Can a parent of a current student give the lowdown on the true situation with housing on camps and off campus? Is it possible to end up without on campus housing for freshman year or is everyone truly guaranteed housing? What happens the remaining three years? How hard is it to find safe, off campus housing that you can access with no car?
My kid lived in Ridgecrest his first year. Own room etc.
The last three years he lived in East Edge Apartments, right next to the law school and police. There’s a bus stop for when it rains but he bikes - 8 mins to engineering. He had no desire to stay on campus.
His gf did stay on campus but got put into an apt her 2nd year by the school. There was a housing crunch. She still paid like it was a dorm. Not sure if that’s the case now. You would need to ask. I think that was because they were using a dorm to house covid kids. So it was an unusual situation.
Most college kids want off campus and there’s a ton of apartments but like all schools, you have to arrange housing earlier in the year to get the best housing.
Good luck.
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I’m moving my freshman out today. I have not heard of any freshman not being on campus. Should not be an issue. My son has the housing scholarship and they do move some of those kids off campus. He will be in East Edge next year, but paid for by UA.
But if there is no scholarship, definitely plan to move off-campus for the second year.
The parent Facebook groups have a lot of info on off-campus housing places. It doesn’t seem like there is an issue finding a spot. There is a big range of pricing and how well management works. Many places have shuttles to campus. Some places have roommate matching even. There are always people looking for a spot for their kid or a sublease too.
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Congrats on East Edge - my son has been there 3 years. It’s nice but not the nicest (carpets are bad) - but the location is excellent.
And the police and law school are next door - which doesn’t prevent crime unfortunately - but it’s still a nice to have.
Hope year one went great!!
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He’s looking forward to it. It’s quite close to the band field and building, so he’s excited by that.
He had a great first year and is very happy with his decision!
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Kid doesn’t have a housing scholly but I’m wondering whether he should try for an RA job. He’s an RA currently at his boarding school so he might have an edge? Dunno if he’d want to do it, though it would be Blount, I assume, which might cut down on the holding kids’ heads over the toilet at 3 am…
lol
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My S22 lives in Ridgecrest South. I am moving him out Friday. We had no issues getting him housing. His scholarship guarantees paid housing. He will be living in East Edge next year (paid by University). The important tip is to be aware of housing emails and move quickly. Like all universities, Alabama does have a housing shortage. It does not guarantee (to all students) housing after freshman year. Certain housing goes fast (e.g., Tut, but not an issue for guys). That being said, the university does a fair job of addressing housing.
If you pay your housing deposit on-time, you are guaranteed campus housing freshman year. After freshman year, I would plan on moving off campus unless your student has a housing scholarship.
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