Advice for housing at Columbia TC?

[mess]

Hello everyone, 

 

I'll be moving to New York this fall to start my study at TC, which I'm very excited about but at the same time it means that 

I got to start looking for a suitable place to live. As an international student, this whole process is a little daunting. And I've been beginning to lean to the idea of living at a housing offered by TC rather than go on a apartment hunt.  

 

Anyone who has an experience with TC have any recommendation in which housings I should apply? 

Is this a good idea? 

 

 

 

[juilletmercredi]

I'm a Columbia grad but not at TC.  I do, however, live about a block and a half from TC.

 

Personally I think TC's housing is way overpriced for the area.  Prices are here and they are per term, which means per semester.  As you can see, the efficiencies with no private kitchen are $8,000+ for one semester, which is about 4 months - that means $2,000/month for a studio with a shared kitchen.  This building is essentially in Harlem, where you could get a studio with your own kitchen for less than that if you really wanted.  The efficiencies in Whittier are cheaper (more like $1500/month) but I had a friend who lived in one of them and they are very small.  They're more like single rooms than an efficiency, really.  The only thing on the list that's actually almost kind of in line with market prices is the one-bedrooms, and that's probably more than you need.

 

Finding an apartment in NYC can be a challenging process but it's definitely doable, especially in this neighborhood.  TC is located really close to Harlem, which is where some of the most affordable housing in Manhattan is.  If you are willing to share an apartment (so to have your own bedroom in a 2-4 bedroom apartment), you can pay anywhere from $700-900/month in Harlem or the next neighborhood up, Washington Heights (about a 20-minute commute from TC; there's a shuttle that goes from uptown by the medical center campus/New York Presbyterian Hospital, around 168th St. & Broadway, and stops right in front of TC).  You can find apartment shares on Craigslist - this is actually how I found most of my roommates when I had a 2-bedroom apartment in Washington Heights, by listing my apartment on Craiglist.  I got sane, normal, friendly people, primarily other students.  Often you can find people who just need to get someone in the space but don't need you to sign the lease, which was my arrangement.  If you really want to live alone, expect to pay at least $1200/month and more realistically between $1500-2000/month.  If you're going to do that, it actually may make more sense just to go with TC's housing, although it'll be much smaller than anything you can get on the market.  I also found living in residential housing to be more of a hassle - you have to get packages at the package center rather than getting them delivered to your door; you have to go out front for food deliveries because they're not allowed in the building, etc. etc.

 

If you want to look for housing on the market, I would suggest looking primarily in Harlem as that will be pretty close to TC.  Generally speaking you can look between 120th and 140th-ish and between Riverside Dr and like...Amsterdam, or maybe St. Nicholas.  In Harlem, anything further east than that gets into Central Harlem and you'd have to take the crosstown bus to TC, which will be a pain in the butt.  If you live further north than around ehh around 130th St. living close to the 1 train will be best because that stops relatively close to TC.  There's also a couple buses that go down Broadway and stop pretty close (the M4 and M104; the M11 also goes down Amsterdam and stops on the other side).  You could also look in the 140s-170s west of Broadway, especially if you look in the area between 165th to 175th ish because you'll have access to the shuttle bus that goes straight to TC.  However, since the prices will be about the same, I'd say start with Harlem - the commute will be shorter.

 

Another option is to apply to live at International House.  I've had a variety of friends who've lived at I-House throughout the years and they've all loved it.  The room rates are here.  The place is also pretty expensive, but still cheaper than TC's housing with more amenities.  Check out the website; it's a really unique living environment.  If you don't mind sharing a bathroom in a corridor-style residence hall, you'll pay $900-1200/month.  If you want a private bathroom, it's like $1300-1500/month.  The rooms are tiny.  If corridor-style dorm living isn't for you anymore, you could get an apartment share for $1200-1500/month.  Again, though, that's way more than you'll pay on the open market, although you get more in the experience.