That's a bitchin' map! Enron, I request three additions: Gamescape, Amoeba, and also your old apartment in Communist Russia/Lake Merced.

Myke, the most important piece of advice I have is to make Craigslist your best friend. It is possibly the single most valuable resource for apartment-searching in the Bay Area.

How long before the start of term are you going to actually move up here? In other words, how much time will you have to do your searching? A 1-3 month sublet might be a good option for you. That way you can find something decent for the short-term while you settle in. You can also live with Johnny's parents in Fremont I am sure. :)

For a studio or 1-bedroom in a decent part of town you are going to be hard-pressed to find a place for less than $1250; even that is a little on the low side. Enron pays less than that, for example, but he is directly across the street from a fire station. My gf has a similar place which is a bit quieter and pays on the order of $1300. Naturally if you are willing to live with people then the proportional cost goes down as you add bedrooms. For example, my 3-bedroom house is $2000/month total, but my roommates have been here a long time. If the landlord were to rent it at more current rates I would expect it to be more like $2250-2500. But I expect you want your own place.

The area where I live, Parkside/Outer Sunset has some pros and cons:

PRO
It is close to the university. (In fact, at worst STFU U. is about 25 minutes from my place by bus. By car approx. 10-15 minutes in traffic. In good weather, provided you walk briskly you can get there in about half an hour.)
It is close to KFC.
It is reasonably cheap while also being reasonably nice.
It is MUCH quieter than most parts of the city.
It's very easy to park.

CON
It is foggier and colder than most parts of the city. That shouldn't be a big problem compared to jolly ol' England.
It is pretty far removed from the swingin' downtown area.
Most of the residences are homes (meaning 3-bedroom or larger places).
Public transit to downtown and fun areas can be a hassle.
Most of the area is a little bland.

Enron's area, the Inner Sunset/GG Park area:

PRO
Close to a fun area with lots of cool restaurants (ie, Pluto's).
Lively but safe feel.
Easy public access to places like the Haight (Amoeba, tacky gift shops, smelly hippies).
Enron readily available to clean up any wastebaskets that you might vomit into.
More 1-bedroom apartments.
Longer commute to STFU U., but not too bad. Depending on traffic, 15-25 minutes.

CON
LOUD. Even the side streets in the area can be very busy and loud at night. This is more or less of a problem depending on how well you adjust to this sort of thing.
Also foggier and colder than most parts of the city.
It's a real pain in the ass to park.

Basically both areas are cool. I don't know too much about other parts of the city except that Richmond is cool and so is Noe Valley (although some people will try to trick you by saying somewhere is in Noe Valley when really it's in the Mission, which is a cool area but... not super-nice).

Like most big cities there are pockets of niceness within the worse areas and vice-versa. It's hard to make any really sweeping generatlizations. You'll just have to come up here and start poking around!