<p>I knew this was going to be a challenge at some point back when my daughter first decided on Berkeley. She is currently a Freshman, and is trying to convince me that she should move into a house with 5-6 roommates next year. She has been in one of the Units and came home for Spring break with pink eye. I personally think the co-ed bathrooms are pretty disgusting. She isn't spoiled or a prima donna by any means, but she really wants out of the dorms.</p>
<p>But I am very nervous about this house rental idea. The house is almost 4 K per month plus utilities, to be shared by 5-6 housemates. The landlord wants one or 2 names at most on the lease. It is a one year lease, meaning she has to pay all summer when she may or may not be there. I picture the landlords as preying on all the college students that know little or nothing about leases and renting. what happens if one or two of the roomates flake in some way and the rest are on the hook for their rent???</p>
<p>I had kind of hoped she would look into sororities just as a good housing option if nothing else, but apparetnly it's too late for that...or the co-ops. she says the co-ops have naked dinners and all smoke weed.</p>
<p>She claims NO sophs live in the dorms. I just need some help here. I'm having trouble communicating with her and understanding the situation. She is on financial aid and I'm a single parent with limited income.</p>
<p>well, I kind of suspected she was using that for "dramatic emphasis"..so what dorms are good for sophs??? do they have priority in getting better dorms, nicer rooms, singles, whatever?? did she miss the sign-up??</p>
<p>just trying to sort thru out the facts from the drama..</p>
<p>She's messing with you and the application period is long over. Offers starting coming out last week. First 2 yrs supposedly guaranteed, second year, first in the selection round. Check out another thread on the subject from last week if u can find it in the new admit threads. If your daughter gets financial aid, you also need to check to see what f.a. will pay for and what it won't.</p>
<p>sweeellll...I had a feeling this was going in the wrong direction.
can anyone point me to the thread you mention? i did a number of searches on "housing" and "apartments" and didn't find anything.
she does get financial aid so I will check that aspect too</p>
<p>S is a soph and this year is living in a house with 5 other guys. We were worried at first, too but it has worked out fine. They 6 guys are on the lease, as well as all 6 parents co-signing.I made sure I was there when they did the "walk-through" before they moved in since I was officially on the lease. The place was a pig-sty when they moved in but apparently guys don't seem to care about that. There are sophs that live in the dorms, but most everyone of my S's friends moved out to apts or houses their sophmore year.</p>
<p>COA is lower, but not horribly lower for living off campus
The actual expenses are usually less, even for renting year round, than the dorms. The dorms are very expensive.</p>
<p>MY D has done a rental house (rent for the house = $10k monthly, 15-20 girls shared, each room had a separate lease agreement, so you were only on the line for your room) and sorority house (very simple) both.,</p>
<p>Search here for threads on what can go wrong with leases to make sure you cover your bases.</p>
<p>I would want every single person on thhe lease or i would choose ot be the one NOT on the lease. The critical factor is the roommates you pick- are they going to stick it out, will there be drama and people moving out?</p>
<p>Thank you so much everyone! Denise c..did she need to apply for the oncampus housing or as a continuing student will she automatically get an offer???
I really really appreciate the ideas about leases..because d has been talking with a landlord who wanted just one person or 2 max on the lease, and she had asked me if I would be that one person!!! This landlord just sounds a little predatory to me..so it's good to know other options exist for leases.</p>