I recently just got admitted to Cal Poly Pomona with a major of Mechanical Engineer. I am transferring from a Community College, specifically LACC. I have lived with my parents all my life and this will be my first time living without my family. I still have the option to commute with a car, about 1hour of commute from my parents to campus. But, I don’t think I would enjoy commuting that long, I also don’t have my own car.
My other option is to live near the campus. I used zillow to search for the cost of apartments and they go around $800, too much for me. I am looking for $500 or less. So my parents and friends say that I would have to room with someone. (Is that the right term, “room with someone”? I’m trying to say to share the cost of the apartment or housing.)
So my question is…
(off-campus housing)
Is there a specific website/place to search for anyone needing a roommate around the area of Cal Poly Pomona?
What should be a good price point for me to consider?
Anyone have any tips or guides to finding a good, cheap apartments or rooms?
Anyone that attends Cal Poly Pomona or are residents near there have any warnings or the places to be cautious off, either because of dangers and stuff like that.
I haven’t dared to look at the in-campus housing (I think it is expensive), but should I consider it?
My orientation is in 3 months, so I am also trying to prepare any questions to ask during orientation.
(Programs in CPP)
6. Are there any programs that I should know or ask about as a Transfer student?
7. In LACC they provided many free things such as book vouchers, does CPP have programs that provide free things?
8. Are there any programs that I should know or ask about as a Mechanical Engineer?
9. Anyone know about the situation in CPP where they will be changing to a semester system to a quarter system? Anything I should be aware of about this?
10. Anything else that I should know about?
Hello there!
I haven’t gotten accepted to CPP yet, but if so, I am planning to attend as a freshman.
As for housing and finding a roommate, try seeing if there’s a Cal Poly Pomona fb group for your class. My class is 2021, so I would search “cal poly pomona class of 2021.” If you find an official fb page, then you might want to post a bit about yourself, and also note that you’re looking for a roommate but for off campus housing.
If you can’t find an fb group, try posting on Craigslist or Reddit. Don’t know much about those two sites, but I believe the best way is to try and find a fb group for your class.
I live about 10 minutes away from CPP so I know the area well. It just depends on which part of the city you’re looking to live in. For example, Walnut and Phillips Ranch, where CPP is located in between, is very safe in regards to crime activity and has a quiet, suburban vibe to it. If you’re looking to live in Pomona, try searching somewhere that’s near Chino at least. If Chino is too far for you, I would recommend finding good but cheap apartments near the Walnut area, possibly even near Diamond Bar since some places can be cheap. Try using apartmentguide.com, or simply search “Apartments near Walnut, CA”
I’m not sure if any of what I said answered your questions about housing and finding a roommate, but I hope that it gives you a bit of an insight. The area that CPP is very safe and pretty, it’s just that some parts of Pomona can get a bit ghetto.
Thanks so much for the tips, definitely answered most of the housing questions. I found a CPP reddit area. Seems like a good source to find other CPP students and ask questions.
(Search reddit Cal Poly Pomona.)
I found a facebook group for 2020, but its a closed group, I requested to join though. Do they request a proof or something to join? Not sure how this works. Besides that, I kept finding roomsurf facebook groups…is roomsurf trustworthy?
Still difficult to find apartments under $500, so yeah hope the facebook thing works to find roommates.
They do not request proof. At least for me, when I joined SJSU & UCR’s Class of 2021 group, they didn’t ask for me for anything. SJSU’s group was public, but I had to request to join the UCR group. Once you get accepted, look into the posts and see if anyone has posted about finding a roommate off campus.
Make sure that you and your roommate(s) are compatible. For example, you want to talk to them about your cleanliness, hygiene, whether you’ll be in the apartment for a prolonged time (ex. if you’re on break and you want to visit home for a few weeks, or if you want to stay at the apartment)
I’m guessing these are just the basic questions to ask because it makes the most sense. For example, let’s say once your lease term ends, you want to move out to a cheaper apartment or a better apartment nearby. That means whoever moves out of the apartment last will have to clean out the apartment, make sure there’s no damage and repairs to be done, etc. Sometimes, finding a good roommmate is hard because they just don’t involve themselves to those rules, but for the most part, I haven’t heard of any crazy horror stories about apartment roommates.
Also, this is kind of a weird thing to say and it might make you uncomfortable, but make sure that your roommate(s) who are in a relationship (if they are in one) knows when to get intimate with their significant other. Basically, make sure you talk to them and place an emphasis about whether you guys want to let each other bring in visitors or not. Whether those people are your roommates’ significant other or other friends of their own, talk to your roommate(s) and see if you guys are willing to let each other bring in visitors during certain times of the week/day.
