Hastings Class of 2012 Forum

[beckysoc24]

I'm thinking about the UCSF Mission Bay housing. Anyone has thoughts on this?

I applied for it and was put on the waitlist. It seemed like an ok deal, though I was kinda worried about living with 3 people I didn't know- I've never done that before. It's only a few miles from Hastings. I've found a place in Oakland that I'm excited about though, so I'm going to take myself off the waitlist.

[anastasia]

Thats exactly how I feel about living with 3 people I don't know, but I got sucked in by the price.

[jawsome]

Anyone get their financial aid awards yet?

[justletmein]

any mac users out there? ive never owned anything else but i need a new computer for the fall and i am not sure if pc would be the better route considering the exam software only runs on windows (ie i would have to load the windows operating system and programs on my mac, which is is a significant cost on top of everyting else). anyone have any insight into this? are macs common at hastings in spite of the exam software incompatibility?

[jdub]

At orientation, the 2L leading my tour said that he guesses about 1/2 of hastings students use macs (including him). I just bought a new macbook about a month ago to use in school. I haven't purchased windows yet, but there's older versions of Windows XP available on amazon.com for only $100. Not to big of an exta expense in the grand scheme of things.

[jr0008]

Hi! So glad that I can finally post here...

Anyone planning on living in the east bay and commuting to Hastings? I'm in the San Leandro/Alameda area right now but my lease isnt up until the end of September. Will most likely find a new place with my SO. It's probably crazy but I'll be moving to a new apartment after school starts.

[General Tso]

Hi! So glad that I can finally post here...

Anyone planning on living in the east bay and commuting to Hastings? I'm in the San Leandro/Alameda area right now but my lease isnt up until the end of September. Will most likely find a new place with my SO. It's probably crazy but I'll be moving to a new apartment after school starts.

I will probably be commuting from the east bay. Not looking forward to it but gotta make a sacrifice for my SO who works in Fremont

[beckysoc24]

Hi! So glad that I can finally post here...

Anyone planning on living in the east bay and commuting to Hastings? I'm in the San Leandro/Alameda area right now but my lease isnt up until the end of September. Will most likely find a new place with my SO. It's probably crazy but I'll be moving to a new apartment after school starts.

I'm going to. I found a place in Oakland. I'm going to see how it goes. It's just so much cheaper in the east bay. Are you going to find a place in the city when your lease is up?

[jr0008]

Hi! So glad that I can finally post here...

Anyone planning on living in the east bay and commuting to Hastings? I'm in the San Leandro/Alameda area right now but my lease isnt up until the end of September. Will most likely find a new place with my SO. It's probably crazy but I'll be moving to a new apartment after school starts.

I'm going to. I found a place in Oakland. I'm going to see how it goes. It's just so much cheaper in the east bay. Are you going to find a place in the city when your lease is up?

It really is a lot cheaper. I commute to SF for work and since I live pretty close to a bart station the commute has never been a problem. I've been looking at a few areas in the city but I'm almost 90% sure I'll be staying in the east bay....probably Oakland, Alameda, or Berkeley. Will you be driving or taking bart?

[stonepeep]

I'll be commuting from Concord. I live quite close to BART and I'm not worried about. The commute is no longer than the one I make currently by car to get to work.

[readereader]

I'll be commuting from Concord. I live quite close to BART and I'm not worried about. The commute is no longer than the one I make currently by car to get to work.

In Alameda, taking bus + BART. It's less expensive than driving + parking. If anyone is looking at places in Alameda and needs info about neighborhoods, ease of commute, etc., feel free to send a message.

[beckysoc24]

My plan is bus and BART too. I'm pretty new to public transportation. I've always lived in San Diego (not the best public transportation) and Sonoma County (just about no public transportation at all), so I'm very car dependent. Hopefully I'll figure it all out.

[jawsome]

For those of you commuting from the East Bay: how much do you think you'll be saving? I'm just curious! :]

If you don't want to answer, don't. After going to UG at Berkeley, I can't imagine that living in the EB would save enough $ to make me feel like commuting to SF all the time would be worth it, but I could be wrong.

[beckysoc24]

For those of you commuting from the East Bay: how much do you think you'll be saving? I'm just curious! :]

If you don't want to answer, don't. After going to UG at Berkeley, I can't imagine that living in the EB would save enough $ to make me feel like commuting to SF all the time would be worth it, but I could be wrong.

I think you're probably right. I figure I'll be saving a couple hundred a month though, but will be dealing with the commute. I just really wanted to keep my car without all the hassle of parking in the city.

[readereader]

For those of you commuting from the East Bay: how much do you think you'll be saving? I'm just curious! :]

If you don't want to answer, don't. After going to UG at Berkeley, I can't imagine that living in the EB would save enough $ to make me feel like commuting to SF all the time would be worth it, but I could be wrong.

I own a house - so I am a) not interested in moving, and b) paying less on my mortgage than I would if I had purchased a comparable home in San Francisco. So it's a little different for me than apartment living.

