<p>Hi,
I posted this in the Parents Forum and was told to ask here, too. My S, a rising high school senior, has an internship lined up at MGH this summer. We thought we had housing lined up for him with relatives, (we live OOS) but that seems to have fallen through. </p>
<p>I have been looking through college web sites for summer dorm options, but every place seems to say that the dorm housing is for students attending their summer programs. I did find that a number of the MIT frats rent rooms for the summer, but I would be reluctant to send him to that option without knowing anything about it. My S will be 17 1/2 and is a conscientious, responsible kid. A non-partier. Honestly. ;) I don't even know if the frats would allow a high school kid.</p>
<p>Anyway, he would need a place for 6-8 weeks, for some period mid/late June through early August. I was thinking that access to the Red Line would be best so that he could get to MGH easily and then take their shuttle over to MGH Charlestown, where the lab is. A second choice would be near the Green Line which goes to North Station.</p>
<p>Is anyone familiar with summer frat housing or other alternatives? Thanks!</p>
<p>I would be more inclined to suggest a frat room than an apartment sublet – the apartments near the hospital are pretty expensive. (On a practical note, I don’t know that some renters would sublet to a high school student.)</p>
<p>There are a variety of frats at MIT, and I’m sure your son could find one he liked. MIT students are pretty accepting in general, and there wouldn’t be pressure on him to party. The frat scene is pretty calm in the summer anyway – the majority of people living at most MIT frats during the summer are boarders, not brothers. Only about 20% of students stay at MIT during the summer.</p>
<p>I’m not sure if any of the frats would allow a high school student to stay during the summer, but if they do, my feeling is that would be a great option.</p>
<p>mollie,
Thanks for the quick response. Any frats you might be aware of which might be more “calm” or where you know any of the occupants? Of course I would have to check out whether they would allow a high school kid.</p>
<p>I’m not at all sure that the frat’s would take a high school student. There are legal liability issues at stake here. Certainly my house certainly wouldn’t have been able to. I wouldn’t count on a fraternity as a viable option. </p>
<p>Also, most fraternity housing is shared rooms, and they tend to rent out the room as a whole to two or more roommates sharing. Where there is competition for rooms, your son, on his own, is not a particularly desirable tenant (particularly not when compared to, for example, a pair of attractive women). Many fraternities are single sex during the school year but co-ed over the summer. The men who remain on campus usually prefer to rent to women, as they aim for a 50-50 ratio.</p>
<p>That being said, there are some boarding houses near Harvard Square who do short term lettings to a variety of boarders, but who survive based on visiting and transient faculty and research staff. I know of at least a couple who specialise in Harvard faculty, there may be a similar thing near Kendall square for MIT. They usually expect 1 person per room, and should not have any additional liability issues.</p>
<p>That may be worth considering.</p>
<p>High school kid shouldn’t have any trouble getting a sublet… as long as parents signed contracts and not him. I’d look around on craigslist boston and contact sublet-ers to see if you can work something out.</p>
<p>Man, I do not miss being in high school.</p>
<p>I don’t know if any of the fraternities or ILGs (independent living groups) would take a high schooler. There are good reasons for them not to. However, you can always ask. Here are the links to the IFC and LGC summer housing info:</p>
<p>[Interfraternity</a> Council at MIT](<a href=“http://mitifc.org/page.php?page_id=105345&parent_id=0]Interfraternity”>http://mitifc.org/page.php?page_id=105345&parent_id=0)
[MIT</a> Living Group Council General Information](<a href=“http://www.mit.edu/~lgc/info/]MIT”>http://www.mit.edu/~lgc/info/)</p>
<p>All of the ILGs are “calm” (not really the right word, but we seem to be using it as a proxy for “not party-hearty” here). Among the fraternities, I’d say ADP, AEPi, Sigma Nu, and Theta Xi are your best bets in this regard, but my knowledge of some of the houses is a couple of years out of date.</p>
<p>Hello, I have the same question you had awhile ago - my son is hoping to secure a 4-6 week internship in Cambridge MA starting in July, but my local relatives have moved and we’re looking for a safe dorm type environment on the Red Line. Any ideas (the 2009 posts suggested checking with MIT Frats; did that work out for you?)?</p>