Is it possible for a grad student to live alone in Manhattan?

Most students I know have had to find several roommates and live in an outer borough.

Sugar Daddy? Wealthy parents? Secret stash?

So nope, huh?

I don’t really see how, unless there is student housing.

When you say “student’s salary” that gives me pause… as an MFA student, you will likely be living at least partially on loans. So if you try to do it, you’re going to have to pay (literally) for it down the road.

Once upon a time I lived in a 350 square foot “one-bedroom” that was six floors up with no elevator in Hell’s Kitchen. It was $1000. As a grad student who (miraculously) does get a salary now, I don’t think I could afford that. It would be a stretch, anyway.

It’s Manhattan. Anything is possible in the big apple but, if it costs money, plan on selling your first born to split the difference between what you’d pay anywhere else on earth.

On a students salary – no.

You probably will need to have some roommates. Are you eligeable for student housing?

my sister lives in NYC in a good neighborhood, Upper East Side, three bedroom two bath apartment with two other girls. total rent $3600 a month, divided by 3 people = one girl (my sis) pays like $1500 because she has the en suite bathroom, the other two pay a little less each and share bathroom. what i understand a lot of people have to do is rent a small apartment and divide the living room in two or something like that. people who look to rent in NYC are lucky to even find an apartment. if you do find one you have to be ready to sign for it that day, because they go quickly.

you could live more cheaply in Westchester, but then you’d have to pay commutation cost into NYC.

Well, I don’t even feel like I need a living room. What I’m talking about is maybe a 12×12 room with an adjacent bathroom – just enough room for a bed and a bookshelf.

Wouldn’t student housing be equally expensive?

It’s worthwhile to check. I know that, for instance, Columbia has great student housing in wonderful pre-War buildings that it owns all over the Upper West Side.

I think my sister’s studio apartment right next to student housing for NYU on 10th between University and Broadway went for something like $2000 a month, maybe the student housing is less.

Maybe you could rent a room with a bath in a private home. I wonder if there are the places we call SRO (Sleeping Room Only) hotels here. They are like hotel rooms, and you rent by the month. I think they run for about $300 – $400. They don’t allow cooking or anything in the room.