GULC 2014 Married Students Forum

[mike6018]

Are there any other students who will be moving to DC to attend GULC in the fall married? My wife and I are gearing up for this and would like to possibly meet others in the same boat.

[Marionberry]

Checking in. Not married yet, but will be by the time we move to DC (god willing, if planning the wedding doesn't break us). Do you know where ya'll will be living yet? How old are ya'll? We'll be 26(me) and 25.

[mike6018]

Planning the wedding was a terrible 9 months or so for us, but my wife returned to her normal friendly non-stressed self immediately after the wedding day. I am 26, she is 24. We've been hoping to get something in the capitol hill area but the price might make that tough. I would ideally like to be within a 15-20 minute walk from campus but we will see. Have you decided on an area yet?

[musicfor18]

Another one here. I'm married with a 7-month-old baby girl. It would be great to connect with other married couples. As far as living, several people have recommended Silver Spring. Of course I'd love to live within walking distance, but it seems to be prohibitively expensive. I really wish Georgetown offered on-campus housing for married couples.

[Marionberry]

We have decided to live within walking distance from the school, for the first year at least. After that, once we know the area a little better and I have met people and am done with 1L we will probably move out to Northen VA.

We've pretty much decided on the 425 Mass apartments, which are painfully expensive coming from Texas but we're kind of seeing it as an investment.

[mike6018]

Another one here. I'm married with a 7-month-old baby girl. It would be great to connect with other married couples. As far as living, several people have recommended Silver Spring. Of course I'd love to live within walking distance, but it seems to be prohibitively expensive. I really wish Georgetown offered on-campus housing for married couples.

I was dissapointed that they didn't allow the on-campus housing too. We are heading there for the March orientation and will probably do a lot of neighborhood searching at that time and nail down the area. We are looking to connect with other couples as well. I feel sort of bad uprooting my wife from her family in California, so I'm trying to be proactive in easing her transition as well.

[musicfor18]

We have decided to live within walking distance from the school, for the first year at least. After that, once we know the area a little better and I have met people and am done with 1L we will probably move out to Northen VA.

We've pretty much decided on the 425 Mass apartments, which are painfully expensive coming from Texas but we're kind of seeing it as an investment.

Do you know what the rents are there exactly?

[Marionberry]

Around $2100 for a 1 bedroom, and they're very nice. There is another apartment complex not too much further away called carmel plaza I think, which is considerably cheaper I think. IIRC, it was in the area of $1400-1500 for a one bedroom. They don't allow pets, though, so it wasn't an option for us.

[srvyorgeneral]

Will be married a few months prior to entering. My partner and I already live here in DC, though, so transition won't be too bad. Would suggest, though, that anyone moving to DC consider living farther afield from the downtown area. I'll be commuting in from Columbia Heights (it's about 20-25 minutes on the metro). I'm definitely happy about living somewhat removed from school--I figure it will help me stay focused when I'm on campus and treat it more like a job. But beyond that, the neighborhoods farther away from downtown are both cheaper and more interesting/enjoyable than downtown. Particularly if a spouse is joining you and may not yet be employed in DC, I'd argue that neighborhoods like Columbia Heights, U St., Mt. Pleasant, Petworth, and Shaw (all of which are on the Green Line) will be far more fulfilling and enjoyable than the lifelessness of downtown DC and the area surrounding Chinatown. They'll also be cheaper--though not sure by how much. If you're more of a "unit in a rowhouse" type of person (which I am), you'll find a ton more options to choose from with these 'hoods than you will in chinatown, which consists almost entirely of 200+ unit buildings. Take my advice with a grain of salt, of course...I've been here for 6 years so my neighborhood biases are pretty cemented.

[fanmingrui]

Another married student checking in. I know someone who takes the metro from Alexandria to GULC and doesn't mind it. That could be an option for us as well.

[Marionberry]

We're pretty much set on the Senate Square apartments, on the far west end of the H Street NE corridor. I feel like it'll be worth it to be within walking distance, and an apartment complex may just make things a little simpler. that said, I'm keeping an eye out for a rowhouse in the Cap Hill area, though most of them don't allow dogs so I'm not getting my hopes up.

[musicfor18]

We're pretty much set on the Senate Square apartments, on the far west end of the H Street NE corridor. I feel like it'll be worth it to be within walking distance, and an apartment complex may just make things a little simpler. that said, I'm keeping an eye out for a rowhouse in the Cap Hill area, though most of them don't allow dogs so I'm not getting my hopes up.

Do you know what the rent prices are like at Senate Square?

[Marionberry]

Do you know what the rent prices are like at Senate Square?

1 bedrooms start in the area of $1900-2000. A unit with 1br/2bath and a den(would make a nice little office/study spot) is 2295, , $2395 with a balcony. We're now thinking more about a capitol hill rowhouse since it actually appears that there may be quite a few that would work for us. The secret is just watching craigslist/padmapper diligently because good places don't seem to stay on the market long at all. I imagine this will especially be the case once it gets closer to August.

[musicfor18]

Thanks for the info. And what kind of prices are you seeing at these row houses?

[Siamsa414]

Another married GULC student checking in. Glad to see a few other married/partnered folks here! I'm 26, my partner's 25 and will be working while I attend.

Is there an established campus group at GULC for married students and their spouses? If not, would anyone be interested in starting one? I was impressed by the group at Northwestern and would be happy to see a similar group at GULC.

[Marionberry]

Thanks for the info. And what kind of prices are you seeing at these row houses?

The ones that we would consider living in vary from 1600-2400, some are 1br and some are 2br. If you don't have pets, your options will be a lot less limited. I'm really hoping to find a nice apartment/house around Stanton park for around $2000.

Another married GULC student checking in. Glad to see a few other married/partnered folks here! I'm 26, my partner's 25 and will be working while I attend.

Is there an established campus group at GULC for married students and their spouses? If not, would anyone be interested in starting one? I was impressed by the group at Northwestern and would be happy to see a similar group at GULC.

Good question! If there isn't, I would definitely be down to help start one.

[nadopretz]

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[fanmingrui]

Also checking in, 25/22. My wife will probably be working for the first year and then starting a grad program herself. We're planning on living in Alexandria and taking the metro in, still haven't found an apartment. Anyone know of anything good?

[Sandrew]

Also checking in. My wife and I settled into our apartment in Dupont/Logan in mid-July. She's working near Union Station (already started) and reports a 30 minute commute. I look forward to meeting some of you all next week!

Oh, and is anyone else in section 4?

[pcwcecac]

I think Rosslyn is the best place to live. There is a circulator bus that takes you directly to campus. On top of that, you have access to both the blue and orange line trains. Rosslyn is lively and relaxed.

[musicfor18]

Hi everyone. I had forgotten about this thread, but I'm happy to have found it again! I wanted to say that I'd be happy to be part of a married student group (either formal or informal). I think the law school experience will be a bit different for us than for some of the other students, particularly those of us who are also a bit older. I'm 32 with a 14-month-old daughter.

We ended up in a nice apt in the Forest Hills/Van Ness area. It's about 15 minutes on the red line from Union Station....a bit shorter to Judiciary Square, which I think will be my commute.