1

When I was a student in Bogazici, Hisarustu was increasingly becoming the popular place to live for students (a million years ago though :-)) the area is much more developed now and much better housing, cafes and all amenities you need, plus very easy to get to the beautiful Bosphorous neighbourhoods like Bebek, Ortakoy, to Taksim for nightlife, walking distance to Etiler. I lived on the Asian side throughout my time there in Baghdat Street and took the university's hourly shuttle bus or drove and it took an hour each way. Will take more with public transport. The traffic is even worse these days. So Hisarustu is a good easy starter option in my opinion. Besiktas/Ihlamur would be another good option for central location and good choice of affordable acommodation.

2

We lived in Istanbul for several years and were in Çengelköy on the Asian side. We found the outdoor cafe life much nicer because most of them are on the water's edge whereas most of the European side cafes have a very busy road between them and the water.

We also found the Asian side much less expensive at the time (3 years ago). Çengelköy, Beylerbeyi and Kuzguncuk all have ferry stations (iskele) as do Kandilli and Kanlıcı.

See this map of the ferry stops along the Bosphorus: http://www.sehirhatlari.com.tr/harita/index.html

Here is the winter schedule for:
ÇengelKöy, ArnavutKöy, Bebek, Kandilli, Anadolu Hisari, Kanlica, Emirgan, and İstinye and the reverse:
http://www.sehirhatlari.com.tr/en/timetable/cengelkoy-istinye-368.html