Moving far away for graduate school

[FlyWf]

I'm going to Florida State for law school this August and I'm moving from Columbus, Ohio. How the [censored] do people move across the country? It seems like it's going to be incredibly time and crappiness intensive. I've never moved by myself before and certainly not to a city where I don't know anyone.

Does anyone who has done this have any hints or tips? Right now I'm looking at craigslist for Tallahassee and the FSU student newspaper classifieds to try to find a place to rent. I don't really want to live alone for financial reasons, but how can I screen roommates from 800 miles away?

It's pretty overwhelming, to be honest. I thought about living in the school provided graduate housing, but I'm guessing they [censored] you on the price if they are anything like OSU, and it seems like their little graduate student village is ~3 miles away from campus.

[AvivaSimplex]

Get a furnished place for one month before you start school. Use that time to find apartment, roommate, etc. Or if you have very little money, find a cheap motel that rents by the week.

[cgrohman]

I've moved all around. I just moved to Columbus, OH after graduating law school for a clerkship. Law school is a joke. After your first semester, you should spend most of your time playing poker and getting a tan. The most important [censored] is making some reasonable friends. Rommates are a good idea. Options: craigslist, law school message boards, etc. Even if you get stuck with crappy rommates, ou are only usually locked in for like 6 months. Also, join some clubs etc at school.

[Misfire]

As far as moving, sell absolutely as much of your [censored] as you can. Save as much money as you can, and buy new [censored] when you get there. Also, if your parents live near you, see if they'll store things you want to keep but don't necessarily need for school. As you get established and settled, you can trickle stuff down every time you visit them. As for roommates, I agree with AvivaSimplex--get a furnished extended stay place for a month or so, and go meet people.

[Wyman]

Take advantage of anything university-offered for a year or so. It's a great way to meet people, though graduate housing may be a lot of young families. Usually the law school or univ has some sort of roommate-matching. You'll either spend all your time in the library or all of your time on the beach/playing poker anyway.

As for moving, it's tough, especially alone. Uhaul if you need it, but it's so much easier to buy stuff once you get there, making the sell your stuff/buy new/get a furnished place for a bit advice pretty good.