Housing questions

Colleges & Universities Stevens Institute of Technology
1

<p>Someone posted in another thread: …any words of wisdom regarding dorms?
Are dorms available for the full 4 years on campus?</p>

<p>I am not that knowledgeable about housing, but hopefully some Stevens students can contribute to this thread. </p>

<p>afaik, all freshmen can get a dorm room freshman year. My son lived in Davis. Male floors (at the time) were 2 & 4. Odd number rooms had a NYC view. </p>

<p>You will be asked for room preferences when you fill out your housing application. They will ask you your preferred building, floor, and room, so it helps if you know what you want. My son knew what building and floor he wanted but guessed at the room number. </p>

<p>This is only a request. They will try to place you as closely to your request as possible, and it helps if you submit your application early. If you have questions you can call the housing department, they are very helpful. </p>

<p>You can request someone you know as a roommate, or one will be provided for you.</p>

<p>[FAQ?S</a> (Frequently Asked Questions) | Stevens Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/information/faq]FAQ?S”>http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/information/faq)</p>

2

<p>Your first housing choice is assigned to you. In the future, you must enter a lottery. </p>

<p>Basically, you fill out the application along with anyone who wants to room with you. There are various combinations of rooms, so you can opt for a single, double, triple, quad, etc. Here are the housing options and rates: [Stevens</a> Housing Options | Stevens Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/housing-options]Stevens”>http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/housing-options)</p>

<p>One thing they have done in the past, that I didn’t care for, was that they let you continue in your room that you have, once you have it. So if you got a good lottery number initially, and chose a nicer room assignment, not only could you keep it going forward, but you can actually ‘pull in’ roommates of your choice. So even if all of your roommates are leaving, you can retain your housing. I just don’t think it is a fair way of administering what should be an all-lottery system. It takes a lot of the preferred units out of the pool of available choices.</p>

<p>As you will see from the above link, there is a combination of dorm type housing and apartment type housing. All dorms are on campus. Upperclassmen sometimes prefer the dorm because you can get a single on campus, which is very convenient. The downside is that you are forced to take a pricey meal plan if you live in a dorm.</p>

<p>Some apartments are on campus but most are off campus in Stevens leased housing. That means that Stevens students are in the same building as normal tenants (although they are usually configured so that the students rooms are in one area). Read through various apartment ratings sites and you will get a picture of how this works.</p>

<p>These units are scattered throughout Hoboken, but there is a shuttle bus that operates on a reliable schedule <a href=“http://www.stevens.edu/sit/sites/default/files/stevens-shuttle.pdf[/url]”>http://www.stevens.edu/sit/sites/default/files/stevens-shuttle.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here is a good visual to show you the shuttle route. [Stevens</a> Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://stevens.transloc.com/]Stevens”>http://stevens.transloc.com/)
Stevens leased housing is scattered throughout this route, so you see you may have to walk a few blocks if you opt to live off campus in Stevens housing.</p>

3

<p>Many students live off-campus (about 40%). Hoboken is small and so the campus is never very far no matter where you live. If you want to live off campus, you might find a group of students looking for a roommate, or you can check out rentals through real estate companies. Here are some current off-campus housing listings and links to real estate companies [Alternative</a> Housing Listings | Stevens Institute of Technology](<a href=“http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/graduate/alternative-housing-list]Alternative”>http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/graduate/alternative-housing-list)</p>

<p>Example: Located in midtown Hoboken, just a couple of blocks from Stevens Campus, on 7th Street between Bloomfield and Garden, a lovely furnished 600 sq.-foot studio garden level apartment in a beautiful townhouse with a backyard. </p>

<p>The apartment has a separate sleeping alcove, living room, bathroom and eat-in kitchen. Wifi, heat and hot water are included in the monthly cost of $1300. It is equipped with all of the necessities, including dishes, cookware and in-window ac.</p>

<p>The apartment is available January 15, possibly sooner. [end example]</p>

<p>The downside to living in Hoboken is that it is expensive. </p>

<p>If you are even thinking of this option, I suggest finding a real estate agent to take you around town to several properties so that you can get a feeling for the various areas and how far you would have to walk. btw you can always use the shuttle too.</p>

4

<p>A lot of people at Stevens join frats and sororities. Sometimes they have housing available, but it is limited. I am not sure, but I would think that older frat members have housing priority over younger members. Frats tend to be located between 10th and 8th streets near campus.</p>

5

<p>Has anyone been able to apply online for housing yet? My son has been having problems, perhaps it is a browser issue?</p>

6

<p>You can give housing a call and ask them. Their website is always glitchy.</p>

7

<p>I tried it and it is still saying ‘unsupported browser’. </p>

8

<p>Thanks!</p>

9

<p>Are there apartments for just 1 person? I don’t see myself sharing a bathroom with 10+ other people.</p>

10

<p>AfghanPhenom all freshmen housing is dorm-style. You will share a hallway bathroom. You might want to consider living off-campus if you want more privacy. </p>

<p>This list is purged at the end of each semester, so you will have to check back for updates. <a href=“http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/graduate/alternative-housing-list”>http://www.stevens.edu/sit/housing/graduate/alternative-housing-list&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

