoot. Housing isn't really something that I want to take chances with when I'm moving nearly 1000 miles. Thanks for the tip.
Comments 57
It's three hours from Chicago and two hours from Indianapolis and is surrounded by cornfields. Just because it's a small town doesn't make it suburbia.
That said, UIUC's Ed. Psych, Ed. and Phil. of Ed. programs are really good, and the area it's in isn't terribly bad. You also sound generally interested in the program, which is WAY more important than where you live.
Reply
Reply
Reply
I realize that academia is becoming an abandoned mine shaft, and that you have to be sharkish to get a position -- sometimes any position at all. However, I have lots of QOL-type concerns; I'd like to be happy in my environment for the next five (six? seven?) years.
I'll try to visit next weekend and update you guys.
Thank you so much for the info.
Reply
Reply
Reply
but TC is in the city, and the city is big and different, and that's a lot of money. i do know that a lot of courses at columbia/barnard are open to TC students, so there's lots of opportunity to take courses that interest you.
that said, the new york city school system is a weird beast. i don't know anyone who has gone through TC for theory - everyone i know went for their MEd.
but if UIUC is where all the critical theory is being cooked up, that's where you want to be. QoL issues are negotiable in a lot of cases - if you love the work you are doing, you won't mind being in a less than perfect place.
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
Reply
I was also horrified by the idea of living in central Ilinois. (HORRIFIED.) Now I just kind of live in denial...which is possible to do, because the grad community is very international. It's just weird when you look at the undergrad population and realize they're mostly from suburban Chicago.
Reply
Reply
Leave a comment