<p>I've applied for UF admissions for fall of 2009 and i've not been accepted yet but i'm currently searching for housing. i don't really want to live in on-campus dorms b/c i don't really want to share a bathroom with 30+ other people and because of other reasons. i've become really interested in the courtyards but after reading the reviews i'm not so sure anymore. people are saying that it's a really party place, noisy, etc. but then i found windsor hall and ivy house and they had bad reviews too. i'm so confused on what to do. i wanted to go to the courtyards because it was walking distance to UF and it looked okay but i don't know anymore. i've been trying to rush to find a place i know i want to stay in because people are saying that if i don't hurry i won't have a place to stay. </p>
<p>can someone give me advice on what i should do? </p>
<p>is the courtyards really that bad of a place? windsor hall? ivy house? how is the walking distance to UF?</p>
<p>are the on campus dorms apartment suites any good? </p>
<p>should i consider the apartments/condos around UF? </p>
<p>im sorry for all the question but im really confused and worried right now.</p>
<p>Ive lived at the courtyards and in MY experience, I couldn't WAIT to get out. Sure the price and location CANNOT be beat, but I just did not like the conditions of the place and (I know this is florida and there are insects everywhere) I did not enjoy finding roaches in my apt. every so often. </p>
<p>If you do not mind noise from the parties and random late night jam sessions, you should be fine. Also, I was looking for something more updated and well maintained and didn't feel the courtyards met my expectations. </p>
<p>If you can afford something more expensive like Camden Courts, Windsor Hall or the Ivy House, I'd recommend that because those places are SOO much nicer (and clean!) </p>
<p>The draw back for Windsor hall is its located a few blocks further (I believe 9th st?) from campus (13th st borders campus) so walking back at night would be not the best....
Camden courts is in the same price range as Windsor and its located on 12th i believe, literally half a block from teh courtyards and it is SO much nicer, if I could afford it I'd live there. </p>
<p>As far as apt on campus, you have Beaty, Lakeside and Keys. Beaty is just kinda gross and small. You share one bathroom with 4 people. Great if you want to be relatively close to everything on campus though.
Lakeside is on campus, but usually you'll bike or take a bus to your classes because it is far from the "central" part of campus. Its nice, rooms are small, there are two bathrooms to share between four people.
Keys is the same set up as Lakeside, only its on the west side of campus. (but closer to campus than Lakeside. you wouldnt need to take the bus to get to campus.) </p>
<p>Hope this was helpful, if you have anymore questions let me know. =)
good luck!</p>
<p>Well first off thank you for your reply. after reading everything i'm definitely ruling out The Courtyards. I think that i just picked it b/c of its closeness to the school. </p>
<p>camden courts is just too expensive for me. so definitely not camden.</p>
<p>windsor and ivy sounds really nice and something i would like but i'm just not sure about the distance from the school. do people drive to school if they live around there? like where do you park?</p>
<p>The keys sound nice too. can i walk to classes if i live there? </p>
<p>& i was wondering if you knew when i would apply for housing if i wanted to live in the apartment style suites on the on-campus dorms? it'd be the same for any other on-campus dorms right? </p>
<p>do you have any other suggestions about living arrangements for going to UF? any good apartments, ideas, etc.???</p>
<p>You're going to find both good and bad reviews for virtually every apartment complex in Gainesville, particularly the ones targeted at students. Most are poorly maintained, cheaply furnished, and are incredibly noisy - that's just what it is. Things nearer to campus are generally more expensive but not necessarily nicer, as you're paying for the convenience of being able to walk to campus as opposed to taking a bus. My advice would be, if at all possible, to take a trip out to Gainesville once you're accepted and tour the complexes you might be interested in. </p>
<p>You're probably too late to get apartment-style housing on campus. It's extremely in-demand and is very difficult to get as a freshman, even if you're one of the first housing applicants.</p>
<p>And I wouldn't worry about rushing to find a place at all. Really, you're probably better off waiting until next summer. A number of people who got accepted last year rushed out as soon as they got their admissions letters and got an apartment for the following year, and then were upset to find that, once summer rolled around, half the apartments were still up for lease and the complexes were throwing in some pretty good incentives (free rent, free television, etc.).</p>
<p>I agree with ^^^. My daughter signed a lease on her apartment in April and couldn't find a roommate for months. It turns out that there were many half empty apartments in the same building and everyone was dropping their rents by summer time just to get someone in with them! The economic situation is such that there is a glut of housing in Gainesville. There will be plenty of good apartments in late spring and summer, many with added incentives thrown in.</p>
<p>That's one of the reasons I stayed on-campus. I prefer not to deal with the stress of leases, finding a roommate, transportation to school (if you dont live on a bus route), etc.</p>
<p>well i would live on-campus but i just don't like the whole idea of sharing a bathroom with dozens and dozens of other people and stuff like that. ahhh. i just don't know right now. && i won't be able to apply for on-campus housing till after i receive my acceptance letter which is in february.</p>
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well i would live on-campus but i just don't like the whole idea of sharing a bathroom with dozens and dozens of other people and stuff like that. ahhh. i just don't know right now. && i won't be able to apply for on-campus housing till after i receive my acceptance letter which is in february.
