<p>They conveniently do not list their rental cost anywhere on the website, which already leaves a bad taste in my mouth. </p>
<p>Anyone know anything about the cost compared to living on campus?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>A LOT of apartment complexes don’t, which I find /really/ weird.</p>
<p>But they do list their prices on their ads on OCH101 and Craigslist.</p>
<p>It’s $900 a bedroom for a 4br/2ba apartment. I think it’s $999 for a 4br/4ba deal.</p>
<p>That’s… pretty damn expensive. That’s the biggest thing I hate about the DC area, housing is utterly expensive. Same gripe I have with San Francisco, NYC and LA.</p>
<p>No doubt housing in the DC-area is expensive, but College Park’s housing prices aren’t high because it’s in the DC-area…the prices on these apartment complexes are solely due to proximity to the university. </p>
<p>You can get a studio in SW (walking distance from the National Mall, NOT in a bad neighborhood) for $900/mo. That’s cheap for DC but the fact remains that it does exist within the city limits in a decent neighborhood. </p>
<p>You would be out of your mind to pay $3,600 for a similar quality apartment (that’s $900x4) in Bethesda or Silver Spring (much nicer metro areas than CP).</p>
<p>You can EASILY find rooms in rowhouses in trendy neighborhoods for $600 (Petworth)-$700(Columbia Heights)-$800/900 (Capitol Hill). $600-900 is the price people pay in CP for rooms in crappy group houses in Old Town College Park, price based on proximity to campus :p</p>
<p>That’s crazy expensive.</p>
<p>So what do students do who no longer want to live in a dorm room? Try for University apartment housing and hope for the best? What if you’re a rising sophomore? Sounds like University apartments are not to be had until Junior year.</p>
<p>How are the prices of other campus apartments?</p>
<p>And BTW, I’m assuming all apartments (except University owned) require a 12-month lease, correct?</p>
<p>University owned apartments also require a 12 month lease.</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of a sophomore not getting housing on campus…so I wouldn’t worry about that…</p>
<p>A LOT of juniors will get housing in either Commons or Courtyards so a lot of juniors don’t have to worry about this either. There ARE off campus options that are cheaper than these new high rises that are coming up, especially if you’re willing to pay the same price you’d pay in a dorm (about $625/mo to share a room). I mean, if you think about it, that’s ridiculous. But if you’re willing to pay for the dorm…</p>
<p>Yale House seems like a good option for students who don’t mind dorm prices. The apartments are recently renovated and you share a room and it’s like $500-600/person to share I believe. It’s right next to Ledo’s/the parking garage. Big yellow building.</p>
<p>I think most people on a budget go for Knox/Hartwick Towers (similar price to dorm), Knox Boxes (also similar price to dorm), Parkside (cheaper than dorm - you can share a room for $400/person). Another option that will be cheaper than the dorm but still a bit expensive, is sharing a room in a frat or sorority house. Oftentimes they’ll have openings for people who aren’t a frat or sorority because they couldn’t fill the house with their own members. </p>
<p>OR, if you have a group of friends you’re really tight with, and you start looking winter/early spring sophomore year, you can go for a group house. The problem with group houses is MOST leases require everyone be joint and severally liable for the entire cost of the house (look it up) AND you have to be pretty organized/on top of your stuff, 'cause group houses are really popular and the good ones/for a good price will often go really fast. But if you do go this route you’ll undeniably get MUCH more awesome digs for much cheaper prices (you can get your own room + an entire house for like anywhere from $400-800/person depending on where you live).</p>
<p>Actually for the first time in a long time, housing is guaranteed for juniors in good standing. So a sophomore has absolutely nothing to worry about. (Especially since a lot of juniors will still try to go to commons or courtyards)</p>
<p>A single room in a shifty neighborhood like Petworth for $600 is still a bit much IMO. I’m guessing you’d be sharing that house with a bunch of other people? No thanks, as a last resort sure (beats being homeless) but otherwise I’d pass.</p>
