Hi all,

I got an admission from Georgetown Law School, and I am still waiting for decisions from CLS and NYU.

Anyway, I will probably accept the offer from Georgetown, and will move to Washington next summer.

The thing is, I am married and have two daughters (1 and 4yo), and will be traveling with them abroad, so I am worried about finding a good preschool for them. Daycare at Georgetown is not an option, because it is super-expensive.

Anyone sharing the same worries? Anyone traveling with their families? Please share.

Hi, Kadmus! I plan to travel with my kids - two daughters (3 and 1 yo). Will your spouse join you in the US? My spouse will most probably not be able to join me, so I am now trying to figure out how to arrange everything. Do you know if any of the relatives is allowed to join me to take care of kids? Daycare is not suitable for me - too expensive and kids would easily get flu,etc. So daycare would most likely be an additional headache for me.

hi there! glad to see I'm not the only one moving the whole family - I have 2 daughters (7 & 4). m ywife would be comming along, for sure.
Got into GWU, waiting for a few others.
GW & Georgetown are both in DC. we got some tips NOT to live in DC but to try the 1 hour radious from the university. prices drop and there are very good elementary schools.
as for preschool/kindergarten - my guess is that we will be registering for 3 days a week, half a day, to cut costs.

I am also an LL.M. prospect who will be moving to US with family; my wife and two girls (4 years old and 1 year old). Our most likely destination will be Philadelphia (Penn Law). We have been researching on housing and schooling for some time now. It seems that comparatively speaking Philadelphia is the more affordable among US largest cities (5th by population). Center City across the Schuylkill River from U Penn is home to many graduate students. It is the busiest part of Philly, but with high-rise luxury two bedroom apartments ranging from below 2K to more than 2.5K. I am still waiting for decisions from such as NYU, Columbia and Harvard, but the living cost of NYC is really driving me away from going to the first two (HLS is another story, but only if it actually admits me, slim chance).

As for schooling, we are also more inclined to half day programs (3 days or 5 days a week), at least at the beginning, both for cutting cost and for the 4 year old to take her time to keep up with the class (she does not speak English at this time, though we tried to expose her to as much English materials as we feel comfortable).

FINROD :) Would it happen to be that your are a Tolkien fan?

yup - big Tolkien fan. for a long time (25 years or so).

we decided on a weekly private English lesson for our 7 year old. She won't become fluant in English with just one hour a week, but she'll have some minimal starting point. and we hope that getting there (whereever "there" is after all the results comein) a month before the school year starts, would also help her get a hang of the language.

Is there anybody else travelling with kids? Or only four families so far? :)
And who is going where?
So far I was inclined to choose Michigan because of family-friendly atmosphere in Ann-Arbor. It is a small college town, UMich offers affordable family apartments which are close to the university (which effectively means more time to study at the library, etc). But I am really torn, because I personally (I mean, if kids and all related issues are not taken into account) want to go to NYC (either NYU or Columbia if I get admitted there).. But I just cannot imagine how I'm gonna make it in the big city. I mean there is much more expensive rent and living costs (and when you are talking about 4 people instead of 1 it really makes difference), time spent for traveling every day from home to university, less safety for kids.. Omg, I am really confused..

Hi,

I am probably going to New York with my wife and a one-year old son. I am a bit concerned because I actually have no idea about which area we should live in (Columbia's dorm or apartment in/outside Manhattan, etc.), whether we can find a good (and not expensive) day-care center or a baby sitter, etc. If any one of you could share information about what to do with these, I would very much appreciate it.

Hi Tsuki,
I guess you are waiting for Stanford results. I applied too, but I have already decided to enroll in Columbia because of my family matter. And I have already found and decided on a good daycare center (they prefer to say "Preschool" though) for my kid. You should decide the daycare first, then start the search for housing around the daycare. Now I'm looking for a place to live in Upper West Side, which is a really nice and safe place for Japanese family. Maybe I think I can help you if you decide on Columbia. Feel free to Personal Mail to me. Good luck!