<p>Do people normally choose their roommates or go random for 2nd year housing if they decide to stay on-grounds?</p>
<p>I went random....duh. Worked out great. I would try to find a person, or two, that you know, and apply with them. And go for Lambeth.</p>
<p>is it true that if we want to live off campus we should start signing contracts asap?</p>
<p>ive heard multiple answers - orientation said that it is no rush, most other people say it is a rush. Other people say its not a rush b/c u don't want to get stuck with people you might not like in the future</p>
<p>I'm debating between Lambeth and someplace off grounds. Does anyone have any suggestions as to which is better for a second year, and what the best place off grounds is to live?</p>
<p>Um, right now most buildings haven't even begun asking who will and won't come back, so you probably won't even be able to sign a lease for another couple of weeks. Smaller places may go quickly, as the nicer/cheaper places. But, there's plenty of housing, so I would take your time. I did, and it worked out perfectly for me.</p>
<p>Canuck: Lambeth was fun, and the location is pretty good for the price. It's not upscale, and has its drawbacks, but it's cheaper, you're on-grounds, and you'll be primarily with other third years.<br>
As for off-grounds, I say live near the Corner if you're that type of person. PM me if you want my take on my place and others I know about, and let me know what you're looking for.</p>
<p>when my now graduated d went apartment shopping/signing in oct. of her second year, it definitely was a rush, right or wrong. yes, the school talks all warned against that, but the reality was that any delay hurt them. they were a fairly large group (6) and by the time they all looked, agreed, etc. the good ones were being signed away daily. if i didn't know this first hand, i'd think it a landlord trick, but it wasn't. bottom line: look quickly and wisely if you want a decent apt. off campus now. (unless things have changed in the past year.) good luck! P.S. because my d waited to be nice with some delaying roomies, she never got an awesome place til her 4th year, but then it was right off the Corner.</p>
<p>forgot to say one thing...the best housing my d had was when she "rushed" and got into an awesome house with no one she previously knew.</p>
<p>Just live in Brown its way better than everything</p>
<p>The IRC is a hidden jewel. And it's only been around for eight years, but aside from Brown and other special housing options like the Language Houses or whatever special housing they provide to special people like Echols scholars or something like that, we're probably the best-equipped in terms of facilities. Free food (so you can purchase cheaper dining plans), large-screen plasma screen, a constant community presence (i.e. not Hereford) and constant community events, along with computer labs and kitchens and the likelihood of your hallmates sharing whatever they cook ... and as an upperclassman you'll probably be able to live in singles or suites in Hoxton or Lewis. </p>
<p>The IRC isn't far from Lambeth, I think? We're right next to Alumni Hall. </p>
<p>Of course, I'm speaking as a first year who has only been here one month, and I don't know how much more privileges upperclassman housing has compared to first-year housing, but the IRC probably beats every first-year housing option big time, except for those special restricted options like Brown.</p>
<p>The IRC I think currently has close to a 100% acceptance rate, but we plan to run a major advertising thing this year -- since we're quite unknown, so it may get slightly more competitive next year. </p>
<p>And oh, did I mention we have a $30,000 budget this year that our Council and Committees appropriate to various things, like how we just bought Wii's and PS3's that are distributed among the floors? A huge problem of the financial wing of the Council has been deciding just how to spend all of it. Like, should we install our own water slide? Motion-sensor lighting in all the hallways and bathrooms? (Environmental sustainability / design committee's idea.) And we've already too many field trip outings every week.</p>
<p>Wooo Lambeth! I'm most likely going to live there because the people I want to live with don't want to move off grounds just yet. Sigh, maybe next year GrandMarc. maybe next year.</p>
<p>I don't really know who I want to live with just yet....is this a problem? lol</p>
<p>Galoisien,</p>
<p>You said "a constant community presence (i.e. not Hereford) "</p>
<p>I live in HEREFORD, and quite frankly it is pretty active and social. I also come from one of the biggest cities in the world so by me judging something as social and active, I do have pretty high expectations. I do not like how you accuse Hereford of not having a community presence, meaning you probably have never even been in our halls to know. My hall mates are all very close and very active in both school and our social lives. We are not nerds who never see the light of day but rather we are the dojo domination in the soccer fields, crazy events, etc. We even went to a party hosted by KSA/CSA at Szechuan as a group and had a blast. I'm sorry but I just get ticked off when people label us hereford people as anti-social, weird, whatever. Yes there are some, but the majority, and i am willing to bet, are more social than the average UVA person and maybe even you. I'm sorry Hereford does not have a $30,000 budget (may i also mention that the majority of my hall is OOS paying full tuition, and we haven't even complained about our budget), motion detectors, or whatever. Facilities wise, the IRC may be better, but social and people wise, there is no way for anyone to judge who is more like a community and who isnt</p>
<p>Okay. I take that back.</p>
<p>It's just that every time I've been down there it seems .... rather lonely and unbustling. </p>
<p>
[quote]
meaning you probably have never even been in our halls to know.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Well, I know from Orientation that the rooms look like jail cells and I can't imagine how you organise a community given the housing arrangement (especially for the folks in the basement) ... but okay okay I'm wrong. </p>
<p>Also, the upperclassmen that I know who lived in Hereford their first year thought it was pretty lonely. Biased sample, probably. Runk is a pretty nice dining hall though. Your defence is well-taken.</p>
<p>But the IRC does decidedly have a more multicultural presence. English is constantly spoken but I hear French, Chinese and Arabic spoken all the time (our three most common languages other than English). Spanish, Urdu/Hindi, Farsi, other Indo-Aryan languages, etc. are pretty common as well.</p>
<p>so....can someone answer my question??</p>
<p>luckyducky, don't worry, you've got time.</p>
<p>I agree, don't worry :) I don't even know what I'm doing next year yet, so fear not!</p>
<p>re: ducky: it's been, like, a month, how would you know who you want to room with yet?? geez. you'll figure it out. you have 2 months to apply for on-grounds housing and plenty of time to find an apt.</p>
<p>re: budget: the budget comes from a required activities fee you pay - i'm sure hereford has a similar budget that your governing body allocates. brown college has a similar budget so i would be highly skeptical that hereford does not also have money to spend on social events/etc. the math of 300 people in brown * $100 each = $30,000.</p>
<p>my daughter just got her on-grounds "offer" from housing and, unfortunately, it was her 4th choice - Dillard. she's not a happy camper. Grand Marc seems to be a highly desirable place off-grounds for many students, but sounds, especially with the high electric bills, that it might be out of reach for us. does anyone else have advice about other apartments which are 1) safe, 2) affordable, 3) no farther from the e-school than Lambeth (her first choice).</p>
<p>The high utility bills seem to be an issue with select apartments. We had issues with the power company reading the meter wrong, and they fixed it, and now were about $20/person/month in electricity, which is a standard amount amongst apartments. Also, most places require water or internet or something else, where as power is our only utility. I guarantee you that we use more water in our apartment than what our rent covers too =P</p>