Hi, I am planning to enroll into De Anza College for Winter 2016 quarter (January - March) . However, I do not know anyone there, and I realize apartments there are too expensive. Since I don’t have a car, I need to find a walking distance place to stay that is very affordable and near to the college. I am hoping that my place is not more than a $300 as I don’t think I can find a job right away when I arrive in Cupertino. I have to pay off my rent from my own pocket as financial aid did not provide me enough to pay for that. I don’t mind sharing a room with another female or a house with guys or girls, as long as it is very affordable and walking distance to De Anza college. I have tried to think of every possible way and take action into finding something like what I had mention but still it did not work out. What can I do?
A cheap place to live in Cupertino?
An affordable place. I don’t mind sharing a room. It is just a place for me to sleep through the night.
Not knowing what you’ve tried: have you looked through Craigslist or other online sites? I know there’s a few bus stops at De Anza (different parts of campus), so would you consider renting/sharing a room further away from campus, or outside Cupertino altogether, and ride the bus? I’m positive De Anza offers a “free” bus pass called EcoPass. I say free, but I think you have to pay a one-time $5 fee or something. You should be able to find the details on De Anza’s website to be sure. You can live further away where you may find a more affordable rent and bus into campus each day.
Check the DeAnza college ULoop, as well as their housing assistance web site. All of those areas tend to be very expensive around Cupertino.
Why De Anza for one quarter? Is there some other community college in a less expensive area that you can attend to take whatever course(s) you want to take?
1 BR apts in Cupertino start around $2500. De Anza housing might go as low as $1200 for a Studio or $1500 for the 1 BRs. You might get down to $600 or $700 for a shared bedroom somewhere, somehow.
Yeah, cheap and the Silicon Valley don’t go hand in hand. Many commute from Tracy or Modesto.
Why there?
Thanks for all your suggestion and advices. I know it sounds silly when I said that I want to find a place to stay that is is within my budget and being in Cupertino, but I really want to give it a try, I to be able to go to class and focus better without feeling overwhelming.
The main reason I choose De Anza is because it is one of the college that as the highest transfer rate to UC Berkeley, which is m dream uni for completing my Computer Science degree. Secondly, I figure if I get an associate degree there, I can at least start getting a co-op or internship with reputable company that may build up my future career.
De Anza’s articulation for UCB CS is not very good; there are too many uncovered courses, so that you would need to take a lot of “catch up” courses after transfer.
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=DAC&ia=DAC&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=CS-AB
Laney (Oakland) and/or Diablo Valley (Pleasant Hill) cover the UCB CS courses better:
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=LANEY&ia=LANEY&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=CS-AB
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=DIABLO&ia=DIABLO&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=CS-AB
Your plan is silly - Visit the place, tour some apartments (none will be anywhere near your price range but, go look for yourself) Change your budget or change your location… Sac City and American River College send a good number of transfers to UCB and Sacramento is closer to your budget.
Oddly, http://www.assist.org says that ARC covers UCB CS 61B, but SCC has only partial coverage, even though they are both in the same CC district and have the same courses and course numbers.
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=ARC&ia=ARC&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=CS-AB
http://www.assist.org/web-assist/reportOnly.do?agreement=aa&reportPath=REPORT_2&reportScript=Rep2.pl&event=19&dir=1&rinst=left&EM=1&sia=SCC&ia=SCC&ria=UCB&oia=UCB&ay=15-16&dora=CS-AB