I’m not even in college so I might not have stated everything I know or heard from others, so I might be missing out on a few points.
And yeah, it’s extremely difficult to find an apartment nearby for $500. What’s your maximum budget for housing per month? If you can find a roommate, would that $500 go up to $1000? Or are you trying to find a place at $500 for 2 people?
Honestly, if you really do not like the fb group, I’d recommend posting on Craigslist or on your own FB. I’ve never used Craigslist before, and yes there are some scams going on, but be specific in your post. You can say “serious people only, reply with your full name and birthdate” or something like that to make sure you don’t get those bot responses.
I’d also recommend bringing a friend on the side in case something goes wrong when you meet up with the person who wants to be your roomie.
I don’t think it will be that hard to find a compatible roommate. As long as they abide to the rules you come up with, and as long as you are pretty open about what they have to say, you should be perfectly fine.
Also, try Padmapper for finding apartments nearby the area. A lot of my older college friends found really great deals on monthly rent in good areas.
I haven’t gotten into the group yet, but in my previous post I meant to say that i kept on finding roomsurf as a facebook group. Didn’t know if that was trustworthy.
On the other note, I haven’t prepared any questions to ask potential roommates, you have good points on that.
And my budget is $500 for myself, so I can pitch or share at most $500 to pay for rent with another or myself.
Should I look for open groups on facebook or closed?
@slydez $500 is just decent. If you have a roommate that can also pitch in $500, I’m sure you’ll be faced with a few options, but it’ll still be hard. I would say in general, the CPP area is cheaper than LA but still very expensive. From what I know, almost all the areas near CPP starts off with $1,200-$1,500 for a 1 bedroom. I’ve lived in Chino Hills before and for a 2 bed, it was about $1,800. You might think that’s a lot but where I’m living now in LA, my parents pay more than $2500 for a 2 bedroom apartment. I’m not sure if I have found or heard of a place below $1,000. Possible in the Pomona area if you’re down to live there. I’ve been there once for the DMV, and I found that Pomona kind of reminds me of the Westlake/MacArthur Park area of LA (down Wilshire blvd) minus all the buses and people walking on the streets. So, if you can somehow increase your $500 to a bit more, I think it would be sufficient for housing.
Let me put it to you this way. I found out for myself how financial aid works yesterday. I was curious as to how my financial aid package would look like, so I did some research. Basically, financial aid does not cover housing. Whether that’s on campus or off campus. If living off campus, your financial aid decreases a bit from the COA (cost of attendance).
Tuition is paid for by grants if qualified by your income and FAFSA, and other fees are paid by any grants from the UC or Cal State you go to. UC and CSU housing costs will generally be in the same price range. I’m debating between SJSU and UCR at the moment, and both housing costs around ~$16,600 for a school year.
With monthly rent and living off campus however, that housing cost can decrease drastically. With $500 as your monthly budget, I’m not quite sure if you would be able to find a decent place to live. I may be wrong, so let me know if you disagree with anything I say.
I don’t have prior experience to housing costs and whatnot because I’m barely an incoming freshman, but I did learn from my older college friends. If you are willing to find a summer job or work a little bit while attending CPP, I’m sure you could cover all housing costs with a roommate without taking out loans if that’s what your main financial goal is.
I just looked over your post and the questions you asked on this thread here. Congrats on getting accepted to CPP! They have a great engineering program here. My coworker’s boyfriend goes here for Mechanical Engineering as a 4th year, and already has found an engineering job with a company in LA.
-As for on campus housing, you can think about it. If you can afford it in any way (by taking loans, having your parents contribute if that’s an option, or by working while in school) then you should go for it. Easier access to campus and also will help you assimilate with college life. I believe CPP is more of a commuter school, just like any Cal State, so I don’t know if paying that much for on campus housing will be worth it.
-Not sure if CPP has things like book vouchers, but if you qualified for Cal Grant B, then your books and supplies will be covered by the cal grant, and the rest will be covered by Pell grants, SUG (state university grant), and the CPP grant, as well as other scholarships that you might qualify for. If you choose Cal Grant B, you will get the extra ~$1000 for books and supplies. Cal Grant A only covers 4 years of tuition. I think you could also use websites online that sell college textbooks for a cheaper price.
-Not sure about transfer programs, but you should look into their website for that.
-Cal Poly Pomona will be converting to the semester system for Fall 2018, according to several websites. You can call them and make sure.
-Other facts that you should know about:
Cal Poly Pomona has a 63% 6-year graduation rate, and a 91% retention rate which is good and means that students are satisfied with attending the school and doesn’t have any means of transferring.
PE is not required for CPP. At SJSU, PE is a requirement to graduate, so that’s new.