Graduate Housing

[sugomez]

Hello,

 

I am starting at the School of Social Services Administration this fall. Right now I am muddled by what to do regarding housing. I applied for graduate housing and got an offer, but can't find any reviews or guidelines on it. Any recommendations or warnings on whether this is a good option? I have also been looking at other apartments and would appreciate any advice on what to look for and what to avoid. Please help! My lease agreement is due soon. 

[fuzzylogician]

It might help if you told us what university you are asking about. 

[shinigamiasuka]

Could be UChicago.

[sugomez]

Hello,

 

I am an incoming graduate student at University of Chicago School of Social Services Administration. Right now I am muddled by what to do regarding housing. I applied for graduate housing and got an offer, but can't find any reviews or guidelines on it. Any recommendations or warnings on whether this is a good option? I have also been looking at other apartments and would appreciate any advice on what to look for and what to avoid. Please help! My lease agreement is due soon. 

[fuzzylogician]

Please don't post the same question multiple times. I'll remove your other post, since this one actually mentions the university you are asking about, whereas the previous one didn't. 

Edited August 13, 2015 by fuzzylogician
Edit: I merged them instead so Chai_latte's post doesn't get lost

[Chai_latte]

I'm in the minority, but I'm a huge fan of university housing.  I've only had good experiences.  But, I've also always done my homework beforehand.  

First, I get online.  I look up anything I can about the housing.  If I can't find specific info about my potential apartment building/dorm, I'll read reviews about other grad housing on campus (or even undergrad housing).  A slew of crappy (or rave) reviews is telling.  

I've also called housing.  Sometimes you'll get a super-forthcoming person.  You can also find out who your potential RA will be and ask him/her about students' experiences or raise any specific concerns.

My grad schools were/are both large institutions.  Online research has always answered 95% of my questions.  But, I've never shied away from calling the housing office.  If you're still not satisfied, contact a couple of current students in your program; they can tell you about good options.  Maybe you should start with that.  

 

If I'm unfamiliar with the area, I'll Google Map the address...maybe it's in a part of town that's too desolate for my taste and no matter how great the reviews are, its location would make it a no-go.

 

As you can see, I take my housing seriously.  There's nothing worse than being stuck w/ a crappy landlord or being thrown into a horrid place that is university-owned.  That's a distraction that no one needs.  HTH

[Chai_latte]

I didn't see the school before.  Are you sure you googled?  I see a post on Quora that answers your question...right in the first 5-6 hits.

 

ETA: Before I closed that window, I also saw a similar post on Reddit.

Edited August 13, 2015 by Chai_latte

[sugomez]

Thank you to everyone that answered. I posted the same thing twice because I thought the first one had been posted at the wrong place. Sorry for the annoyance. Yes, this is regarding University of Chicago. Honestly, I have been looking online, but didn't know about the Quora website. Right now I am trying to figure out how it works. Thank you again for your responses and I hope to see more.

[drownsoda]

What is the cost of grad student housing at U of Chicago? I'm going to Fordham and I looked into their housing for grad students, but it was around $13,000 per semester for a studio— that's about $1,000 a week. YIKES. Granted, their housing for graduates is located in Manhattan, so that explains some of it. Depending on what the cost is at the U of Chicago, it may or may not be worth looking into. I don't know what rent prices are like in Chicago, but we all know they're high in New York. I was able to find a place in a building two blocks from Fordham's Bronx campus that is mainly occupied by Fordham students. I didn't even have to get a broker as it was listed by the owner, who was an elderly old-school Italian man. 

[shinigamiasuka]

What is the cost of grad student housing at U of Chicago? I'm going to Fordham and I looked into their housing for grad students, but it was around $13,000 per semester for a studio— that's about $1,000 a week. YIKES. Granted, their housing for graduates is located in Manhattan, so that explains some of it. Depending on what the cost is at the U of Chicago, it may or may not be worth looking into. I don't know what rent prices are like in Chicago, but we all know they're high in New York. I was able to find a place in a building two blocks from Fordham's Bronx campus that is mainly occupied by Fordham students. I didn't even have to get a broker as it was listed by the owner, who was an elderly old-school Italian man. 

Well I looked up housing when I got accepted to UIC, and it seemed that >=$1k /month is the usual for a studio. Yes, Chicago is pretty expensive too.

[drownsoda]

Well I looked up housing when I got accepted to UIC, and it seemed that >=$1k /month is the usual for a studio. Yes, Chicago is pretty expensive too.

Was it $1,000/month for a studio through the university's housing system, or outside of it? 

I managed to swing a 1 bedroom for $1100/month in the Bronx which is reasonable considering costs in the rest of NYC. I have a job at the school that pays me $5,000/semester and I'm going to have help from family, so it's totally feasible, but major city schools are a bitch when it comes to housing costs. 

I was honestly astounded by how much Fordham charged for grad student housing. I mean, I get that it's in Manhattan, but the cost of a 1 bedroom apartment for the semester's length was MORE than my tuition.

[shinigamiasuka]

Was it $1,000/month for a studio through the university's housing system, or outside of it? 

I managed to swing a 1 bedroom for $1100/month in the Bronx which is reasonable considering costs in the rest of NYC. I have a job at the school that pays me $5,000/semester and I'm going to have help from family, so it's totally feasible, but major city schools are a bitch when it comes to housing costs. 

I was honestly astounded by how much Fordham charged for grad student housing. I mean, I get that it's in Manhattan, but the cost of a 1 bedroom apartment for the semester's length was MORE than my tuition.

