<p>This is from a blog called Onward State. Given the conversations about how off-campus housing works, I thought it might be of interest....</p>
<p>greenbutton- thanks for posting. Sounds crazy! </p>
<p>So what do freshmen do (who’ve been at Penn State all of a month), who are still getting used to college, and probably havent even thought about where they want to live next year, or with whom? If they sign up for on-campus housing for the following year, when do they find out if they get their housing, and if they don’t, are they relegated to the worst apartments (since the good ones got taken in September)?</p>
<p>My DS did not get the on campus housing he had hoped for his junior year. I believe he found out in the spring. He talked to people, probably put something up on facebook, and found two friends from a club he’s in to live with. They found a 3 BR duplex north of campus, nice enough with a patio, washer/dryer and storage for bikes. It was a bit of a hike to campus, but nothing terrible. This year he’s in a house on Foster, about four blocks from campus. It is a 4 BR, but like most of those places, permitted for three, so they have an extra bedroom. Big living room, eat-in kitchen. They are a nerdy bunch and their desktop computers are all set up in the dining room like a communal study hall. It’s a great place; they signed the lease in May. (He would never want to live on Beaver, which appears to have been the goal of the blogger. That is where chaos does sometimes literally ensue.)</p>
<p>I don’t understand why parents worry about this so much. There are over seven thousand freshman and they pretty much all figure it out. It’s part of growing up; they handle it.</p>
<p>1moremom- reassuring to hear your son had no trouble finding housing that he liked. So what is the deal with the “chaos” and camping out overnight for housing if there is plenty to go around?</p>
<p>There are a number of apartment buildings (mostly) downtown which apparently are highly coveted by a segment of the student population; among them are in the high-rises in the area known as Beaver Canyon. They are close to the night life as well as campus. (This area is also the bane of the State College PD as there are often alcohol-related problems there.)</p>
<p>According to CollegeBoard there are more than 45,000 students at University Park. Even if all the freshman and sophomores (assuming classes of about 7500) lived on campus that would leave 30,000 students looking for off campus housing. (Granted, there are upper classmen in the dorms, but there are many sophomore who are not; to make the math easy, I’m considering that a wash.) Even if there are a thousand students queuing up (which I doubt), there are still 29,000 who do not feel it is necessary to find a suitable place to live.</p>
<p>so are you saying that apart from those certain “coveted” apartments there is generally not much competition for housing at Penn State so that a person searching for an apartment in the spring can get something just as nice as a person who signs a lease in the fall?</p>
<p>I’m not saying there is not competition or that the things available in the spring will be as nice (or cheap) as what’s available in the fall. But our experience has been that it is not a crisis if you do not participate in the “chaos” and line up your housing so far in advance. (I have yet to see a student sleeping on the street, with the obvious exceptions.)</p>
<p>[Students</a> brave weather, camp out for apartments - The Daily Collegian Online](<a href=“http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/09/27/students_seeks_apts_early.aspx]Students”>http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2011/09/27/students_seeks_apts_early.aspx)</p>
<p>And from today’s Daily Collegian (the PSU student paper). The notable thing here is that the housing fair has been moved to October (it has been in January, to accomodate incoming grad students who usually arrive then) which would make everything simpler. </p>
<p>1moremom is correct: things aren’t as cheap, nice, or available if you wait until spring. However, this traditional campout is by no means vital to securing an apartment, but it is part of life. The single best thing any student can do when it comes to apartments is find people to live with and then find a place you can afford. Rents are going up again as the newest places have raised the rent ceiling a bit.</p>