Property Tales
I suggest students live in the city if they can. It's definitely a good growing step for you to do everything independently, without your parents. You've got to cook, and clean, and completely take care of yourself-without the luxury of your parents doing little things for you. I most miss my mom's cooking. Especially because I live next door to a big Italian family like mine who love to cook, and who have aromas of great food emanating from their apartment.
MARISSA CLEMENTE has wanted to be a dentist since First Career Day in kindergarten. When she graduated from college, she applied to every dental school in the country. She was accepted at one-NYU Dental School. It happened to be her first choice.
"I am very privileged to be here," says Marissa, now in her third year of the four- year program. "Dentistry is the new profession for people who want to be doctors. It promises a better future-you aren't hampered by HMOs, or the burden of malpractice insurance. But admission to dental school is extremely competitive, and it's very costly to pay your way."
Marissa has taken student loans-$70,000 per year, borrowed from Citibank-to cover her education. Each year, $54,000 goes for tuition; the rest covers school incidentals and living expenses.
"I don't deny myself things I want. While I'm paying off debt at $1000 per month until I'm 65, I want to remember the fun I had," she says. "But, student debt's normal. I don't see it as a disadvantage-just something I have to do to get where I want to be."
Eventually that'll be "back home" in West Nyack, NY, where she'll practice with her dentist father and one of her two dentist sisters. Meanwhile, for 18 months until graduation, Marissa's sharing an
apartment with a classmate.
"We took a nice-size one-bedroom with a large living room, and constructed a wall to divide the living room into a tiny shared living area and a rather large second bedroom. I have the master bedroom, with one window and a closet. My roommate has the converted bedroom with three windows, and she uses the hall closet. The shared area has a couch, easy chair, tv and coffee table, but we rarely entertain. We spend most of our time in our rooms, which are furnished with whatever we need," says Marissa.
They took the apartment this past August. Each pays $1000 per month, and that includes free membership to the luxury highrise building's health club during their first rental year.
"We have a great deal," she says. "My roommate and I had just decided to share a place, when she found this apartment through friends living in the building. It's the first place we saw. We took it immediately."
The apartment is on 25th St. and FDR Drive. School's on 24th St. and First Ave., so Marissa walks to class, where she spends about six hours a day. She and her roommate are compatible, she says, and the arrangement's worked out perfectly.
Last year, Marissa commuted daily from her parent's West Nyack home to NYU-a 34-mile, half-hour drive each way. Freshman year, she'd had an NYU dorm apartment but, she says, rarely stayed there.
"I moved to the dorm because I wanted to experience living in the city. But I found my first year incredibly nerve-wracking-I'd waited my whole life to go to dental school and I didn't want to screw it up, so I put a lot of pressure on myself. I needed family support and couldn't be away from home-and since home's only half an hour away, I was there most of the time.
"The dorm cost $1200 a month. My roommate wasn't a dental student, which I didn't like. We each had a tiny, minimally furnished bedroom and shared a kitchen with a two-seater table, stove and refrigerator. I kept things in my room, but stayed [only] when I was taking tests. During sophomore year, I lived at home. Now that I'm more confident about school, I'm able to stay in the city. I'm thoroughly enjoying it."