To add to the thoughts…My kid has friends at Yale and Harvard so has stayed some weekends and knows the living accommodations. From what he’s seen their dorms are not as nice as UChicago’s but (aside from the rules) also have not had attractive, affordable alternative housing availble until recently at New Haven. It’s hard to compete with the extra room and convenience of the Hyde Park apartments. My son’s building is closer to classes than his previous dorm and he has a nice bedroom to himself, shares two bathrooms with just 2 people and has the kitchen/living room plus more storage room. Costs are the same as dorms and there’s no seasonal move in and out. Plus the building is all students so there’s an informal “house” atmosphere. He’s made close friends in the building. What I like is that they had the experience of independently finding, leasing, furnishing, arranging for utilities and paying the bills monthly starting at the end of freshman year. I was initially very resistent to the idea feeling that on campus life would better expand his overall university experience. I now don’t think it affected his ability at all to have a wide friendship circle. Plus the practice in setting up living arrangement has also been useful as they went forward with summer internship housing needs. At least they know the right questions to ask.