<p>Statistically, what is with this data? It mentions that 88% of incoming freshmen live in University-assigned residence halls, but only 24% of all undergraduates reside in those halls. What makes all those sophomores NOT return to the university halls?
And where exactly do they end up living? Cheaper apartments off-campus?</p>
<p>I couldn't find too many apartments cheaper than the university halls.
(And yes, I will be a freshman this fall, so I'm curious as to where I'll end up next year).</p>
<p>Living off campus is a UW tradition. See the thread on unique Madison problem here. Deals with moving day for most apts there.</p>
<p>In our campus walking tour we were told that about 30% of sophomores live in dorms. The attrition is pretty rapid after first year. Not sure if that’s due to capacity but I think barron is definitely correct about off-campus tradition. Dorms are largely seen as a first year right of passage and place to make friends but the true UW living experience is off-campus. </p>
<p>As for cost, there is a huge array of possibilities off-campus, from shiny new 2 BRs with walk-in closets to rental houses of dubious quality where you can stack up 5-6 students for very little.</p>
<p>Oh wow, that explains it. Never knew it was a tradition.
I always assumed people just switched dorms or residence halls based on preference.
But how cheap are you talking, though? Looks interesting…</p>
<p>Anywhere from around $400 and up per month per bedroom.</p>
<p>You won’t find a “nice” studio/efficiency for 400 dollars. Not a chance.</p>
<p>I stayed in one of the “nicer” studios for two years and it costs me $900/m with all utilities.</p>
<p>Nice enough 1 bedroom- over 400 SF will be under $700 with all expenses (no parking) across from campus buildings. Likewise 2, 4 BR with one per BR. Or you can pay a lot more. Some of the amenities listed for some apts are wasted on many students- fancy kitchens… Anyone can do the “off campus apartment search” via the UW website with links to many management companies. There is also a warning page about WHEN to begin a search, and other advice both students and parents should view. There are many advantages to both Res Halls and apt living, but dorms are the best way to start at UW.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about the off campus housing, but have a comment about the dorms. On 2 different visits with our daughter in the last year (she is incoming freshman) we had 3 tour guides between us who were all Juniors or Seniors, and all 3 of them are still in dorms. All of there comment when we asked why (most aren’t) was to the affect of “who had time cook and clean and take care of a place, let alone all the extra commute time (waling longer distances)”. I do have to add that they all seemed VERY involved with many student activities too, so maybe the desire to be closer too. </p>
<p>So yes, MOST do move off campus, but there are definitely some who stay all the way through too.</p>
<p>DJD</p>
<p>$400 is for a shared house situation–not your own apt. Most students share larger units with multiple bedrooms. So if a 5 BR place rents for $2000/mo that’s $400/bedroom. If you go to Craigs Lsit you can find MANY places still for rent in that range and school has laready had move-in day with many students already in town. There is an excess of rentals in Madison and you can make a deal.</p>
<p>[classifieds</a> - craigslist](<a href=“madison apartments / housing for rent - craigslist”>madison apartments / housing for rent - craigslist)</p>
<p>And remember that you’re looking at a 12-month lease, not 9. And while you can sublet for the summer – unless things have changed since '83 – there is so little demand that you’ll get a fraction of that.</p>
<p>Many stay in Madison over the summer. I’d guess around half.</p>
<p>There are pros and cons to dorms and apts. Costs can be similar for 12 months /9 months. Some parents I know insist their child stay 2 years in dorms, there are many sophomores around also. Some apts are closer to some campus buildings than some dorms. Freshmen are often too eager to leave Res Halls and need to consider the roommate and apt situation more carefully than they often do. I do know that living off campus doesn’t seem to be as much of a hassle now than years ago, especially with many more close to campus apt buildings instead of the old student “slums”. There is a tradeoff of time spent in food service lines and fixing your own et al. Before son’s experience I would have preferred dorms for him, but have found pluses to both.</p>