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Off-campus housing - any experience?


Yolanda in Mass
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My son is a transfer student and will be going to our state univ's flagship campus in the Fall. Due to the record-setting number of students attending, they cannot guarantee housing for transfers; only freshmen are guaranteed housing. We found out today that, although he's a sophomore and highest on priority for housing assignment, it is "unlikely" he will be able to get on-campus housing this year.

 

Has anyone gone this route? Any advice you can give? Evidently there are many, many students who live off-campus. Nearly 10% of the student body is made of transfers, and there are many graduate students as well who do not live on campus.

 

Yolanda

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That's rough. Transferring is a challenge (I transferred after my freshman year), and having to live off campus is an extra challenge.

 

You might call the housing office and see what information they have for students who live off campus. My kids' college provides a fair amount of support for kids living off campus.

 

The housing office should be able to give you a vague idea of rental prices and if the rentals in the area tend to be rented from June-June, September-September, or September-June.

 

They may have a place where folks who want roommates/apartment-mates can post.

 

Your son should definitely try to find out if there is a place for off-campus students to hang out while they are on campus. Not living on campus will make it that much harder to meet people, so he will have to put some extra effort into this. Extra-curricular involvement will also help him find friends and community.

 

My dd will be living off-campus this year, but she will be a senior and she will be sharing the apartment with a close friend. Also, her apartment is just across the street from one edge of campus; it is actually closer to the center of campus than her dorm room was last year! Even so, setting up internet and utilities was a challenge.

 

Best wishes to your son. When I transferred, I was lucky and did end up with on-campus housing, though I didn't find it out until a few days before classes began.

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My oldest did this. My husband and I did, too, senior year. We have found that it is better to be within walking distance, even with a car, and better to have housemates. Otherwise, one is very isolated. Also, expect to have a good chunk of the security deposit not returned to your student even if he didn't do any damage. It also isn't a bad idea to get the minimal meal plan. It works fairly well to eat your dinner at lunch time and just have to get yourself a sandwich for supper in your apartment. Think about parking, both at the apartment and on campus, if your student has a car. We got quite a number of parking tickets when we were running late for class or a class ran over, when we were in college. Think about snow and whether there will be snowbans on the parking (in case you live in a hot place and haven't dealt with this before). It was advantageous to get out of the dorms, at some point.

-Nan

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Does the school have any help for people searching for off-campus apartments? If your son does not have a car or other vehicle, he may need one, depending on how close affordable off-campus housing is located. At my college, the apartments across the street are overpriced because they are the only ones close enough to easily walk from. If your son can avoid that kind of situation he'll be better off. Roommates may be an issue for him, since he doesn't know any other students yet. And roommates are also very helpful for college students, since shared bedrooms equals split rent!

 

I did the off-campus housing route, but not until I got married. A problem college students tend to run into is that they have to have a co-signer on their apartment lease or otherwise pay an extra month's rent upfront, or have to pay a large deposit for the utilities, because they have no credit. Thankfully I have very good credit (unusually good for my age), so I could bypass this.

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The school's student housing office should have some recommendations. There are some "university suites" style apartments near ASU that are set up as somewhere between a dorm and a regular apartment. They have utilities included and each roommate has a private bedroom and separate lease while sharing a common kitchen, washer/dryer and living room, plus they have workout rooms, pool, computer lab, rec lounge, etc. They're very close to campus. We looked into it (thought about renting out an entire suite), but the ones near ASU don't allow co-ed cohabitation (even of spouses--how that's not an EOH violation I don't know) I'd check and see if there's anything like that.

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Ds will have his first apt off campus this year as a sophmore. Sounds like a similar situation--VCU only guarantees housing for freshman.

We found a place on craigslist for Richmond, after first trying the listings that the school has (not school sponsored, just a listing service).

 

There's probably a roommate matching service sponsored thru the college--do NOT go thru CL for that one! lol--crreeeepy.

 

Ds will be living in a two-bedroom apt with his roommate from freshman year. We found him a $50 couch and he can take his old baby dresser. He bought a futon to sleep on via CL for about $100 (the pad is too thin, but he'll deal). We are haunting thrift stores and Walmart for everything else.

 

It is much cheaper than doing the "halfway" thing that Ravin mentions--Per room, they wanted something like $950 a month, and that was for one room in a 4 bedroom place--not bad considering it's furnished and all utilities PLUS internet are covered, and it's close to campus, but we got away cheaper and closer to campus, too.

