Please feel free to comment if you have any thoughts about housing at Stevens.
Here is a letter to the editor from a recent issue of the school paper:
Also read:
"Regardless of whether this planned 60% increase in enrollment benefits the university, the current students and staff are left aching from the “growing pains.”
“Despite renovations and plans for beginning the new Gateway building, classes are frequently filled to capacity, and students struggle to find their own space to study in buildings across campus, most notably, the library during finals.”
Please check out housing rates. Rates are per semester, and chances are that after sophomore year, you will end up in ‘off-campus’ Stevens leased housing.
https://www.stevens.edu/campus-life/residence-life/room-board-rates
If you are fine with it, that’s great. Just be aware.
I think having enough dorm space is a common problem for urban, high-rent area univeristies in NY, Boston, DC and places in California. I read an article about NYU students housed in apartments too, and they were FRESHMEN. Hoboken is upscale and in-demand being so close to NYC. I looked on realtor.com and rent for studio apartments start at $1500/month. We are spending $1.8/semester more to house her in Hoboken than we’d spend for something similar at our flagship university, UT-Austin, but we feel it’s worth it. She loves the city and she doesn’t need a car. The lease is for 11/12 months, too, not 9, so we’re probably not spending quite the amount I cited. The Steven’s leased apartments are furnished, which is important for us because we live out of state and didn’t need to buy furniture.
I agree that off campus living isn’t for everyone, although it is the norm to move to apartments after freshman year in my social circle (UT-Austin, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, some of the UCs) My sophomore DD hasn’t complained about lack of space to study, but club meetings do take place after 8pm when the classrooms become free.
Even though I know not every sophomore is ready to move off campus, the leased housing is working out well for my DD. She’s at the Avalon on 800 Madison and is 1 block from the light rail stop and 1 block from Shop Rite (a full sized grocery store.) She’s in the first semester of a two semester co-op which is in Manhattan and is an easy commute. She has lots of friends at the Shipyards apartments in Weekawken. The Stevens shuttle runs pretty frequently to/from campus from both locations, and the Shipyards is also on the light rail line, but granted, it is a long walk from campus from the Shipyards if you miss the shuttle. Both the Avalon and the Shipyards are gorgeous complexes and one of her friends’ apartments at the Shipyards even overlooks the NYC skyline.
I misnamed the apartments in my previous post! The apartments in Weekawken are called “1700 Park Avenue.” My daughter’s friends live at 1700 Park, not the Shipyards, which also contain leased housing.
@milwaukeegirl thanks for the comments on your daughter’s experience.
Lack of space to study: probably ok during most of the semester, but during midterms and final periods, the library is crammed with grad students, according to my sources.
The Stevens leased (off-campus) housing is good, providing you get it. I have heard of students who were not matched with any housing during the lottery: some were accommodated later and others just decided to find housing on their own. I am not sure if Stevens housing is guaranteed for upperclassmen, although they probably do try to accommodate.
I tell people to be aware, as many students are quite shocked at the prices when they go to look at non-Stevens housing (as am I). Many parents/students tour the campus/dorms and like its small feel and proximity to classrooms; they do not realize that, most likely, they will not be living ‘on campus’ after freshman or sophomore year.
Housing was scarce 5 years ago when my son started and the situation is only getting worse with the ongoing enrollment increase.
That NYC skyline view has served Stevens well.
I would also like to remark on your comment, “Even though I know not every sophomore is ready to move off campus,”…I am not implying this at all. I think most Stevens students are perfectly capable of living off campus. It is a small town and fairly safe. The students are smart and motivated.
The problem is cost and availability. Yes, it is an expensive, urban area, but being a small, private, expensive school, one might assume that housing is a given. It’s not, and unfortunately, it is getting worse. I only say this so that people are aware of the situation. Finding housing each year is stressful enough; the cost makes it doubly stressful.
When I talked about '…not every sophomore is ready to move off campus," I was trying to be inclusive and did not mean to imply anything negative about your comments. Teens are all different and some may prefer to stay in dorms beyond freshman year wheres others are ready for apartment living. You are correct letting parents know their kids will most likely be moving off campus sophomore year.