Recommended Housing

Colleges & Universities University of Central Florida
1

<p>Which housing do you consider the better deal for summer and fall?</p>

<p>(1) Summer 2009:
Hercules/Nike Community | Double (Res Hall) | 10’ x 12’8" | $915
Hercules/Nike Community | Single (4/2 Apt) | 12’ x 8’9" | $1006
Hercules/Nike Community | Single (2/1 Apt) | ? | $1087
Lake Claire Apartments | Single (4/2 Apt) | 12’7" x 8’4" | $960</p>

<p>(2) Fall 2009 (according to '08-‘09 rates):
Hercules/Nike Community | Single (4/2 Apt) | 12’ x 8’9" | $2775
Lake Claire Apartments | Single (4/2 Apt) | 12’7" x 8’4" | $2650</p>

<p>or should I just go for the Towers:
Single (4/2 Apt) | 10’ x 12’8" | SUMMER: $2118 | FALL: $3310
PERKS: Full-size bed</p>

<p>Price wise this is what I have come up with:</p>

<p>For the summer it would only cost me $91 more to go for a single in a 4 bedroom apartment compared to a double. I think that it is worth it because there would be a kitchen, which means less eating out, which leads to saving more money. Also, it is a single, so more privacy.
But for $81 more than the 4/2 Apt I could get a 2/1 Apt. I can see some pros and cons to this, so this idea is up in the air.
Also, the Lake Claire Apartments are an option.</p>

<p>For the fall, the Lake Claire Apartments are $125 cheaper than the Hercules/Nike Community.</p>

<p>The Towers seem pretty expensive so I am not sure if that should even be an option.</p>

<p>This is where I need your help. I did my research but I am still oblivious to which apartment/community is “better.”</p>

<p>Let me explain my situation. I will not be bringing a car on campus so I will walking and using public transportation.</p>

<p>Which apartment/community is closer to everything? Or are they all centralized on campus with a walking distance to everything?</p>

<p>Which one do you recommend?</p>

<p>Also, I am going to be applying for the Honors College. Do accepted students get a discount on housing? Honors students live in the towers, right?</p>

<p>Please provide any additional information that you may have. Thank you!</p>

2

<p>I don’t believe that Freshman can have a Nike/Hercules apartment for fall (BUT you can have it for summer) In Fall it is reserved for upperclassmen.
My daughter was in the Nike/Hercules 4/2 apartment for summer 08 and is currently in Towers. She loved being in the academic village for summer. The kids were very social there and the pool is close to that area. She really likes having her own room but likes have roommates in the apartment. A 2/1 apartment may not have as much social interaction as you may like in your first college experience. The kids who lived at Lake Claire last summer also liked it very much.
She is VERY happy that she is in Towers for the school year though. It is MUCH nicer than academic village. The rooms are much bigger and newer. She loves having a full size bed. The kitchen is better (there is a dishwasher). It is right next to the new Knightros dining hall and Barnes and Nobles.
Any community at UCF is conveniently located. The school is laid out very well and she can walk anywhere within 20 minutes. Lake Claire is probably the closest to classes (with classroom 1 next to it).
Honors students do NOT get any housing discount but they get the option/priviledge of living in Tower 3 (the newest one) with all other honors students (which can be very convenient for study partners etc).
Only you and your family can decide what makes sense to you financial. We did not factor cost into our decisions but my daughter would not have done anything differently in retrospect.</p>

3

<p>DS#2 didn’t do the summer before freshman year, but is in his second year in the Towers honors housing. Loves it. </p>

<p>If DS#3 gets into honors (and his stats are marginally higher than his brother’s, so this seems likely) he’ll definitely do the 4/2 in the Towers.</p>

<p>The honors experience and housing is one of the biggest factors that in a potential choice between UF (we’ll know in February) and UCF. </p>

<p>I have former students in other housing on-campus at UCF. No matter what the housing choice, EVERYONE I know, (parents and students alike), is extremely happy with his or her UCF experience so far.</p>

4

<p>Thanks for the information.</p>

<p>When paying for housing-- that goes through financial aid also, right? Would the Stafford Loan cover it?</p>

<p>And since I am on the subject of financial aid, how long after acceptance does the fiancial aid information show up on myUCF? I have already filled out my FAFSA for the summer '09 term.</p>

<p>It states:

</p>

<p>and under Financial Aid Status it says:

</p>

5

<p>I’m in the honors towers building and while its a nice place, I’d actually recommend against it. It feels kind of far from campus, and the elevators, specifically in towers 3, have been giving everyone trouble. I live on the top floor and its not cool to have the occasional free fall in the elevator.</p>

<p>I’ve been to a few dorms since then and I think Lake Claire is the best choice for a first year. Its fairly close to everything.</p>

<p>The Academic Village housing is pretty far from everything but the gym and the area around it. Get a bike if you’re going to live there.</p>

<p>Also if your D or S is going to work out, towers is way too far to walk to and from the gym. </p>

<p>I think that in my next year I’ll end up going to Lake Claire, so that’s what I’d recommend overall.</p>

6

<p>For my freshman year, I lived in Libra, the cheapest dorm, and I really liked it. The rooms are huge compared to Hercules/Nike, and it was very social. Hercules is very far from the main campus in compared to Libra and Apollo. Now I love in Towers, which is a bit farther in comparison to my freshman dorm. I probably wouldn’t recommend towers for the first year, since there is zero socialization.</p>

7

<p>I live on the top floor of Tower III also, and there are definitely problems with the elevators. It’s only that tower also, the other three towers’ elevators work just fine.</p>

<p>I really don’t feel like I’m too far from anything on campus. The campus is laid out so well it really isn’t a problem. Plus, you’re only a few feet away from Knightro’s, the new dining hall, which is so much better than the Marketplace on the other side of campus.</p>

<p>As far as the gym goes, I haven’t been there yet simply because of the distance from Tower III. But if I had a bike, I would definitely go there. That’s probably something to bring back from Winter Break.</p>

<p>Overall, if you’re an honors student, I would still recommend the honors housing in Tower III. It’s much harder to get in than it used to be two years ago though, so you should pay the deposit if you want to have any chance of getting it. A waiting list for Tower III was started in March last year!</p>

8

<p>Don’t know if you still need it, but there are reviews for the dorms:
<a href=“http://www.5caps.com/dsearch.php?dorms=1&uni_id=1342&uni=University%20of%20Central%20Florida&page=1[/url]”>http://www.5caps.com/dsearch.php?dorms=1&uni_id=1342&uni=University%20of%20Central%20Florida&page=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;