Is it worth it to pay more not to live near undergrads on campus?

[Student88]

I'd like to live in the grad house area of the campus but it is expensive. The cheaper option would be to live in complexes with undergrads. The difference is $900 vs $700. I could find a place off campus but I don't know the area, and don't plan to buy furniture as I will only be there a year or so.  

[anthropologygeek]

Absolutely

[Eigen]

Yes. I have, and would continue, to pay more to live in the non-undergraduate areas. 

 

I know you're talking about on-campus housing, but my philosophy extends to off-campus housing as well. In general, you'll find distinct areas that are more typically graduate vs undergraduate in accommodations, and the former is definitely preferable. 

[rj16]

Even in my undergrad! I think it is very wise to choose your home environment carefully. 

[juilletmercredi]

I'm going to go against the grain on this one.  I don't think it's worth $200 a month, which is a large amount of money and could go to pay for groceries or all your utilities or a phone bill twice over.

 

I worked as an undergraduate residence hall director for two years, which means I lived in the residence halls with undergrads.  ALL undergrads.  I worked with upperclass students so I lived primarily with juniors and seniors.  Different complexes have different qualities, of course - I lived in one one year that was known for housing relatively quiet, studious upperclass students who wanted a more off-campus-like experience without actually being off-campus; the units were organized apartment-style, with one or two students in each unit.  The second year I lived in one that was all singles arranged corridor-style (I had a real apartment at the end of the hall).  That one had a mix of sophomores, juniors, and a few seniors.

 

Undergrads aren't always as bad as people make the out to be; it really depends.  In my first hall, I did have a group of social students who lived down the hall from me and threw a party what seemed like one or two Thursdays a month; I could hear them down the hall, but they weren't overly loud (the walls were just thin) and they always cleared out by 1 am.  In the other hall, I never heard anything.  You can't really throw a party in a single, I guess.  I would rather hear 1-3 loud Thursday parties for 3 hours and save $200.

 

Also, apartment living is characterized by getting intimately familiar with your neighbors.  In the three years I lived in a market apartment building I was privy to all kinds of loud noises that weren't associated with undergrads.  In the summertime, teenagers would hang out on the front stoop of the apartment building across from me and play LOUD music until the cops were called on them, sometimes into 4 am.  You can smell what your neighbor is cooking, and on Saturday and Sunday mornings I sometimes heard bachata or meringue wafting out of my neighbors' apartments while they cleaned.  Sometimes I heard dogs barking at odd hours.  When Obama won the election (2008), people ran around in the streets banging pots and pans.  And when the Yankees won the series (2009), someone TP'ed the trees in front of our building.  There were NO undergrads in our building because I lived nowhere nearby an undergrad campus.

 

You can live in a quiet mostly undergrad building and you can live in a loud mostly grown-folks building.  It depends on the building and people.  Yes, I do think undergrads have more of a propensity to be loud and party, but there are also some who are serious about their studies and don't want their friends drunkenly messing up their places.

 

I dunno - $200 is a lot of money.  I'd pay $50 or even $100 to live away from undergrads, and I would pay extra money if the undergrads had a reputation for being loud and partying a lot (some schools do).  But with $200 on the line - every month - I'd have to hear from multiple current grad students and postdocs in the area that the undergrad complex was loud and disruptive before I would rule it out completely.

[picabo]

If it were me, I'd consider three factors:

1. Differences between the apartments. If the grad apartment is bigger or nicer or has better appliances, then I might spend the extra money.

2. How loud and obnoxious the undergrads are. If there's so much noise that I can't get to sleep most nights, then I would spend the extra money. But if it's mostly just them being loud Friday and Saturday nights, then I would live there and save the extra money.

3. How far is it from the complexes to the places where I'll be spending most of my time and how convenient is it to travel between the two. For example, if there are really good shuttle routes & times for the undergrad complexes but not for the grad complexes, that would make a difference to me and I'd live in the undergrad complexes.

[Meanyus]

Honestly, you can get shitty neighbors no matter where you live. I'd just call some complexes and see how the place is run. That's really going to determine your experience more than anything.