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<p>Oh, I understand. I was just stating my reasoning for staying on. I know people that loved living off-campus, just wasn't for me.</p>
<p>I don't think you should rule out Beaty Towers. I'm here right now, and it's definitely not as horrible as everyone makes it out to be (of course, depending on your roommates, but that goes for apartments, too).</p>
<p>I posted this a while back in response to someone else's question:
I'm in Beaty right now, and I have to say, I love it! Classes are within a 10-15 walking distance, and it's close to the other dorms/most of the important campus stuff. Yes, the rooms are smaller than the traditional style dorms, but the common room/kitchenette compensates for that (which is great if you're like me and stay up late/don't want to wake your roommate). Plus you only share a bathroom with 3 other people.
As for social needs: My actual room is really social; we eat dinner together/leave our doors open/etc. Our floor? Not so much. It really depends on the floor, as I've gone down to friends on other floors which were much friendlier. If social is your priority, go with the traditional, but I honestly don't feel like I've been missing out on meeting anybody.</p>
<p>As for off-campus: Look into University House, it's up 13th street/not that far from campus (walking distance)</p>
<p>I feel like an annoying spammer so I apologize. But I'm offering a great deal for my apartment lease, Ill pay for December, January and February and the lease runs out in July so you'd only have a 5 month lease. gainesville place is a good apartment complex to check out. But if you're not interested still look into taking someone's lease because many people are offering their leases at nice places and are willing to offer a month or two of free rent so you can really find a good bargain.</p>
<p>For off-campus I'd definitely look northeast (near 13th and University) rather than on Archer. There ARE apartments there, although not the ones with all the amenities they sell to kids in the huge complexes. There are swimming pools and gyms on campus, and if you can WALK to campus easily, you may just use those. There's no parking on campus, and having to use the buses really cuts down on the ability to be really involved on campus, IMO.</p>
<p>My son lived at Gainesville Place and Oxford Square (place?) before finding an apartment in a small building (maybe 8 apartments) at 9th and University. It was perfect.</p>
<p>Youngest son will be on campus if at all possible, at least for freshman year. My other son has been on-campus at his school, and had a much better freshman experience than my off-campus Gator son.</p>
<p>I want to stay off-campus but i guess i'm just afraid about the walking distance to class. </p>
<p>can anyone give me some information on the ivy house as well? </p>
<p>P.S. i've applied for UCF and UF and i'm kind of at a lost as to which i want to go too. if i go to UCF then i can live at home and save a lot of money (i'd go to UF later on for graduate school), be closer to my family and friends. but then again i want to go to UF because well...its UF, and i'd have some distance from my family. i'm so confused and lost.</p>
<p>thank you so much to everyone who is helping me out with this. im so sorry for being annoying with all my questions. ^_^</p>
<p>This will all be a moot point if you are not accepted at UF. Stop wasting your time and energy thinking about this now. There will be PLENTY of housing of all price ranges in February if you get accepted to UF and decide to attend.</p>
<p>the thing is that a lot of people are telling me if i want to live in a off-campus dorm i better reserve a place for myself fast or there will be no spaces left by the time i do (or if) i receive an acceptence letter.</p>
<p>^^that might be true about on-campus housing but not off-campus housing.</p>
<p>Off-campus housing is seasonal. Leases generally run from August to August, so there will definitely be a lot of places available for move in during that month. If you were trying to move in during the middle of the semester you'd have a problem.</p>
<p>Just take a look at trimark properties website and you'll see that most places are "Full until Fall 2009", (which means August) including the off-campus dorms.</p>
<p>If it was the case that all of these places filled up before you got admitted, what do you think all of the other incoming freshmen who are in your situation year-after-year do? They certainly don't go homeless.</p>
<p>"Just take a look at trimark properties website and you'll see that most places are "Full until Fall 2009", (which means August) including the off-campus dorms."</p>
<p>Not true. Trimark's website is uber misleading. Full until Fall 2009 means that there are no entire apartments available until August 9 2009....ALL Trimark leases end on July 30th. There are PLENTY of Trimark private bedrooms/private bathrooms within any of their apartment complexes available NOW. Just check out their own sublease website:</p>
<p>If you were looking to rent a private bedroom and bath, you can do it anytime, any location depending on what you wish to pay. If you have any problem finding this stuff just ask...it is a renters market right now. There are tons of people both on the sublease site above and on craigslist that are so desperate to rent/sublet their apartments that they are cutting the rent and throwing in all sorts of perks (like utilities and cable).</p>
<p>Ooops. Just realized I misread what UofF was saying....basically the same as me. No rush to get off campus housing now! There will be plenty to choose from after you are accepted. Sorry for my unecessary post.</p>
<p>thank you so much for all your answers! all of it was really helpful. </p>
<p>in your opinion which housing would be better for incoming frehsman between the ivy house (off-campus dorm) or one of the apartment style on campus dorms? i'm talking about walking to class distance, housing location, etc.</p>
<p>After son#1's experience off-campus, and son#2's experience on-campus, if son#3 is accepted to UF but doesn't get on-campus housing for freshman year, he's going somewhere else. It's a real deal-breaker for us. He'll be living on-campus somewhere his freshman year.
YMMV.</p>