Tag Archives: budget

Home Sweet Home: A Guide to Graduate Student Housing

Written by Ruaidhri Crofton, History & Museum Studies M.A. 2020

So you’ve been accepted to a graduate program at Tufts and you just can’t wait for your new adventure to begin! You’re starting to make travel plans and maybe even connecting with some of your future professors and classmates. Everything seems to be coming together, but you still have to figure out one of the more frustrating aspects of becoming a graduate student: housing. 

As cheesy as it may sound, Tufts will not only become the place you go to school. For many students who aren’t from the region, the Boston area will also become your “home” for the next several years. With so many things to consider when looking for housing, the process of house hunting can quickly become overwhelming. As someone who has already been through the process of finding a place to live while attending Tufts (and is getting ready to do it again for the upcoming school year), here are a few tips and tricks I have for making your housing search as straightforward as possible. 

1. Consider On-Campus Housing

The first thing to consider when searching for housing is the fact that Tufts does provide a limited number of rooms for graduate students on the Medford/Somerville campus. This is a great option, particularly for incoming first-years, as it eliminates many of the more difficult parts of finding a place to live. Because this housing is managed by the university, you won’t have to worry about finding available properties, contacting landlords, locating roommates, or buying furniture. You also won’t have to be concerned about not being able to view the room before you arrive. However, applicants for on-campus housing are selected via a lottery system so keeping other options in mind as a backup if you aren’t selected is wise. More information can be found on the Office of Residential Life website.

2. Do Some Online Searching

Luckily, the days of searching through crowded bulletin boards or looking for “For Rent” signs in windows is over as there are now a seemingly endless number of websites and resources available to students searching for off-campus housing. However, starting to search these sites for available rooms as soon as possible is ideal. Tufts offers a fantastic off-campus housing website for students to search for apartment listings and roommates in the Boston and Somerville/Medford areas. Other third-party platforms can also be helpful in finding good housing accommodations. I have found Jump Off Campus to be one of the more helpful sites for housing searches. Social media pages, such as the “Tufts University Housing, Sublets & Roommates” Facebook group, are also good places to find good housing opportunities both near campus and beyond. 

3. Don’t Be Afraid to Expand Your Search 

Though living right across the street from campus and being able to roll out of bed right before class is nice in many respects, available housing options may not always be so convenient. Due to the number of rental properties immediately adjacent to the Tufts campuses and the fact that rent prices tend to be higher the closer you get to the school, you might want to consider expanding your search area to find better/more affordable alternatives. Looking in communities slightly further from Tufts may get you more “bang for your buck”. Utilizing public transportation can also make the distance less inconvenient and even give you a good excuse to get some extra exercise on your way to class!

4. Networking Works!

Many graduate students elect to live in shared accommodations with several other Tufts students. Not only does this often make housing more affordable by splitting the cost of rent and utilities between several tenants, it also provides you with a great opportunity to meet new people in your first year! If you happen to already know students currently enrolled at the university or who will be starting at the same time as you, chatting with them about the possibility of living together could make finding roommates less difficult/awkward. At the same time, connecting with students using social media or Tufts platforms is another way to find others who might be looking for prospective roommates and housing. Depending on your department, there may also be a way for you to connect with other students in your field. Though it certainly may feel odd at first, I can personally attest to meeting some great friends this way. 

5. Know Your Budget and Your Preferences

With so many things to consider with housing, it’s easy to get overwhelmed! Before you get started looking for housing, make sure to identify what you are looking for in a prospective housing accommodation. Things like setting a budget and identifying preferences such as number of roommates, location, whether or not furniture is provided, etc. will be important to streamlining your search. Though it is unlikely to happen to you, it is also important to be aware of the potential for housing scams. Taking steps like viewing an apartment before signing a lease and knowing your rights as a tenant are important for having a pleasant experience in your new home. More information can be found on the Off-Campus Housing resources page.

The Top 5 Ways to “Treat Yo’ Self” (on a grad student budget)

Written by Gina Mantica, Biology Ph.D. Candidate

  1. Ice cream

Massachusetts is filled to the brim with homemade ice cream shops, and nothing says “treat yo ’self” like a small Death by Chocolate (chocolate ice cream with a chocolate swirl, chocolate chips, and fudgy brownies) in a colorful house-made waffle cone. Head on over to C.B. Scoops if you’re near the 200 Boston Avenue buildings for this decadent treat.

If you’re closer to the hill, don’t fret. Walk down or take the bus to Davis Square and hit up JP Licks, where you’ll find fun seasonal flavors, as well as some great dairy-free options!

If you’re feeling adventurous, drive or take a cab on over to Tipping Cow ice cream on Medford Street. A hip, nut-free ice cream stop boasting unique rotating flavors like Vanilla Buttermilk and Earl Grey, you will never be bored or disappointed by their selection.

  1. Books

For all you bookworms out there, I dare you to treat yourself to a book that is entirely unrelated to your thesis, dissertation, and class work. Next on my own non-academic reading list is Paris in the Present Tenseby Mark Helprin. If you’re into flowery prose and details that will make you forget where you are, I highly recommend his works.

