My D20 got into a Martinez Commons apartment her sophomore year. 4 individual rooms with a roomy bathroom - it was really nice as that building is less than 10 years old. She and her roomies rolled the dice for their junior year, but wound up with Clark Kerr, which would have been a step back. At that point, it was off campus living, where D found 3 new roommates in a 2-bedroom apartment and will continue with those gals through her last year. That is the benefit of not being at the whim of on-campus housing: if you like your digs/roommates and your landlord likes you, you don’t have to pick up and move, AGAIN. My advice to anyone looking for off-campus living:
- Start looking early in the spring (or earlier). Shoehorning online searches, physical tours, getting on waitlists, etc., around school/work is A LOT. Some places may open up closer to graduation as seniors realize they are leaving and start listing spots they are vacating, but that is not a chance we wanted to take.
- Scour Facebook and other online resources to get a feel for what is available and what is in your budget.
- Keep your ears open. You may know a senior (or a friend of a friend) who’s moving out and looking for someone to fill that spot.
- Be flexible with distance. The closer you are to campus, the pricier it is (on average - if it’s cheap, dig a little - there’s probably a reason). A 1/2 mile walk/bike/bus ride is not going to kill you if it means saving some $$ on rent.
- Be flexible with roommates. Finding a place to accommodate 6 besties may be tougher than an apartment looking to backfill with one or two people. Sometimes, established friends are NOT the best people to room with.