I just got back from Chicago, I was there to visit some schools and I absolutely love De Paul. It had been my first choice before I visited just because of the location but after being there and seeing it, it was all i expected and so much more.

I bring this up on fg/ss because i some somebody riding what i think a barekuckle with a pretty big messenger pack and it made me really jealous.

I was just looking for input from anybody here that goes/has gone to/ lives around De Paul. I am really hoping that i can make it work.

Fixed gear bikes in Chicago? Well I'll be!

no not that so much as i just want to know more about the area and the school

DePaul is in Lincoln Park. It's a comfortable, expensive neighborhood. Lots of other college kids and recent graduates. You could live directly west of there about 10 blocks and be in Logan Square or Bucktown and pay much less money in rent. I don't know much about the college except that they let me use their library, and they have a quad I chill at in the summertime. And yes, there are many, many fixed-wheel bicyclists in Chicago, we have a fanstastic community. You might want to say hello at www.chifg.com.

housing at de paul is like 11 grand per acedemic year depending on the room set up and what dorm. could i do better than that in the places you mentioned?

Yes and no, you could probably split a place and get away for $700 or so a month if you found a good deal, but then you have to think about utilities, roommates, whether you will be there for the summer and if not do you sublet it, blah blah blah. Dorms can suck, but they do have the advantage of being set up for students. Also, for all the BS you may have to put up with in a dorm, some places living on campus freshman year is kind of part of the experience and a major way that you meet people and all of that. I don't know how the culture is at DePaul, though, but I would ask some older students about it.

Well I do know that there are honeys. I wouldn't want to miss out on that by foregoing the dorms. Ah, if I had it to do over...

+syphilis

i really enjoyed living in the dorms. i was glad to leave when the time came, but man, that was great.

i was thinking i would rather live in the dorms the first year and after doing a little more research i figured that 11k was like the highest of the high side. it can be done for closer to seven. god i just want to go there now

Just take it easy, there will be plenty of chicago left when you get here.

Also, other $$$-related thing about living in the dorms is what you eat and how overpriced/mandatory the meal plan is can really change the equation. If it's all fixed price buffet style and you're a 3 chicken breasts for dinner athlete type or you would be eating out or buying prepared foods anyway you can come out way ahead, while vegetablearians who cook a lot might save a bundle living off campus. More something to think about in your later years, but it's something that I really noticed when I left the dorms behind. As Chicago goes it's a pretty great and cheap neighborhood for groceries, you're near trader joes and stanleys.

I lived a block north of Depaul during my first year in dental school. Their library is very nice. The neighborhood is so/so. Lots of starbucksy, grand central (it's a bar) types in that area. Stay in the dorms your first year and then move somewhere close to Webster St. w/ some buddies later on. Bucktown/Logan sq. are nice, but the commute would suck in the winter. It snows a lot here. Chicago is awesome, cold, but awesome.