If flowery and detailed is not really your cup of tea, make a day out of finding your new book with your own piping hot cup of tea. Head downtown to Trident Café and Booksellers on Newbury Street. There, you can peruse the aisles while enjoying a drink or a light snack. The café has a wide selection of coffees, teas, and pastries (they also serve an amazing brunch).

  1. Museum of Fine Arts

Did you know that your Tufts ID gets you free admission to the MFA? With one of the largest collections of Claude Monet’s work outside of France, you could spend an entire day (or 2!) at this museum. They have incredible temporary exhibitions, so even if you think you’ve seen everything the museum has to offer, there is always something new. This past fall semester, for example, they had a Winnie the Pooh exhibit filled with original drawings of Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and friends!

  1. Ice Skating

In Boston, when people think “ice skating” they tend to immediately think of the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. While the Frog Pong is beautiful, it is also a little pricey on a graduate student budget. If you’re looking for a cheaper option, head on over to the LoConte Memorial Rink in Medford. During public skating hours, admission is free and skates are only $5 to rent! Due to its location, the crowd at the LoConte Rink is mostly middle and high school students, but take a date or a group of friends and you’ll have a blast!

  1. Sports games

Did you know that the Celtics, Bruins, and Red Sox all offer affordable options for students to see games? Register online to get updates on Red Sox student ticket availability. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a Red Sox game that way, but last time I went the tickets were less than $20 a piece! Similarly, register online for the Buzzer Beater Pass offered by the Celtics to get notified if last minute tickets are available for purchase on game days. Also, check out the Student Nights offered each year by the Bruins for half-price ticket options.

Cooking 101: How to cook in grad school with no money and no time

Written by Alia Wulff, Cognitive Psychology Ph.D. Student

I’m sure most of you have been on your own for at least a few years. You’ve probably dabbled in cooking, maybe tried your hand at baking. You might make your own breakfast or bring lunch to the office. But a lot of you have probably (and totally understandably) been ordering food more often than you should be. It’s easy and delicious and even healthy on occasion. But it’s not cheap. And in grad school cheap is a top priority.

Alia’s turmeric-spiced garbanzo beans and chicken on rice with lime

This blog post is not intended to magically turn everyone into amazing cooks. I just want to show you that it is possible, even easy, to grocery shop, cook, and meal prep like a pro while in graduate school for way less than it costs to eat out.

The number one thing to figure out is what you have to have in your pantry at all times. My staples are pasta, rice, beans (black, garbanzo, and refried), tortillas, tomato sauce, chicken, yogurt, eggs, bread (probably in bagel form), some fruits and veggies, and hot sauce. I can make a different thing for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day for a week out of those items. Oil and seasonings are also pantry staples, but they rarely need to be replenished so they don’t really count.

The next order of business is figuring out where to get your groceries. It’s really hard for me to get to a grocery store and back because I don’t have a car, so I use Amazon Fresh. It costs me less for a monthly subscription than a Lyft from the grocery store twice a month would. With that service, my pantry staples cost me less than $50 a week. I generally order food twice a month and pay about $80-$100 each time. I’ve never spent more than $200 a month on necessary groceries. Don’t ask me about my Pringles and Twizzlers budget, though.

Alia’s avocado toast with hard-boiled egg and Tajin seasoning

Next, plan your meals. You don’t have to go crazy and make a chart with dates, lists, and bullet points. Just know what you have in your pantry and make a list of things you can make that week. Then, when you get home you can check your list, find something that matches up with the energy you have left, and make that. Don’t try making a complicated feast when you’re dead on your feet or you will never try cooking again. My go-to lazy meal is to microwave some beans, pop them in a tortilla with some leftover chicken and rice, dash some hot sauce on there, and eat it without a plate because laziness and washing dishes do not mix.

Speaking of leftovers, here is an actual tip: make too much food. I know some people have weird issues with leftovers, but you are a grad student now and literally cannot afford the time or money to have wasteful beliefs about food. Make too much food on the weekends, pop the extras into containers, and then you have multiple meals for the week. Made too much chicken? Put leftovers in the fridge and have it with pasta or rice the next day. Made too much pasta because determining how much pasta to make probably requires the use of black magic? Pop some sauce (or some butter, I won’t judge) in it, portion it into containers, and – voila – you have lunches for a few days. Made too much rice? Make rice pudding for breakfast with flax or protein powder and use honey instead of sugar so you can pretend you’re not just eating pudding for breakfast (even though you are and that’s perfectly valid).

Pudding for breakfast is a reminder of the biggest point of this post: it’s important to not feel bad about food. You can ignore everything in this post as long as you remember this one thing. If you end up eating out more than you should have, if you eat unhealthy food for a few days, if you always put an extra bag of chips or pile of candy bars in your cart, you are not a bad person. You will always find something to beat yourself up about. Don’t let your personal method to replenish calories be one of them.