<ul>
<li>My college won't give me a dorm for next year (upperclassmen are not guaranteed unless they have continually lived in housing from the start)</li>
<li>My parents won't pay for an apartment</li>
<li>I don't have enough money saved up to pay for an apartment</li>
<li>I can't take out loans to pay for an apartment, because my financial aid gives me a small amount of Stafford unsubsidized/subsidized loans, but mostly PLUS loans, which are loans parents are allowed to borrow for their children - so I can't use those</li>
<li>I can't use private loans because I'm not an adult 21+ with a good credit history, nor do I have one willing to co-sign them with me</li>
</ul>
<p>So basically, I have no clue where I'm going to live. I was thinking of going off-campus with a group of friends, but no idea how to pay for it. Rent/utilities/food are expensive, and my savings will last maybe a month.</p>
<p>Have you talked to someone at your college about your housing problems? They might be sympathetic, given that you pretty much need to have a dorm.</p>
<p>I’m no expert with any of this, so I’m just throwing out some random ideas that may or may not work…</p>
<p>Is it too late to apply for be an RA? [If you school would let someone who hasn’t lived on campus apply.] Can you get a job now to help pay for a shared apartment? [Maybe a friend will be nice enough to take on some of your rent if you pay them back later?] Do your parents/relatives live close enough to your college to let you commute?</p>
<p>To be an RA in my college you have to apply 8 months in advance, then do a “training program” from which they select the best candidates. I couldn’t even do the training program because it clashed so much with my work schedule last year. </p>
<p>I have had a job all summer and will have made $3200 by end of August, but I live in an expensive urban area and that will not cover housing/food/utilities/bills etc. Landlords generally demand the first 2-3 months rent in advance too. I couldn’t pay for a year of housing, nor could I pay as I go along by working. </p>
<p>My best friend is struggling to pay her own rent and no one I know has thousands lying around, plus I wouldn’t know how to pay them back. I did talk to someone in Housing last month and they were sympathetic and put me on the Housing Waitlist but even if I get off, I still can’t pay for it, because only PLUS loans could cover it - I can’t sign PLUS loans since I’m not a parent. </p>
<p>My parents are like “just live at home” but I don’t want to because
I live 1 hour 20 mins from campus, and the trains constantly have delays
My family is very unstable and dysfunctional. Freshmen year I lived at home and commuted because my parents wouldn’t pay for a dorm and insisted it wasn’t that far, and my life was miserable - I could never go out, it was so far, and one time I missed my Final because the train was delayed and stuck for an hour and a half. Plus my parents have certain types of “problems” I don’t want to go into. Let’s just say child protective service’s used to visit a lot when I was a kid because my neighbors would call them. So ideally I should not live at home.</p>
<ol>
<li>Will the college put you on the waitlist for housing, or will they not give it at all no matter what happens?</li>
<li>How is it that you would be able to afford a dorm but you can’t afford an apartment? (sorry if the tone sounds rude…it isn’t…I’m just wondering). Does your financial aid only cover on-campus dorms? Or are your parents only willing to pay for a dorm?</li>
<li>If it isn’t possible to be an RA, is it possible to be a technical assistant (some colleges offer housing in dorms for people working in the tech center)</li>
<li>Do you have any other family or friends who are willing to help you out?</li>
<li>DCU offers decent private loans with low interest rates. I think you only have to be 18 to get one (even without a co-signer). I’m only 18 and I got a loan from them (I did have a co-signer, but it was mainly to get a lower interest rate- I don’t think it was necessary to have a co-signer for me to get that loan)</li>
</ol>
<p>Are you covered for full COA on your FA package? If so check out your school’s student budget and see if you can find a place under the budgeted amount. You may have to find a room to rent which could be better in the long run as far as costs. </p>
<p>Your school should have off campus housing resources. If you were going to be living in a dorm on campus then potentially that money could go to a room for rent which maybe cheaper.</p>
I am on the Housing Waitlist, but I probably won’t get off since it’s mid-July already
Dorms are a lot cheaper than apartments here, and if I get a dorm, my Financial Aid will increase to give me more loans to cover housing
My college doesn’t offer that, plus I’m not really qualified to do any technical job like that - wish I was
