Are you looking for a 2-bedroom that you can rent for $1500 a month? Or do you want to live with a roommate and pay $1500 each?

1500 dollars is pretty much the lower bound on 2-bedroom apartments in good areas in San Diego. Carmel Mountain Ranch/Rancho Bernardo is a decent area and there are several apartment complexes there ( Carmel Terrace, Deerwood, etc ) and it is roughly a 20 minute commute from/to UCSD. Linda Vista is cheaper but older. There's a bunch of apartments in Mira Mesa, they are cheap and it's not that far from the university, but I don't think I'd be comfortable leaving an S2000 parked at night there. (YMMV)

If you're a full-time graduate student, you should have no problem getting into La Jolla Del Sol, it is a UCSD-affiliated apartment complex for graduate students and staff. It's practically next to the university ( 5 min by car ), somewhat cheaper than other apartments in the area, and the wait list to get in is not as bad as in other university housing complexes. 2br/2ba at La Jolla Del Sol will cost you on the order of $1400 per month. You'll be required to share it with a roommate unless you have a wife and/or a kid, so it'll come down to 700 each.