One more option is to use the Boston airport, and Amtrak your way there. You'll need only one bus from the Amtrak station to the Boston airport (Silver Line express bus). It's not necessarily better or worse than the other options, depending on how well the timings, train, and airfare work.

I think being able to find a community outside of Yale is important and also a general diversity and Asian American community

Agreed. If you make enough of an effort, you can find great friend and romantic partner prospects anywhere. There’s great art, music, food, etc. in New Haven. NYC is also a quick train ride away. I’d definitely recommend moving to CT, but I also don’t know Chicago at all.

The two places are very different. Chicago is a huge city with tons of cultural options and New Haven is a small city that is decent for its size. However, I think it's important to know that your choice isn't between the two cities, but rather being in Chicago or being part of the Yale community. Yale is a very large part of the New Haven. Though it is integrated physically with the rest of the city, the university is pretty secluded socially. Since you'll be a part of the Yale community, I'd recommend talking to be who have firsthand knowledge about the social life there since there will be social options available to you that are not open to the public.

I never attended Yale, but I know there are opportunities to socialize outside of your program with other Yalies. For example, Yale has an on-campus pub called Grypon's for graduate students and postdocs. Yale also has a lot of events for its graduate students. You may be better off asking on a Yale subreddit or Facebook group to get specific information on graduate student life.

It's far and away the most convenient as far as access goes--Amtrak goes right to the (free) (maybe not see below) AirTrain which is like a 5 minute ride to the terminal.

But... It's EWR. It's earned a reputation as one of the worst airports in the country. Almost 1 in 3 flights are delayed, and they've got the longest average delay in the nation. Meanwhile, despite or maybe because of how accessible it is the terminals are very small; I don't think I've ever been there when it wasn't packed to the gills (except for red-eyes in when nobody is at the airport at all). I still fly out of there, since it really is the cheapest and easiest to get to of all the major airports, but it will have its downsides too.

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I'm from New Haven but have lived in Chicago for a long time. Cost of living seems surprisingly similar. You can meet friends and partners both places. What differences are you most concerned with?

Looks like they only have them select dates in May and June

Avelo flys to midway. It's a pain to have to drive a few hours home, but it is by far going to be your cheapest option in terms of flights

They just cut back their Chicago schedule, I wouldn’t be so sure the route is safe. It was supposed to resume in March and now won’t be back until mid-May. And they’re only flying Mondays and Fridays 🙄

I had a Wednesday flight for early May that was cut and they haven’t even emailed me to let me know, which is just unacceptable.

I’ve had positive experiences till now with Avelo but it’s really left a sour taste in my mouth.

Amtrak to Newark is not bad.

Bdl is pretty easy. Take the train and then a cab or use one of the off airport shuttle services to park.

Nyc airports are not so bad. If i drive - for lga - there is a garage that national has with a shuttle service. Thats pretty good. Or yeah - metro north to 125 st and then take the m20 bus to lga. If you go via jfk - either take a shuttle from grand central, or - if not much luggage - grandcentral to subway to airtrain. Ewr - newark - take the train as close as you can then uber the rest of the way. All 3 big nyc airports have good off airport garages - call around for rates. And make your reservation in advance! Don’t drive there and assume they will have a soot open.

Westchester airport is another option if you ever see a deal - you’d drive and park on site. Trains don’t go near it. You’d have to take an uber from stamford area - that would be a long ride.

If avelo goes there from tweed - that might be your best bet if times work out for you.

Other than that - i’d really focus on bradley. Between the off airport parking and the train - it be your easiest.

Daily Cafe

I had no idea Amtrak went straight to Newark. They should all have that. Very cool

newark airport (ewr) has its own amtrak stop on the northeast corridor, with frequent service from new haven. if you book your amtrak ticket when you book your plane ticket, you can get there directly for fairly cheap ($20-ish) from union station in new haven. from the ewr stop, you just take the airtrain tram to your terminal.

it's the easiest transit-to-airport connection in the area, although the windsor locks option to bradley is workable and so are the queens airports.

Not much to say, it's a United hub, airport is fine I guess (some people hate it) but that Amtrak is pretty convenient especially from New Haven.

Mt Carmel Vet hospital on Whitney in Hamden takes care of ferrets. They’ve been great with mine

Can you tell me a little bit more about Newark? Looks like the cheapest flights to my hometown are from Newark

What I’ve done in the past

1. take the CT rails Springfield line. Scheduled a pickup with Lyft at the Windsor Locks station at the time that the train is supposed to be in. Then it’s like a 10 min drive to Bradley. This only works if there’s train times that work with your flight. We’ve also parked at BDL and the parking wasn’t that expensive.

2. fly out of LGA: take Metro North but get off at Harlem 125th, get into a cab downstairs and cross the RFK bridge. It’s only about a 20 min drive or less.

3. there’s also Newark, you can take the amtrak northeast corridor straight to Newark Airport then you take a tram to the terminal. We did this for international flight and it was a long day, but better than driving tbh.

If you do LaGuardia, not sure if you’re aware of the option to train to Harlem at 125th St. and take the M60 bus (half a block away) for the price of a subway ticket. I think they run every 10-15 minutes or so and makes it to LGA in less than half an hour. I prefer it to the expensive airport shuttle from Grand Central, and cheaper than taking a shuttle direct from New Haven

and if you can't do Tweed new haven nonstop then you might still be able to fly your hometown on Southwest into BWI, raleigh, or nashville and then change for new haven on aVelo. oh you said chicago They some days fly Chicago-newhaven non stop.

So I used to do the public transportation route or have someone drop me off.

Now I pretty much exclusively fly out of LGA and always drive my own car and park in one of the off site lots with a free shuttle. Use the website "Airport Parking Reservations" which will search all of the lots and usually a few have deals.

It will cost about ~$15/day and the best part is the convenience imo. Park get on shuttle go to plane, land get on shuttle get in your own car and drive home. No struggling with Uber drivers who don't want to drive that far or rushing to get on a train etc.

The savings along on flying out of LGA instead of Bradley make it worth it. At least that has always been the case for my destinations.

Its about 50 minute drive between new haven and bradley so yeah lyft is expensive.

Car parking is very convenient with lots of nearby third-party lots. Ive personally used the Parking Spot many times and its very accessible with a valet or self-park options. It is about a 5 min or so drive away from the airport

I would also look into New Haven’s Tweed airport. Avelo airlines is continually adding in new cities so be sure to stay updated with that!

3 options,

1.fly from tweed (hope avelo has your destination)

2. Train from union station to union station (like 10 to 15 bucks), then bus ride over (1.75 or so)

3. Uber or Lyft

Be aware that the train doesn't run late

Can confirm that Willoughby's has good hot chocolate in both of their locations. If you like a little kick, I definitely recommend their Mexican hot chocolate when it's available, they make it really well!