<p>My S2 is in The Retreat at Lake Tamaha (which is like a resort…seriously!)…I think we pay about $525 a month for his share of the 5 bedroom cottage (each unit is a separate home). </p>
<p>Keep in mind that apts are for 12 months, so that is a consideration. But, we don’t have move out/move in issue this year! yeah! And, son will be on campus this summer anyway. </p>
<p>Some people sub-let their apts over the summer for “summer school students”.</p>
<p>Seriously, my son rarely comes home even tho we only live 2 1/2 hours away. And one of his roomies’ family lives in T-town, yet the kid lives at this place! </p>
<p>Did you watch all the changing/flashing pics? that pool is amazing…something you’d see at a fancy hotel.</p>
<p>We stayed there during graduation last August (delayed to Aug because of spring tornado), and it was like being on vacation!</p>
<p>Yes, you have to be admitted to UA in order to initiate housing contract and put in housing deposit. Someone said you get all but $25 back from housing if you change your mind. Keep in mind that current $200 UA tuition prepayment deposit IS NON-REFUNDABLE, tho. And you can’t have 1 w/out the other, so…apply to UA early (late summer)…and then put in housing deposit Oct 1. The non-refundable tuition deposit is still good ‘insurance’ if you need guaranteed best on-campus housing options.</p>
<p>Thanks to all who are giving advice on subsequent years housing options. I guess I better start gathering data on that process…it’s never ending, this college stuff! Sounds like kids can live a LOT cheaper after Freshman year - this is encouraging.</p>
<p>That would be a yes, Chardo. If you haven’t seen them they really aren’t “cottages” like you and I would think of at all. They are very nice and I think this term is more of a marketing reference to the style/layout.</p>
<p>Here is the link for East Edge in case anyone is interested also.</p>
<p>Lot’s of good options – But having to put 3 through UA (all will be Honors), – we just couldn’t bite the bullet on 100K + Dorm fee and still have to vacate Christmas and move out and back in each year.</p>
<p>We started looking a couple of years ago and purchased a 3 BR garden home (3 years old) for $112K. </p>
<p>We are renting out a room for $400 per month (includes utilities/cable/etc.) or $4K per year (two free months) and roomie doesn’t have to move out.</p>
<p>It is a little bit of a drive (about 15 minutes to class barring no traffic snarls) – but our girls drive further than that to high school now.</p>
<p>We will incur a parking fee though – we are putting a bike rack on daughters car and let her carry a bike to get to/from commuter parking lot.</p>
<p>Girls will miss the first year bonding in dorms, but hey… RTR!!!</p>
<p>Sorry, I had to chuckle about the price comparison on that Retreat website. They have VERY OLD info on dorm suite prices! They list Riverside (and other suites) as costing $3475 -how long ago was that?! Wow, those suites are now costing $4400 per semester, a 26% increase over time. What is current pricing for Retreat? (all of this info is under Parent Tab somewhere)</p>
<p>Yep Mom2, saw the pool Id be afraid in addition to never coming home that hed never go to class!!! </p>
<p>Bamagirls, East Edge is beautiful too. Is all of the area surrounding campus so new? The housing Ive seen on the outskirts of most campuses looks borderline ghetto! </p>
<p>Aeromom, this is what concerns me. Not just at UA, but how costs are rising so quickly everywhere. Our wages certainly arent going up like that. It is what it is, but I’d like to have a plan A and B. Its nice to know what other options are out there. </p>
<p>OK, so really $225 is non-refundable and he should do it in October way before he knows about his other options - hmmm. I hope we dont have to do this for all the schools hes applying to chaching, chaching, chaching!</p>
<p>^^^No, not all of it is new. As with any college town or any town for that matter, there are both more and less desirable places around. The great thing is there are very nice and affordable options out there for the students who want them. Not to be insensitive, but some needed facelifts and makeovers are occurring around town due to the tornado damage and then there are student driven projects going up also. There is something for everyone/every budget if one looks.</p>
<p>I obviously can’t say for sure, but I’m wondering if the Super Suites housing prices recent jumps will now level off for awhile (at least not big increases).</p>
<p>I know that some of the increase is due to some damage that was done to Ridgecrest South South Tower last year by some rowdy kids and so the school repaired and then installed additional cameras to deter these shenanigans (cameras are wonderful ) The cameras were also installed to deter fire alarm pulls by some bratty students.</p>
<p>While the costs seem outrageous, they’re actually quite inline for other schools’ newer suites-style housing. My sister has been paying $8800+ each year for her kids’ housing at their colleges and my brothers are paying crazy prices for TRIPLES (3 kids shoved in a tiny room) at UCs…and the UC dorms aren’t new either. :(</p>
<p>I think security costs (police, cameras, 24 hr desks) and utility costs are driving up costs.</p>
<p>We paid $4300 a year for S1 at a midwest flagship state school, but this was your traditional small room for two (a bed, desk, desk, bed is on one wall, and about 3 feet away from the foot of the beds are the dressers/closets) and the bathroom is shared by the hall. Actually S1 doesn’t have a problem with this. I know S2 though picked UA in part because of the suites…to bad the cost is twice as much.</p>
<p>Different schools have different policies. Frankly, I’d be surprised if you had to do it for all of his schools. It’s not usually an issue at schools that don’t have rolling admissions because kids tend to hear at the same time. Also, not all schools require that you make a non-refundable enrollment deposit in order to make the housing deposit. In fact, of my D’s schools, Bama was the only one that required that. Most of them had a non-refundable portion of the housing deposit, but it wasn’t as large as $225.</p>
<p>My D applied to 5 schools and there were 2 where housing was first come, first served, 2 where it didn’t matter because everyone who made the deposit by March 1 went into the same lottery, and 1 where it mattered for private certified housing but not for regular university housing. She got into 3 of her schools fairly early (October) and the other two by Christmas. She wasn’t prepared to make a final decision without hearing from all her schools, so I agreed to make one deposit in October. We were willing to walk away from one deposit, but not multiple deposits. She had all the information she needed to choose among the schools that had already accepted her at that point, so I saw no reason for her not to make a choice among the 3. The deposit date for the other 2 schools was March 1, and at that point she had all her acceptances so that was the date she had to make her final college decision. </p>
<p>When Bama room selection time rolled around, D was VERY happy she had made her deposit early. She ended up being pulled into a suite by a roommate, but because she had a good selection time she didn’t have to rely on finding a roommate to pull her in.</p>
<p>*We paid $4300 a year for S1 at a midwest flagship state school, but this was your traditional small room for two (a bed, desk, desk, bed is on one wall, and about 3 feet away from the foot of the beds are the dressers/closets) and the bathroom is shared by the hall. *</p>
<p>Yes, those kind of dorms are available at Bama for about $5k per year. </p>
<p>I do wish Bama did have an Honors version of this kind of low cost housing. It’s too bad that the hall that will be built to replace Rose won’t be Honors and have a floor or two with that kind of low cost standard double housing. (or will the next hall be honors?)</p>
<p>Yes it would be nice if there were “honors” rooms to choose from that were not the $8800 super suites. Even if Burke had an honors section or floor that would help.</p>
<p>At the University of South Carolina their newest dorm is the Honors Residence Hall and it is what they call a suite style hall but most of the rooms are a shared bedroom type room, with 4 students sharing a bathroom. It was built in 2009, is VERY nice and it runs $5640/year.</p>
<p>They tell us we have to be out within 24 hours of our last exam, but I’m banking on the fact that they are not actually checking each student’s exam schedule. I would think as long as you’re out by May 5, you’d be okay.</p>
) The cameras were also installed to deter fire alarm pulls by some bratty students.</p>