I feel for you guys that don’t get regular calls./texts, but I know that each kid is different. D calls and texts me often, though I don’t know every little details. I can’t even keep her classes straight. But she sis watch the debate tonight, not for a class, but for her own interest in current events. She won’t be old enough to vote in the election, so she is making sure she is informed so she can make sense as she advocates for her 18+ friends to get out and vote.
Her school has guaranteed housing for all for years, so we’re not thinking about apartments. She and her roommate and a good friend have tossed around the idea of renting an apartment, but we think probably not. She’s nowhere near 21 so it’s probably not even likely anyone would sign her.
Required campus living extends through Junior year for DS. When I mentioned some here were already talking about sophomore apts he laughed and said he is so NOT ready to live in an apt and be responsible for it all. Dorm life suits him just fine.
So, short version. Broke my foot three weeks ago, had surgery 2 weeks ago, went back to work this week, with a scooter.
D16 auditioned for and was accepted into an a capella group and they are performing this weekend so I get to go. She had a few days of “I’m so homesick” which have resolved. She rushed a service sorority. She loves her roommate. She got a very cute, very tasteful tattoo, which she has been begging for since she was 16, she paid for it herself. She’s doing well in her classes and texts almost every day. All is good with the world.
My DD really misses cooking and being able to have her instrument with her so she’ll be moving off campus into an apartment next year. Apartment rentals are so different both from back in the day when I was renting and even different from our area. Since she’s in a ‘college town’ there many apartments geared toward students. They offer ‘individual leases’ so you aren’t penalized if your roommate doesn’t pay the rent or skips out completely and the amenities that seem to be standard are great! Free shuttle to university every 30 minutes from 7AM-7PM on weekdays, free printing, 24 hour fitness centers, coffe bars… Many are all inclusive (all utilities included and free wifi and cable) she’s in a great position because the college is opening new upperclassmen dorms next year and there’s a new large luxury apartment that opened this year that’s not full and offering huge discounts and another one scheduled to open next fall too. I was just amazed at how cheap rents are even for new furnished luxury apartments! You couldn’t rent a room on Craig’s list in our area for the rent of an entire apartment in Norman Oklahoma!
I was surprised at the off-campus student housing as well. Our D13 is living in a very small apartment unit designed for students. There are singles and doubles, all with a private bath. It’s furnished. In the kitchen, there are assigned cabinets, with a lock that uses your room key.
I caution everyone who is looking at apartments off campus that are furnished where they offer leases to individual renters. There have been horror stories here where renters have left , and been replaced with less than desirable renters making for unsafe and undesirable situations. They also typically require 12 month leases. Because they are private , there is no oversight by the school , and partying tends to be the norm. They are also difficult to get safety deposits back from. Just a word of caution. I would go on Yelp and ask for references .
D is REALLY looking forward to apartment living. Her college requires on-campus living sophomore year too, which includes apartments that are not available to freshman, but it’s all on a lottery basis so we won’t know for a while. She loves to cook and does not like the options in the dining hall. Her favorite complaint since school started, “They didn’t have the vegan options listed on their menu AGAIN so I just ate oatmeal for $15.” With an on-campus apartment, she has a host of grocery stores close by and can cook for health, cost saving, and for her - stress relief.
I’d feel much better if D was in an apartment that was college-run instead of by an independent landlord. Ex and I had some pretty bad experiences as young renters-in fact, so did my siblings. At least when they are college-run, you have some accountability. But D’s going to be living on campus for at least the next couple of years.
Housing at Marquette is only guaranteed through Sophomore year. There are some limited number of university owned apartments that are doled out by lottery. I hear that securing off campus/non university owned housing for junior year and beyond can be a real circus and needs to be secured by Oct/Nov of sophomore year! Not looking forward to that process…and then we have to factor in sub-leasing during clinical rotations senior year and post grad years.
I’m finding a variety of lease options with terms from 5 months, 10 months and 12 months. The shorter the lease the higher the rent in the same building. I’m not as concerned with bad roommates in apartments that have individual bathrooms only accessible through a locked/keycarded bedroom door. The signing fees and deposits I’m finding are incredible low most are $40 application fee and $100 deposit but some are even waiving those for promotions right now because it’s an odd time to rent between semesters.
The apartment that’s on the top of my list at the moment is having a earlying signing bonus of an extra two months rent free during the summer for signing a year long lease - making it a 14 month lease. Not sure if that deal will still be around when we’ll be ready to sign a lease. The earliest we would consider signing a lease would be late April, early May because she has no idea what she’ll be doing over the summer.
Anyone else’s kiddos have a long weekend in early October? D has “fall break” Oct. 10 - 11, and also has no classes on the previous Friday, so she and her roommate and a couple of other kids are working on going to her roommates home for the 5 days. It’s a 6-hour drive, and the roommate’s mom is planning to pick them up and take them back, unless she can’t work things out with her youngest’s activities. Dorms will stay open, so it will be ok if they don’t go. I don’t remember my older D having a fall break, and I know some kids have barely started college-UW only started today!
My daughter does have a fall break long weekend too. She is going to either go to a friends house a few hours away from school or hang out with some other students not going home and take a road trip to a nearby city. She will have been there about 6-7 weeks by that point.
DS’s fall break is the weekend after your D’s @sseamom. I found a great airfare so he flying alone for the 1st time and I will pick him up at an airport an hour from home.
Cornell has guaranteed housing for 2 years then most students go to off campus apartments. The program house he is living in now, allows any year to live there including grad students so if he wants to he can probably stay there all fours years. It is too early to know what he will do.
Most of our conversations are about financial aid since he still has outside scholarships coming in that are not settled on his account yet. He sounds very busy even though he is only taking 4 academic classes. I said he must be glad he doesn’t have to take 5 and he said his friends (taking 5 classes) are all complaining about the work load.
Son did go to the Cornell homecoming game against Yale. The home team won!
My D has a long weekend 14-17. She was planning to come home and work that Saturday and my H was also going to put in for time off so we can all go out for a family dinner.