Not really, because most of my friends are also broke college students. I don’t have Grandparents or anything</p>
<p>DCU could be a realistic option! I’ve never heard of it. The Financial Aid Office counselors made it sound like you need a co-signer for everything. Do you know what the requirements are to get a loan from them? I’m 18 and have no credit history and not much money saved up.</p>
<p>Yea DCU is a credit union so they are better than most private loan places (like SallieMae). I forgot all the requirements (since this was like a year ago)…I know you have to be at least 18 to borrow…but I don’t remember if you need a cosigner if you’re under 21. I think you’re fine without one but I’m not 100% sure. If you don’t have a credit history or cosigner though, your interest rate will probably be higher. </p>
<p>This reminds me…I need to stop procrastinating and ask DCU for my money for next year</p>
<p>Would you consider moving into an apartment with roommates? Apartments around here aren’t cheap (the low end starting over $900/month) but if you split that with someone it becomes much more bearable.</p>
<p>maybe you can find some students that wouldn’t mind taking in an extra student in their off campus apartment, even if you have to sleep in the living room of the apartment. They get the extra money, you get a place close to campus to live. Hopefully they will let you skip the deposit - which is your main probem right now.</p>
<p>It certainly would beat the living environment that you are describing at home.</p>
<p>Also,</p>
<p>Make and appointment and have a serious talk with your financial aid office at the school.</p>
<p>4 of my good friends are moving off-campus together this Fall and I’d love to live with them. Unfortunately they’ve already paid a deposit and signed a contract, but I could possibly sublet with them, maybe share a bedroom with my best friend who is strapped for money and it would ease her rent too. It would come out to about $400 - $500 month if I did that which is doable. I could pay the first 3 months rent right away, which is ideal. </p>
<p>The appointment with the financial aid office is a good idea, because I think it’s unfair that if you live off-campus that your cost of living isn’t factored into financial aid, because most commuter students here don’t live at home, they live in apartments.</p>
<p>You’re from pakistan or india right and your parents don’t want you to live away from home, so how will they feel if you move out against their will?</p>
<p>Where are you living that rent is still $400 per month per person (when there’s 5 people) in a 4 bedroom apartment? That’s $2,000/month for the apartment. Crazyy. You’d have to be in like, NYC or something. Even the nicest places in Phoenix don’t cost that much to rent, unless you’re at like, the Ritz Carlton. Which is definitely not necessary for a college student.</p>
Yeah, it’s crazy lol. And I talked to my friend today, and if we split her bedroom (which is pretty big) it would be only $365/month including rent/bills and it’s very close to campus, about a 17 minute walk.</p>
<p>I really lucked out because my friend just confirmed the apartment with her broker yesterday and told me. But plans aren’t set in stone yet.
This is my second year of college, it’s not like I’m leaving home for the first time. I do have to live somewhere lol. It’s just they’re wrapped up in their personal problems right now so they’re not really concerned about my situation.</p>
<p>Working 20hrs/week would cover it. That’s what I do. I feel like if you harass housing enough they’ll find something. At my school, you have to call them constantly, talk to as many people as possible, and they eventually give in. People always drop out and transfer. Literally call everyday about the waitlist. Persistence pays off. That’s how you get of any waitlist, really. You have to talk to more than 1 person in housing. Keep asking to talk to someone higher up. Tell them you won’t attend unless they provide housing. At least my school always caves with these issues.</p>
<p>The problem is they have a housing crunch. It’s not like they have an empty dorm somewhere, because they would lose money - if they had room, they would stick me in it, more money for them. And they can’t kick someone out of their room who already paid for a place. Basically you get off the Waitlist when other students: Drop out, Transfer, or go abroad. </p>
<p>Can’t work 20 hours/week - I did last semester because my schedule worked out nicely so I could do 6-8 hr shifts 3 times a week at a restaurant. This semester my classes are spread out Mon-Fri with short 2-3 hour chunks between which makes it hard to work. So I got a job on Saturday and Sunday for 6 hrs/day - only 12 hrs/week total. On campus, my Fed Work Study restricts me to less than 20 hours - about 15 hrs is the limit. Don’t know why :/</p>
<p>I wish I still worked at that restaurant, I got minimum wage + tips which is unusual for a waitress haha.</p>