<p>Go Bears, indeed. Have a good year, CA2006</p>
<p>CA2006:</p>
<p>Cal's a top school with a great reputation. Enjoy it there. And, go Bears(except against the Bruins).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Cal's a top school with a great reputation. Enjoy it there. And, go Bears(except against the Bruins).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think you mean especially against the Bruins. </p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>First, I think it would have been nice if the administrators let people know how they calculate the "estimated costs" for each school. I think these numbers are very crude and probably fairly inaccurate. For instance, look at the Berkeley housing rates chart.</p>
<p>Do they see what the average student pays? There are probably more students in triples than doubles (paying significantly less) because of the cost differences. I think it would have been far more helpful to give a range of prices, say the 25th to 75th percentile or something. I'm sure the other campus have different options as well, and I wonder how that was taken into account.</p>
<p>They also don't say much about what happens in the dorms- should they account for what the average student pays over his or her time in college to the university housing? Maybe not, but that seems worthwhile to me. Whether or not most students live on campus for four years as opposed to most students living on campus for all or most years seems worthwhile to mention.</p>
<p>my guess for estimated cost at UCLA is the average of all dorm costs (or at least the UCLA estimate is near the mean and median for dorming options). </p>
<p>this also means there are plenty of options less than the estimate. for example, i paid less than $9k last year for room and board, but i was living in a triple in a residence hall (public bathroom) with 14 meals/wk.</p>
<p>the range of options is like from $8k to $14k.</p>
<p>Housing operations don't make money. Most of them are struggling to keep up with the maintenance on old, "historic" buildings and debating whether to tear down and replace those built in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Because of WWII and the baby boom, a lot of housing was built during those decades - and most of it doesn't meet the needs of today's students. Students pay not only for the cost of housing, but for all the staff and services that aren't provided in off-campus apartments (tutors, RAs, custodians, security, living-learning programs...). Another big cost has been fire and life safety -- most dorms are installing sprinklers -- which is unbelievably expensive, and extra security - video cameras, card access systems, etc. Institutions are held to a higher standard than an off-campus landlord.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Housing operations don't make money
[/quote]
Given what's charged versus what's provided, this is very hard to believe. Do the math, compare square footage (2-3 people packed into a tiny room - generally sharing a bathroom with many others), account for amount of overhead - RAs usually paid for inexpensively with an exchange for a dorm room, and you'll see that dorms are generally overpriced at many campuses.</p>
<p>I agree with ucsd<em>ucla</em>dad.</p>
<p>To put numbers to what USCD<em>UCLA</em>Dad is saying:</p>
<p>Dorm room: roughly 150 sq. ft. for a double; half that (at most) for a single. Bathrooms are often shared about six ways. Consider that students are paying $10,000/year for 75 sq. ft. + shared bathroom. You can mortgage a place for less than that, which is what a lot of people do.</p>
<p>Yet no price tag can be placed on the "freshmen (dorming) experience..." or is there? Dun dun dun.</p>
<p>My son had a single 10x12, with daily trash collection and once-weekly vaccuuming, shared a nice bathroom with one other student. Cost was $1500 x 3 terms = $4500 for the year. This year will be less - smaller single but in a more modern building in a great location.</p>
<p>I think having a single is a great help to student life. I had roommates for three years in college, and the experience was +1 to -2 - meh - IMO, quite overrated and more bother than benefit. You always have to deal with the other person, and even if you like them and have some shared interests, there is unlikely to be perfect symmetry on when to study, when to play music, how late to stay up, how clean to keep the room, etc. Most students these days grew up with their own room, so are less likely as a group to have shared with a brother or sister growing up as many boomers did. And most of them probably will never share a room again, until they choose to live with a partner.</p>
<p>I just came across some ads for roommates in the Cambridge/Somerville/Medford area. The cheapest was for one room at $850 a month, shared bath.</p>
<p>So the housing costs for Northeastern and Suffolk, which are right smack in the most expensive parts of Boston, are probably in line with rental costs on the open market.</p>
<p>yulsie:</p>
<p>The deal for your son's room is a great deal compared to many other places - especially for a single room. This is true even when comparing to places where the land cost was $0 and thus not a factor regardless of the cost of the surrounding neighborhood.</p>