<p>Life would be grand if housing in DC was as cheap as this:</p>
<p>[Homes</a> for Under $100K - Yahoo! Real Estate](<a href=“http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/homes-for-under-100k.html]Homes”>http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/homes-for-under-100k.html)</p>
<p>And by housing I mean spacious homes in good conditions not located in war zones. There are some very cheap houses in DC but they’re in poor condition, small and in neighborhoods with high rates of violent crime.</p>
<p>^What I’m saying is that prices being high in CP aren’t correlated to the fact that it’s metro-area…the prices are inflated because of proximity to the university and are independent of its location. If you look at housing prices in surrounding Langley Park, Belstville, etc. they’re obviously much lower :p</p>
<p>Petworth isn’t shifty in the slightest though. It’s pretty trendy in terms of attracting artsy white hipsters on a budget :p. Obviously if you’re paying by room you would have housemates, but I don’t know what you qualify as a “bunch.” A lot of people would actually prefer to live with housemates rather than alone. </p>
<p>And I wish I could say your list was surprising but Syracuse? Ew. Syracuse is a terrible city (relative to DC, LA, SF). Detroit, Pittsburgh, aren’t too far ahead and one of them is notoriously lacking in employment prospects (maybe that’s why the housing is not expensive…if no one can afford it). DC is obviously superior city to the vast majority of the list…with a lot more high-paying jobs…a lot more jobs at all. I was a bit surprised at Atlanta though. Atlanta is probably decent…but honestly I’ll pass on Las Vegas, Dallas, and…Boise.</p>
<p>The thing is, if I understand this correctly, if you go off campus for sophomore year, you have lost the ability to get into Commons/Courtyards for junior year because you have a lower bidding status, right? So if you have to stay on campus as a sophomore, don’t want a dorm room anymore, AND have a group of friends you want to live with…what are the options?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I know they’re all pretty lackluster cities, it’d just be nice if there was some magic way to have housing be cheap everywhere without creating economic disarray 
</p>
<p>I wouldn’t mind Vegas or Dallas. Hell Boise’s apparently not that bad either. Sure they’re not cosmopolitan beacons like DC, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing IMO.</p>
<p>And yes, I know Petworth is home to lots of white hipsters. It’s still not the safest area though. Capitol Hill is nicer IMO, although it depends on one’s definition of Capitol Hill since it seems to keep going further and further out…</p>
<p>To the OP: Lots!! Having a group of friends that wants to live together is a good option because then you can pool your lottery numbers…i.e. the one with the highest can choose which dorm to live in and “pull in” everyone else.</p>
<p>Oakland Hall, for instance, is going to favor sophomores/juniors with a set group of friends. That’s suite style. Idk if you count that as a dorm or not. </p>
<p>There are suites on South Campus as well…some have kitchens…all have living rooms. You can look into those.</p>
<p>And, Leonardtown is all apartment-style.</p>
<p>I mean, “on-campus” necessarily implies “dorm” imho, but Oakland Hall, South campus suites, and Leonardtown are all on the suite/apartment style end.</p>
<p>I’m sorry for the dumb question, but is it 900 per person or 900 split up between four people?</p>
<p>Also, most people pay for housing with student loans, correct?</p>
<p>its 900 per person</p>
<p>say i did freshmen connection and decided to live in an apartment for freshman year. would i be able to get dorm housing or an on campus apartment sophomore year? would i be priority since i would have never had on campus housing before?</p>
<p>Don’t bother renting here. They lie about almost everything. I currently live here and the noise level from the bar downstairs is beyond belief. The walls and floors vibrate til 3 a.m. and I live on the 3rd floor. My room mates have been forced to go home on weekends to survive. Complaints to police, Looney’s, owners of Varsity and Varsity manage ment fall on deaf ears. Stay away!!!</p>
<p>PM if want to sublet (male) next semester at View.</p>