University of Virginia (UVA)

[faton4paws]

Hi, all! I've just been accepted to UVA's English program. My focus is medieval literature. Any other new Cavaliers out there?

[Bison_PhD]

I will be matriculating in the fall as well, but in a very different area, neuroscience.

[faton4paws]

Congratulations on your acceptances! I know I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Do you know where you'll live yet? I'm going out to Virginia at the end of April to do some scouting; if you have places you'd like checked out (pictures, etc.), just let me know, and I'm more than happy to gather info.

[DiogenesCynicus]

I will also be attending UVA in the Fall, in the History of Art and Architecture with a concentration in Classical Archaeology. If anyone is in need of housing, check out brac.com. It seems to be one of the best sources for apartment hunting in the Charlottesville area.

[UVaSpades]

I'll be at UVA as well. I actually already got an apartment lined up, though I can't remember exactly how I found it. BRAC was one of the places I checked, but mostly I used it to find the property managers in the area, then check out their websites. As I recall, the three big groups are Real Property Inc., Godfrey Properties, and Shamrock Corporation, but everyone seems to have low opinions of Godfrey so I ignored them. When I visited the campus in March, I met a number of grad students that rented from Shamrock and liked them, but I only had time to look at RPI properties. I did find something I liked though, so I can't complain too much.

[sleppyb]

I'll be going to UVA this fall as well, in social psychology. Might visit in a couple of weeks but could push it back to later in the summer.

[shoemoney]

Hi, all! I've just been accepted to UVA's English program. My focus is medieval literature. Any other new Cavaliers out there?

Hey! Is it the English PhD program or MA? In any case, I have also been accepted, but I am still not sure (I know, I'm cutting it close to the deadline). I visited and did not like the area nearly as much as the other school I'm thinking about, but it is a fantastic program for what I want to do which is American Lit. (modern-contemporary). Hard decisions... Just out of curiosity, what excites you about the school/program/location?

[Brontelover]

Hello all. My husband and I will both be attending UVA this fall, and we are visiting next week trying to find a place to live. Does anybody have any specific suggestions for where to look? We both need to be fairly near the Central Grounds. We're trying to find a place that's walkable, nice, and won't totally break the bank. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Bison_PhD]

Hello all. My husband and I will both be attending UVA this fall, and we are visiting next week trying to find a place to live. Does anybody have any specific suggestions for where to look? We both need to be fairly near the Central Grounds. We're trying to find a place that's walkable, nice, and won't totally break the bank. Any suggestions? Thanks.

While I don't live there yet, I am moving there in the fall and my wife and I have been apartment/house shopping for several weeks. You probably want to stay away from the corner, if you want to keep some distance from the undergrads. Jefferson Park Avenue (JPA) is definitely walking distance to the grounds and it seems to have several houses for rent that seem affordable. The websites that we have found most useful are www.brac.com , Craigslist, and CAAR.com, Good Luck.

[xyu5]

Well, another UVA-sociology here

[Pisgah]

Hey, everyone! I’m also headed to UVA in the fall. I’ve never been to Charlottesville, but I can hardly wait to get settled up there! I’m hoping to find a roommate, and (seeing as I’ve been stalking the GradCafe since about December) I figured this would be the best place to start looking.

If you’re looking for a roommate, send me a pm. If nothing else, it’ll be nice to meet someone you can grab a beer with once we’re all up there!

I suppose it might help to add that I am 24, female, friendly, clean, responsible, and active.

Edited April 26, 2011 by Pisgah

[cmb]

I'll be at UVA as well. I actually already got an apartment lined up, though I can't remember exactly how I found it. BRAC was one of the places I checked, but mostly I used it to find the property managers in the area, then check out their websites. As I recall, the three big groups are Real Property Inc., Godfrey Properties, and Shamrock Corporation, but everyone seems to have low opinions of Godfrey so I ignored them. When I visited the campus in March, I met a number of grad students that rented from Shamrock and liked them, but I only had time to look at RPI properties. I did find something I liked though, so I can't complain too much.

I haven't heard any particularly positive reviews of Godfrey, but as a tenant with RPI, I can tell you do NOT under ANY circumstances do any business with them. It has been one of the worst mistakes I've ever made. I wouldn't wish this living arrangement on anyone. My apartment was filthy when I moved in, with several items left behind from the previous tenant. It had obviously not been inspected by RPI. The external building door was broken and there was shattered glass in the hallway. Most of my windows didn't have screens (which are required by VA law) and the floor was quite literally peeling up in every room. My heat worked only sporadically, and when it did, it regularly reached temperatures in the high 80s. In March, I recorded air temperatures over 100 degrees inside my apartment.

In the past year, my property manager has answered a phone call from me exactly once. She seldom responds to her emails and if I try to see her in the office, she is always mysteriously "out."

On three separate occasions, my shower has backed up with dark, gritty water. All three times were over the weekend and the emergency maintenance department told me that not having a working shower was not an emergency. It took me DAYS to get anyone to respond to the overflow of raw sewage in the parking lot.

Save yourselves a lot of hassle and don't rent with these slum lords.

[far_to_go]

Yikes! Sorry to hear about your housing horror story, CMB!

I started at UVa in fall 2010, and I live with a pretty awesome housing co-op called CHUVA. We rent four houses within walking distance to grounds and then sublet rooms to individual people. It's a really nice way for me to get to know people in the area, especially people outside of my own department (most CHUVAns are grad students). I think we still have a couple of available rooms for the fall- if you're interested, check out our website to see pics of our houses, read member profiles, etc: http://coopuva.wordpress.com/

[far_to_go]

Oh, and I second the stay-away-from-Godfrey vibe. I've had friends who rented from them this year who've had very bad experiences.