<p>Since the housing lottery is changing this year, I'm not sure if there's going to be an in-house lottery anymore (since rising sophomores apparently get first pick). My friends and I were thinking of renting an apartment on West Campus for '11-'12. When would be a good time to start looking, and are there any apartment complexes you'd recommend? The only ones I know about are Ravenwood and Gun Hill...I couldn't find too many Ravenwood reviews, but those who reviewed Gun Hill said it was awful and recommended Ravenwood instead. Thoughts?</p>
<p>do you have any other reason to think there would be no in-house lottery? since that process happens outside of the regular housing lottery I am pretty sure it’s going to continue. one of the resolutions passed by the SA even recommended that something similar to in-house be created for the collegetown dorms, so that system might even be expanding rather than disappearing.</p>
<p>the only thing I have to say about the apartments is that one or the other of them was <em>not</em> that impressive according to a friend…it would be a lot more useful if I could tell you which. that person strongly preferred getting an apartment in a house.</p>
<p>No reason, other than everyone in my class complaining that rising sophs get first pick this year. The general consensus seemed to be that the change was made because the in-house lottery cut into rising sophs’ housing options, so I just assumed that the lottery would be cut. But honestly, I really don’t know, and the article I read in The Sun didn’t really specify.</p>
<p>But even if the lottery is still a go, we may still consider a West Campus apartment for next year.</p>
<p>The traditional path is getting a collegetown apartment, I guess you know that.</p>
<p>Is it? Suppose you can’t afford one (if you’re on a lot of aid)? </p>
<p>Maybe it’s stupid of me to ask seeing as I’m yet not a freshman. But was just wondering.</p>
<p>Living arrangements can be more or less expensive, depending partly on location and how many people you go in with. Choose accordingly.</p>
<p>So all this being said. When do sophomores that want to live in Collegetown or West Campus apartments usually start finding and securing a place?</p>
<p>Also, regarding lease start dates. Do the leases usually start in May and run for 12 months or start in August and run for 12 months.</p>
<p>Most leases start around Jun 1st.</p>
<p>And most students begin looking and securing apartments for the next year around january/february/march.</p>
<p>About financial aid: Even if you are not in the dorms, your financial aid package contains aid for a double room and a traditional meal plan in the dorms. Most collegetown apartments or houses actually cost less than double rooms in the dorms, and you will likely be spending less money on food. Therefore if you do decide to live in collegetown,
you could very well be giving yourself a better deal on housing.</p>
<p>start EARLY. you can find things as late as jan/feb/march but most people I know started looking around october, and definitely signed by the end of first semester. most people do it in the fall, and there’s no reason to wait because you’ll have much less selection.</p>
<p>What are the sources available for locating rentals? Paper, online, boards ?? I’m mostly curious to know what online sources are used so I can get some idea of what to expect cost-wise.</p>
<p>what are some of the nicer places in Collegetown? what are the places to absolutely stay away from? I saw some that looked like absolute fire traps.</p>
<p>What about parking in Collegetown? It always looks so crowded whenever I am up there. Do most places provide parking or is that a major problem.</p>
<p>I remember when D2 was starting to look I did some snooping, found a lot of places from craigslist, simple Googling, and also links from cornell’s housing website I think.</p>
<p>But she found her place without my help, several of her friends got together and scouted places locally.</p>
<p>Oh, I have no doubt my D will find her own place. heck, even if I found the perfect place and told her about it, she would go live somewhere else just so she could feel like it was her decision. haha</p>
<p>I’m just wanting to get an idea what to expect money-wise, since she will have no problem letting me take care of that.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yep, I’m well aware of that. But we’d prefer an apartment on West to an apartment in Ctown.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Yeah, I figured people would start looking around October. Do apartments ever have open houses, and are they well-publicized or is that the sort of thing you’d have to find out on your own (ie. online)?</p>
<p>You usually make appointments with buildings to tour the apartments. It’s not that hard to find them since there arent many buildings, so you’ll know what the buildings are. and a lot of them advertise in the Sun.</p>
<p>Cool, thanks.</p>
<p>This thread is a little dead now, but I disagree with those who are saying that finding a place for the next year by the end of the first semester is adequate. Honestly, if you want a nicer house, you need to be looking in September. We signed our lease for this year right before fall break, and even then we felt like we were a little behind. The larger apartment complexes are different, and you might not have to be as quick about securing a spot. But honestly, the sooner the better.</p>
<p>usafa2011dad, the nicer apartments can be found through [Ithaca</a> Renting Company - Apartments, Rooms, Stores, Offices, Parking in Collegetown and Downtown](<a href=“http://www.ithacarenting.com/]Ithaca”>http://www.ithacarenting.com/) and [Collegetown</a> Apartments](<a href=“http://ithaca-rentals.com/collegetown.html]Collegetown”>http://ithaca-rentals.com/collegetown.html). Pam Johnston’s houses ([Collegetown</a>, Ithaca, Pam Johnston Apartments](<a href=“http://pamjohnstonapartments.com/]Collegetown”>http://pamjohnstonapartments.com/)) are some of the most expensive and often unnecessarily nice (we’re in college, we don’t really need art on the walls of our houses). These ([Welcome</a> to Strawberry Properties](<a href=“http://strawberryproperty.com/stuprop.html]Welcome”>http://strawberryproperty.com/stuprop.html)) houses are more reasonably priced ($550-$700 per month ish).</p>
<p>Hope this helps!</p>
<p>That’s some good information. thanks!</p>
<p>Thanks, indigo!</p>