<p>The number is a little misleading, the quoted amount is for a "single" room with Board. If you are in a triple, the fee goes down to 9,900 with food, a double will run you a little over 11,000. Yes, it is cheaper to get an apartment, last year my dd lived in a brand-new apt. shared room w/ private bathroom, walking distance from campus- rent was $525, utilities about $50 a month.</p>
<p>Northeastern's housing is in fact very, very nice. It's one of the draws the school offers to attract stronger students. My daughter - an incoming freshman at NEU - will live in a brownstone in Back Bay. Upper classmen get luxury apartments with panoramic views. Her housing at NEU will be probably much better than anything she'll be able to afford years after graduating !</p>
<p>The room charge at Chicago is about $6,000/year. First years are required to buy a $4,600 meal plan, which is pretty extravagant; upperclassmen can basically pay-as-you-go for meals and pay a lot less than that even if they live in kitchenless dorm rooms. My D is renting an apartment a few blocks from campus (but near two dorms) -- $400/month/person, plus utilities (about $30/mo/person). That seems about the going rate -- not luxurious, but not rock-bottom cheap, either. D was able to cover all but her basic utilities charge for the summer by subletting. Between room and board, she's probably saving close to $4,000/year (and that includes some Uni meals). Obviously, the dorms come with more services (security, printers, wireless, RAs, study rooms, more friends, second-hand pot smoke).</p>
<p>Right now dorms are on my s*** list. My son is in a 10x12 room (double), ceiling about 7 ft. A/C permanently set on low so that temp stays in the 80's, and has a mold problem in/on ceiling that I am beginning to do battle with school over---and for this we pay $3000/semester. If I can get permission to move him off campus and get refund---we are gone (and his roomate with him)</p>
<p>Some of Northeastern's Mega Million Dollar dorms (all were completed in the last few years):</p>
<p><a href="http://www.rawnarch.com/selproj2.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.rawnarch.com/selproj2.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.rawnarch.com/NUGH.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.rawnarch.com/NUGH.html</a></p>
<p>I have seen a number of articles about new, super priced dorms. I don't believe it is a good investment for the private schools as it further divides the "have" students from the "have nots". Aid usually is based on the cost of an average double at a school, not one of the luxury apartments. So guess who is going to be living there? For public school, I think it is a shame and a travesty. The whole idea of a state school is to provide quality education for state residents for a reasonable price,and to have this kind of inequity for students is shameful. You kind of want kids of all economic ranges to have somewhat of an equal footing at college. I know that at my college, though we had super wealthy mixed with full need aid students, that freshman year, we were all in the same crumby dorm. The well to do student who brought her porsche had to park it a couple of miles away, and had to call a cab, take a bus or hoof it all that distance to gain access to it. Her wardrobe was squeezed in the same paltry closet that we all had.<br>
For some private schools, however, the super dorms are a needed attraction. No matter what we adults may think about them, it seems like a goodly number of students are attracted to them, and are not only willing to pay the premium board, but will "buy" a space from someone who got an apartment. It is a fact that nice housing attracts kids. Nice gym facilities and student unions attract kids. For those colleges that need some more full pay students, this can be a draw.
As for living off campus, it's nice that it is an option, especially when low cost housing is nearby, but many kids are still to immature to deal with an off campus apartment or house. They are prey to unscrupulous landlords, there are more expenses and work involved in one's own place that are not immediately apparent, and sharing the cost with other students can be a disaster if one kid bails or just doesn't pay. It causes an unpleasantness that I would just as soon avoid as a college experience. I have known a number of cases that have ended up in court in off campus housing. It's a wonder that Orignaloog (?)'s son's house is in such harmoney with 10 kids sharing. The odds are against that, in my experience.<br>
My neighbor who is European cannot conceive of dormitories. In Europe, many of the kids commute or find local housing, rooms to let. The idea of institutional living is distasteful to her. So there are those who prefer off campus housing. I do believe, however, that at least for freshman year, it is more valuable for the kids to live in dorm type arrangements, so that they can get to know each other better. The difference in atmosphere among some schools is largely due to the population who live off campus . There is not the sense of spirit when that happens, and such colleges become lax in providing any campus events. You get a dead campus on weekends, fine for true city schools like NYU, but depressing for schools that are not in such a hub bub of activity location.
One thing I noticed in our college search: southern colleges tended to have better, less expensive food, and cheaper housing.</p>