11

<p>I applied for Castle Point Hall, the triple, as first choice</p>

12

<p>Oh, I see Castle Point Hall is now an option for new students. In prior years it was previously for upperclassmen only. Thank you for posting that, off2neverland. Looks like each unit has it’s own bathroom. </p>

<p>So I asked my Stevens student about Castle Point. He said these units were not too popular with upperclassmen when he did the lottery 2 years ago. He’s not sure why, but I think it was a studio kitchen/space issue (most upperclassmen want true apartments). He said they took those kitchenettes out (to make more living space), and now a meal plan is required for Castle Point. </p>

<p>This would be a good option for people who want a more private bathroom. </p>

13

Generally, once you move off-campus, you get way better accommodations for your money. The term for on-campus housing is four months, versus six for off-campus housing. Monthly, the rates per person, are about the same, and off-campus housing is generally in better condition than on-campus. After living off campus my junior year at 828 Garden Street, I ended up moving back on campus to 600-602 River Terrace for my senior year. Last year, students in off-campus housing had to fill all slots with roommates to retain their room. I didn’t find any takers for my apartment at 828 Garden Street, and I am sorry that I did not push harder. Even though I have had no problems with my roommates, 600 River is a tight fit. The apartments are of roughly equal size, but shared among six people at River, versus three at 828. 828 has a dishwasher; 600 does not, and the kitchen at 828 is double the size of the one at 600. Laundry is done in your own apartment at 828, versus a shared laundry in the basement of 600 that is poorly insulated from the weather. We have had at least five times the issues with the building condition at 600 River as at 828 Garden. The one thing that stinks about 828 is that it is far from any supermarkets in town with no shuttle service, versus shuttles from 600 River connecting to the ShopRite. Other off-campus housing is better connected by the shuttles and even more spacious than 828 Garden. Move off campus as soon as you get the chance; you will not look back.

14

RDH1112 you should repost this in a new thread and title it “Off-campus Stevens Housing”. ( I say this because it seems that lately, admins have been closing threads over a year old).

For those reading, there is limited capacity for Stevens housing on campus (including River Terrace apartments). Most of it is freshmen (and some upperclassmen) dorms. Most of the apartment housing for upperclassmen is located off-campus, in various parts of Hoboken. There is also ‘off-campus’ housing that you can rent on your own, that is not connected with Stevens. Just wanted to clarify that a bit.

Interesting to read about your views of River Terrace. I think that the location is probably the best thing about it. (It’s right by all the classroom buildings.)

15

It seems like the housing registration was a disaster for kids who will be sophomores next year. The housing filled up on the first day and hundreds of students had to go into priority housing. Which is when they don’t have housing right now but they will find some by August. Does anyone have experience with priority housing? My son wanted to stay in the dorms on campus. He didn’t want to be responsible for cooking meals. Do you have any say in where they put you? Right now his status is just priority housing. Were you able to stay with the roommates you wanted? Did you get in the leased housing furthest from campus? Do they add housing every year? Any input would be helpful. This is very stressful.

16

I am surprised by the ‘hundreds’ number. Where did you hear this?They have been increasing the size of the freshman class over the past year or two. I guess that could add up to hundreds?

I have never heard of ‘priority housing’ before this. I’m sure it must be stressful, but if they say they will have housing by August, I would believe them. Stevens gets blocks of housing in existing apartment buildings around Hoboken. I assume they will be adding to this. If not, that would be disastrous for future recruitment purposes.

Not sure if he is guaranteed a dorm, but he should make his request known. Even if he lives in an apartment, he can purchase one of the meal plans.

Have you contacted anyone in the housing department? I would just call and see what the situation is.

Also:

  1. Come to our office: 7th Floor of Howe
  2. Call us: (201) 216 - 5128
  3. E-Mail Us: Reslife@stevens.edu
  4. Tweet Us: StevensResLife
  5. G-Chat Us: Stevens.ResLife@ (no spaces) gmail.com
  6. Facebook: Stevens ORL Reslife

I wouldn’t use the links on their Stevens housing page. I tried one and it was a bad link.

17

@rualum I heard as well that about 1/2 of next year’s sophomore class doesn’t have confirmed housing - clearly Stevens will be renting more apartments over the summer in preparation for this - heard they will be advised before the semester starts where they will be living - also heard last year there were some students at the W hotel for a few weeks prior to their rooms being ready for move in. The only way to expand the school is to let more freshman in and have on campus housing, so more students are being pushed off…I’m sure they will all have beautiful apartments - but certainly at a higher cost than on campus housing…

18

Wow, that’s a lot. Too bad they didn’t think about the additional housing needs when they accepted all the new freshmen, right?

Poor planning considering the money people are paying to go here.

Wow, I just checked out the current housing rates http://www.stevens.edu/sit/residence-life/stevens-housing-experience/housing-dining-rates

At least you can drop the meal plan if you go off campus. I know parents are afraid for their kids to have to cook, but there is takeout galore in Hoboken, and it’s still cheaper than buying a meal plan. Fill in with some easy to make stuff. The meal plan gets old quickly for most kids.

19

If you live off campus does that mean you are not guaranteed housing by Steven’s?

20

Is housing guaranteed for all 4 years?