Cost of Living

Question

Hi, I'm sure this information is somewhere in this forum though I couldn't find it...

1) What is the approx cost of living for the 2 years of an MBA? How much does this vary between a New York, Philly vs. Chicago.
2) Assuming you need to finance the MBA tuition cost and the cost of living, how long do people usually take to pay it back? I'm planning to go into consulting and work in the US post MBA.

Thanks!

Jerz · Answer

If you look at the schools' financial aid pages, they'll usually have a student budget that includes cost of living as well as tuition. The budget usually takes input from current students on how much they pay for rent, books, entertainment, etc. and usually is pretty accurate for what it costs to attend and live a moderate lifestyle. Of course, you could very easily make choices that put you up above the budget (travel, nicer apartment, shopping, etc.), but that's up to you.

I think generally the cost of living in Philly and Chicago is roughly comparable, while NYC will be more (or much more depending on where in the city you choose to live).

I think generally the cost of living in Philly and Chicago is roughly comparable, while NYC will be more (or much more depending on where in the city you choose to live).

MBAUncle · Answer

Guys, ok, the cost of living in Philly and Chicago is comparable, but how much ? I am searching a lot about the cost of living, but as International I would be grateful if you could share these values. Let's make this thread a complete guide for the cost of living in the main "MBA cities". ;-)

3underscore · Answer

New York is more. Considerably. You can cut it some ways, but there is a cost to that (location in the outer Boroughs isn't great with B-School hours).

Even out in the Boroughs it will be more in NYC. Plus beer costs more.

shaselai · Answer

arent there dormitories?

Dawgie · Answer

For MBA students, thought those for UG kids.

shaselai · Answer

hmm i thought there were grad school housing... oh well i guess the living expense wont matter too much if it is a good school

crejoc · Answer

It would be so helpful, if some body post the entire costs in actual dollars ( atlease approxiamately ) . someone who had already been there or being there can help in this,i think. Please make this thread exclusive for it.

nink · Answer

student-budgets-how-much-do-you-spend-going-out-month-78482.html

Jerz · Answer

It varies - some schools have on-campus options for grad students and MBAs, some don't. A quick look at the schools' websites will tell you if the schools you're looking at have that as an option. From a cost perspective though, I don't think the on-campus options are much different than what you'd find off-campus.

Jeanette · Answer

You can use a cost of living calculator as a rough gauge: https://www.payscale.com/cost-of-living-calculator

crejoc · Answer

But the above link is mostly about entertainment cost, i was saying about entire cost of living including everything.

Cost of Living

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