One important thing: GRAD STUDENT HOUSING SUCKS (Hawkeye Court/Hawkeye Drive apts). It's cheap, but unless you just can't afford an extra $100-$200 a month, don't do it. The units are extremely small, the floors are vinyl tile, and the walls are cinder block. My washing machine is in my kitchen and the dryer is in the bedroom. There are practically no closets, no countertop or drawers in the bathroom (just a toilet, and a sink sticking out of the wall). The kitchen barely has any cabinet or counter space, and there's no dishwasher, nor room for one.
On the plus side, there is regular bus service to campus, but you can find real apartments that are on or close to the bus lines, and I recommend you do if you're outside walking distance. Cambus is a good system, and parking on campus is a chore.
My wife and 5-year-old and I are moving to a new place in the Fall, thank god. I can't offer much advice on good areas--we wanted to keep our kid in the same school district, so we didn't look at anything outside that small area. We just drove around and wrote down phone numbers.
The only other (obvious) thing is that fall rentals fill up fast, so try to get on it early.
As I get ready to hit "Submit", I'm realizing that this exact post, names changed, probably applies to 50 different schools in the US.