Moving to a new city

Which American cities have great graduate schools, are big, have cheap downtown apartments (yeah right but I can hope), good public transportation where all the important places are easily accessible, a lot of good helpful professional desi groups, have a lot of job opportunities, and will not totally drain a recent graduate’s pockets?

When you graduated and got a job and moved somewhere new, what thoughts went through your head? How did you do apartment searching before moving especially if you were moving from another country? If you did not have much or any money saved up after graduating, then how did you manage all the expenses in the beginning when you started a new job?

I guess I will have to borrow money from my parents in the beginning and pay them back later.

Re: Moving to a new city

NYC :)

Check out craigslist.org, (or .com, not sure which).. they have listings for housing, for things that are being sold etc etc..

Re: Moving to a new city

I ofcourse would say Chicago :D

Sarah, I hope you dont mind me asking your plans : are you planning on going to school full time? If not, then why dont you try to find a job in your field and continue grad school in the evening? Or you could wait a couple years, work in your field, gain some experience and then go onto grad school? I guarantee you, you will have a totally different outlook about your field and lotsa experience to go with it.

Re: Moving to a new city

Hey Ira, how are you?

Chicago is pretty much at the top of the list right now :D My plan is to work for a year and apply for Jan 2007 or Sept 2007, depending on when the grad program starts. I am just worried about what jobs are out there and whether I will be able to afford the basics of life. And Chicago is pretty expensive right?

I'm excited :) I hope everything goes smoothly and I can find a job come April (when I graduate).

Re: Moving to a new city

Actually Chicago is not at all expansive and it has lot of opportunities. You can find a good job pretty much in every field, housing is very reasonable, great public transportation. It is not at all crowded like NY. They have lot of good schools/universities. I am assuming you have a BA in humanities or something similar, so you can apply as teacher in HS.

Re: Moving to a new city

Thought about Austin?

Re: Moving to a new city

Houston. :-D

Dirt cheap. Lots of grad school opportunities.

Re: Moving to a new city

Thats "Fat city" right?

Re: Moving to a new city

I was fortunate when I moved to another country - my employer hired a relocation agency to make the whole experience a breeze for me.

As the for the money issue… I borrowed 2000 pounds from my dad for my initial expenses and paid him back as quickly as possible.

With family and money… you always need to be careful. Money corrupts human relations more than anything else.

Re: Moving to a new city

Even more then sex?

Doubt it.