Which off-campus apartments should we look at for incoming freshman.
Northside: Check out all of the apartment buildings on University on the North side of campus. And there is a new one that may be opened for next year that is next to the Rise. Added bonus, there is a CVS on the ground floor of the Rise apartment building. Full kitchens available in some if not all places along Univeristy.
Near Kyle Field: Callaway House is a private dorm, does not have stove/oven but has decent food in cafeteria downstairs.
Lots of Greeks in Callaway but also many Greeks on North side, if that is something y’all are interested in.
Thanks @AggieMomAgain
Not interested in Greeks so I wonder if Callaway should not be on our list? Are there Freshmen only apartments?
Not to my knowledge, but there may be. There are a LOT of of off campus apartments. 
Hopefully more people will share info on this thread and you can Google search and get a lot of info on housing.
You can look at any complexes for incoming freshman. There are too many to list with their rooms and rates for anyone to keep up with here. Northgate has a several complexes at varying costs. Pick some in your price range with the amenities you like and go visit. They are not all the same. We narrowed it down to 4 places and 1 came away the winner for our criteria. Your criteria will be different.
Don’t wait too long. The Northgate places can fill up/run out of popular floor plans. Most freshmen move off campus for sophomore year. That said, I just looked at the complex where my son is and the going rent is actually lower than when we signed for it his freshman year, as the new one’s in Northgate must be giving them a run for the money. By this time last year, their floorplan was sold out and it isn’t yet.
Leases are by the bedroom (individual lease) for apartments. You can sign for just one room in a multi room and be assigned roommates if you don’t have people to sign with you. They like for all of you to sign at the same time but you don’t have to. We had 2 sign a 4x4 and found 2 friends later, each at a different time.
There are quite a few on bus routes south and west of campus. Get one on a route. Even with an campus parking pass, unless you get a garage space, can be hard to find a spot and you may be driving around to the various lots to find one.
@AggieMomAgain and @Thelma2 You have given me more to think about and look in to. Sounds like I should just google the info instead of going through an apartment locator service. We are planning a trip to CS to begin the search but at your recommendations, we shouldn’t delay on making a decision. Thank you, both.
@aggie82
I have some notes (an excel sheet) I made when we were looking. Two that signed first had specific needs. One had a car so parking was essential. At some places, parking is additional cost. Some have open lots, some have garages, some both and are prices differently. One without a car needed walking or bus access (as did the one with a car because he wasn’t getting an on campus parking pass). Both were engineers and would have classes in the engineering buildings right there on University (your freshman classes will be all over campus, so it really doesn’t matter where you live, on or off campus). This narrowed our choices to Northgate area.
Because both boys shared a bath with 3 other people in their dorm freshman year, they really wanted their own bathroom. Because there would eventually be 4, they wanted a large living area they could spread out. 4 would be making food, so the kitchen was a factor too. Then there was cost for both budgets plus electric.
So, it is easy to track which complex is which on a spread sheet then take it to make notes on. Furnished was also a want.
You can use an apartment guide website and use map view so you can see where they are all located. Sometimes the rents shows don’t include specials so do call the ones you narrow down.
We chose Northpoint Crossing FYI for the location (walk or bus), huge living room, garage parking, decent gym but its as busy as the Rec, and they have had no issues. their layout was a bit different than the online floorplan (1 closet is really aweful) because they have a corner unit. Know that some complexes will charge for main windows facing certain directions, top floors, etc.
D received a PSA offer but wants to take the PTA route and attend Blinn for a year, so she needs to find housing. Would love for her to be around some freshman if possible, so we plan to take a look at Cambridge & Callaway House. Also want to look at the Northgate area…I understand there is a lot to choose from, and have done some research but hard to determine if there are certain complexes in Northgate that tend to have more freshman than other complexes? I know nothing will be exclusive to freshman, just hoping to find a place with some students her age. Any recommendations or places to stay away from would be appreciated:)
We just signed a 3x3 lease for my son at Northpoint crossing. The location is really good for engineering but not as expensive as the Rise. I wanted to pass along one thing my son said. He said that the north gate apartments (more west than Northpoint crossing) have a lot of partying and are very noisy. I don’t know how true it is but he was not interested in staying at those. I think the rise was about as far west as he was interested in going.
Z Islander I hear is the party place to be or rather, avoid. Truth be told, they all have students of all kinds. My kid is at Northpoint currently. This year, they have had their share of terrible incidents. It has been good, other than the very narrow parking garages (they have mirrors so you can see whose coming around the corner), too many kids drive too fast in there. Mine parks on the level between the floors and it’s hardy ever full and no issues on dings and it’s really close to his digs. The only other gripe is the fridge is an apartment size, not a standard size, so there isn’t a ton of room for 4 guys who actually like to cook.
It has been a good place for him and his roomies. By far, the biggest common area for the $ and number of students (4x4).
What terrible incidents have occurred at Northpoint Crossing? My son has signed a lease for the fall semester there in a 3x3,they are all studying abroad for the spring.
Two things that made the news.
It has been great for a lot of kids we know who live there.
@thelma2 my son avoided the fridge issue by keeping his mini fridge in his room (we had purchased it freshman year for the dorm) both he and another roommate had kept their fridges giving them extra room for the 4-5 guys to share one in the kitchen(they each took partial portions of the main fridge). I would highly recommend it - used it in an apt & a house. My D was in an apt that actually had a built in mini fridge as well as a full kitchen fridge for 4x4. One fridge isn’t really enough.
OMG @AGmomx2 I have one sitting in my garage that was my middle child’s fridge, that I had not even thought about taking up. Thanks for that great suggestion.
There are some new apartments currently being built… Aspire and Berkeley are really nice… I just recently signed a lease with Berkeley. Definitely check those two out, they have good prices and nice floor plans.