 

Plus, who can deny the charm and adventure of living on the busiest street in Richmond, over a shop, complete with scary back alley? :D

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Chris and others,

 

Although I initially "freaked out" at the thought of my son having to go off campus, I now realize it's much better than having to live on campus! The dorms are pretty awful according to my son, so he much prefers to live off campus as long as he can get there easily. This has been so stressful for us, however.

 

In the last week, my husband and I have done lots of searching, on-line and phone calls, and visits while there for transfer student orientation using the information from the school's off campus website and have come up with some very good possibilities ranging from a room in someone's house to a studio apartment right in the center of town 1/2 mile from the campus. This last one is the one we're honing in on quickly and will be making a trip to see it this week. We figure that as he gets to make friends this year, he'll be able to find a 2BR with someone he knows well for next year.

 

What fun, huh?

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If your son does not have a car or other vehicle, he may need one, depending on how close affordable off-campus housing is located. A problem college students tend to run into is that they have to have a co-signer on their apartment lease or otherwise pay an extra month's rent upfront, or have to pay a large deposit for the utilities, because they have no credit. Thankfully I have very good credit (unusually good for my age), so I could bypass this.

 

No, he does not have a car, but UMass Amherst is in a 5-college area which enjoys free public transportation - a rarity. Most of the buses even have bike racks in the front. Yes, we've learned about the co-signor/guarantor requirement as well. Learned tons of new stuff in the last week! Good thing we've been homeschoolers for so long, coming up to speed on new topics comes more easily. :D

 

Yolanda

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Shopping and cooking are pretty time consuming, and parking is very difficult near most major college campuses. Those are the drawbacks. Isolation can be a blessing or a curse, and it's hard to say which one it would be in advance. It depends on temperament and specific major field. In engineering it's helpful to concentration. In classes where discussion is crucial, it can hamstring you.

 

One thing that some apartment dwellers did when I was in school was buy a meal contract at a coop. I lived in a 41 woman coop house, and we had the BEST food. Word got around and we ended up with 4-5 'board only' subscribers, two of whom were guys (they sure had good odds at our place, not to mention, truly, the best food around.)

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Shopping and cooking are pretty time consuming, and parking is very difficult near most major college campuses.

 

He has no car so we're only looking at units on the bus line so that takes care of the parking. As for food, he'll be on an unlimited meal plan but he will have to have some food for breakfast and late night snacks. If he ends up in town (we're checking out a studio this Friday) shopping should not be a problem. Thanks for the tips, though.

 

Yolanda

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I lived off campus after my freshman year, and my older son is living off campus this year for the first time. He's in a house, shared with five other students, a five minute walk from campus. He's completely comfortable prepping his own food, and has already been doing his own laundry, so he'll be fine. He found the house himself with a group of students that he knew from the dorms in his freshman year. He's looking forward to having his own room, after sharing last year, and is moving furniture down this weekend.

 

I shared small apartments with another student in my post-freshman years and it was great. That's when I learned how to cook and manage those aspects of my life. I never had a washing machine so had to take my clothes to the laundromat. My son will have a washer and dryer in his house, so that's great. We have told my him that he will have a certain budget to work within for all his expenses each month, and he'll need to get a job if he needs more money.

 

Most (Canadian) universities do not offer housing to upper year students, so it's pretty much the norm to live off campus. My son is totally looking forward to this, and I think it's a time of great growth for young people.

 

Janet

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  • 2 weeks later...

After almost 3 weeks of searching for rooms in houses, 1BR apartments and roommates, we succeeded in finding a roommate and a 2BR ap't. What a relief! My son will be in a lovely 2BR ap't that has 2 baths so he gets his own bath! Laundry facilities in the next building and the bus stop 200 yds away. It's clean, lots of light and quite comfy. Much, much better than a nasty dorm room with all its drama.

 

We learned a lot along the way, especially how rude and presumptuous many middle aged women who rent rooms/ap'ts can be when you tell them that your student is a male and an undergrad. The men were much nicer. One woman told me my son would be happier in a dorm room (!). Talk about prejudiced. Thankfully, they were so intolerant of his gender and age that my son didn't have the misfortune of having one of these women as a landlady.

 

Yolanda

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