I was having this discussion with someone else - when you factor in likely fare hikes, you could easily spend whatever you're saving on rent by taking public transportation - however, you can get more space for less money by living in the East Bay. So you might pay the same, but not have to have roommates (or as many roommates). Alternatively, if you can find a carpool into SF with a significant other or carpool buddy who has parking included with their job, you can save oodles and oodles of cash on transportation.

Also, unlike the TL or anywhere else in SF that a person could live using only their loans, Alameda doesn't smell like pee. I am uber-suburban; I'm not hip. I have absolutely no desire to live in the city - so environment is another factor. I'm lucky; I am in a two-income household. But if you're single and living on loan money w/ no help, it might be better to live in SF - also because cutting out commute time could enable you to take a job in 2L and 3L that might otherwise be impacted by your living far away.

On the other other hand people talk about the Easy Bay like it's the other end of the world. But a strategically-placed apartment right near a bart or bus stop could mean a commute that's just as easy as someone living in SF with multiple bus transfers. From my house, particularly if I leave before rush hour gets really bad, I can be at Civic Center in 20 minutes from my house.

So I think the advice here is that if you're not totally attached to either location, find apartments you like/can afford in both areas, and then do a dry run on the commute from all the places you're considering. Factor in cost, time, personal safety, and then just make an informed decision.

Edit: Also, jawesome, keep in mind that Berkeley is actually a really terrible place to be commuting from in the East Bay - it is really annoying and crowded to get to BART from there - but places in Oakland, Alameda, etc., make the commute a lot easier by reducing bus transfers.

[jr0008]

For those of you commuting from the East Bay: how much do you think you'll be saving? I'm just curious! :]

If you don't want to answer, don't. After going to UG at Berkeley, I can't imagine that living in the EB would save enough $ to make me feel like commuting to SF all the time would be worth it, but I could be wrong.

I think you're probably right. I figure I'll be saving a couple hundred a month though, but will be dealing with the commute. I just really wanted to keep my car without all the hassle of parking in the city.

i agree...it will only be a couple hundred in savings but for me, keeping my car and having a slightly larger apartment is why i decided to commute. gotta have room for a bbq every now and then.

[stonepeep]

For those of you commuting from the East Bay: how much do you think you'll be saving? I'm just curious! :]

If you don't want to answer, don't. After going to UG at Berkeley, I can't imagine that living in the EB would save enough $ to make me feel like commuting to SF all the time would be worth it, but I could be wrong.

I haven't done much pricing out of apartments in SF since I was never planning on living there, but I think I'll probably be breaking even by living in Concord and commuting vs. living in the city. BART fare + insurance on a car and a motorcycle + gas for around town driving adds up. I am staying here not to save money but because this is where I like living and it fits my lifestyle. Having to give up my car to live in the city just would not work for me.

[General Tso]

Has anyone received any confirmation of CA residency? If so how did you receive it?

[General Tso]

Has anyone received any confirmation of CA residency? If so how did you receive it?

Bump

[jr0008]

Has anyone received any confirmation of CA residency? If so how did you receive it?

Bump

+1

i'd like to know this too

[jawsome]

I just got a revised financial award letter and they said it was obligatory to re-submit it. So annoying. But, had I needed all the extra $ they offered, I guess I would have been pretty happy.

Also didn't hear anything from my last question...still no financial awards received? I have no idea if I should be stressing or not but the semester starts in 2 months and, well, I need money.

[jdub]

I just got a revised financial award letter and they said it was obligatory to re-submit it. So annoying. But, had I needed all the extra $ they offered, I guess I would have been pretty happy.

Also didn't hear anything from my last question...still no financial awards received? I have no idea if I should be stressing or not but the semester starts in 2 months and, well, I need money.

I'm pretty sure fin aid isn't dispersed until a few days before class starts. Is that what you're asking?

[jawsome]

I just got a revised financial award letter and they said it was obligatory to re-submit it. So annoying. But, had I needed all the extra $ they offered, I guess I would have been pretty happy.

Also didn't hear anything from my last question...still no financial awards received? I have no idea if I should be stressing or not but the semester starts in 2 months and, well, I need money.

I'm pretty sure fin aid isn't dispersed until a few days before class starts. Is that what you're asking?

Yeah, and also if anyone has been approved.

[jdub]

Not sure what you mean by 'approved'. I think we all had to 'accept' our awards and choose a lender. That was the form that they sent everyone a link to. I think we have all already been approved for the funds that were listed in that form. The next step after that was to take the online exam for the Stafford Loan. Thats just a link that they also sent us through email (mine went to my uc hastings email, but not my regular email). Its just this stupid thing you read online and then answer a few questions.

I think thats really all we have to do or worry about for fin aid right now.

[jawsome]

Not sure what you mean by 'approved'. I think we all had to 'accept' our awards and choose a lender. That was the form that they sent everyone a link to. I think we have all already been approved for the funds that were listed in that form. The next step after that was to take the online exam for the Stafford Loan. Thats just a link that they also sent us through email (mine went to my uc hastings email, but not my regular email). Its just this stupid thing you read online and then answer a few questions.

I think thats really all we have to do or worry about for fin aid right now.

Yeah I took that test the other day and it took about 5 mins and is all pretty basic knowledge.

I've just never dealt with taking loans so I'm kind of in the dark. Thanks for your input.