Yep, it was on campus. ~$11k a year or something IIRC.

That's cool and reasonable for NYC. I know someone who lives at ~$1200 for a studio in Columbia U's housing.

[PoliticalOrder]

Well I looked up housing when I got accepted to UIC, and it seemed that >=$1k /month is the usual for a studio. Yes, Chicago is pretty expensive too.

Well the nice thing about UChicago is that it's in the South of Chicago where there are plenty of opportunities to find very cheap housing right next to campus. 

[juilletmercredi]

I went to graduate school and the $13,000 figure for Fordham just seemed outrageous, so I checked it out. Fordham's website reports that their studio apartments at the Lincoln Center campus are about $10,310 per semester, and that includes 5 months (August through December for the fall; January through May for the spring). That comes out to $2,070 - a bit expensive for a studio, but they ARE in Lincoln Center, so that explains the cost. The one-bedrooms are $12,715 a semester, or $2,543/month, and that's to be expected for a one-bedroom in that area. In fact, that's actually relatively inexpensive for that area.

I lived in Columbia's housing (my husband is still there) and we pay $1400-1500/month for a jr. one-bedroom/two-room studio. (It's going up this year, as usual, which is why I gave the range.)

Anyway, it really depends on the university housing. Columbia's Morningside Heights (main campus) housing is very nice; it's well-maintained, we had a doorman and package receiving in the building, we live a block away from a great park and a block away from the campus, so we could walk to class. It's small, but not any smaller than anything else we could find on the market in the same neighborhood and way cheaper - plus we save on commuting costs being so close.

However, Columbia's medical center campus housing was not great. Most their apartments didn't have ovens in the kitchenettes, which was an absolute deal breaker for me. They also had a lot of railroad apartments. Plus, that neighborhood (Washington Heights) is a lot cheaper than the neighborhood in which the main campus is located, so it was easy for students to find cheap(er) housing in the same neighborhood outside of the university. That's what I did for my first 3 years of my PhD program - shared an off-campus apartment with a roommate.

So it really just depends on the housing. I'd ask some current students; ask if your department can put you in touch with some current grad students who live in the housing. Also, check the terms. IIRC our university housing only required 30 days' notice of moving out and didn't hold you to a very specific lease, so if it's awful you could always find something else if you have a similar agreement.

Edited August 17, 2015 by juilletmercredi

[drownsoda]

I went to graduate school and the $13,000 figure for Fordham just seemed outrageous, so I checked it out. Fordham's website reports that their studio apartments at the Lincoln Center campus are about $10,310 per semester, and that includes 5 months (August through December for the fall; January through May for the spring). That comes out to $2,070 - a bit expensive for a studio, but they ARE in Lincoln Center, so that explains the cost. The one-bedrooms are $12,715 a semester, or $2,543/month, and that's to be expected for a one-bedroom in that area. In fact, that's actually relatively inexpensive for that area.

I lived in Columbia's housing (my husband is still there) and we pay $1400-1500/month for a jr. one-bedroom/two-room studio. (It's going up this year, as usual, which is why I gave the range.)

Anyway, it really depends on the university housing. Columbia's Morningside Heights (main campus) housing is very nice; it's well-maintained, we had a doorman and package receiving in the building, we live a block away from a great park and a block away from the campus, so we could walk to class. It's small, but not any smaller than anything else we could find on the market in the same neighborhood and way cheaper - plus we save on commuting costs being so close.

However, Columbia's medical center campus housing was not great. Most their apartments didn't have ovens in the kitchenettes, which was an absolute deal breaker for me. They also had a lot of railroad apartments. Plus, that neighborhood (Washington Heights) is a lot cheaper than the neighborhood in which the main campus is located, so it was easy for students to find cheap(er) housing in the same neighborhood outside of the university. That's what I did for my first 3 years of my PhD program - shared an off-campus apartment with a roommate.

So it really just depends on the housing. I'd ask some current students; ask if your department can put you in touch with some current grad students who live in the housing. Also, check the terms. IIRC our university housing only required 30 days' notice of moving out and didn't hold you to a very specific lease, so if it's awful you could always find something else if you have a similar agreement.

Okay, with that breakdown it's not THAT horrifying I guess. I was told by another grad student that it was over $10k+ for a semester of rent, and I remember being kind of stunned. As you said though, it's Lincoln Center, so it makes sense.

For me personally, it just made more sense to get a place on my own, especially since most of my classes are at Rose Hill in the Bronx. I have class once a week at LC, but the bulk of my courses are at Rose Hill, and I've also got a paid assistantship at that campus, so I wanted to be close by (not the mention rent in the Bronx is cheaper, though it seems to be on the rise). I get the best of both worlds— I get to be close to the main campus, but I'm also in Little Italy, which means, as God as my witness, I'll never go hungry again! The subway is not exactly convenient, but it's only a 10-15 minute walk up Fordham Road to the D train, so I can deal with that once a week.

Did you live in Columbia's student housing throughout all of grad school? I know a lot of students there live in Harlem-- apparently a lot of Fordham students live in Harlem too, or so said the grad student who gave me a tour of the school. The area around Columbia is beautiful. W 84th up to Riverside Park is honestly one of my favorite areas of Manhattan.

Edited August 18, 2015 by drownsoda

[juilletmercredi]

I didn't. Actually, I was a student primarily at the medical center campus, so I was not eligible for Columbia's Morningside Heights housing initially. Their medical center campus housing was either more expensive or crappier than what I could get myself, so I rented my own place with a roommate. I didn't move into Columbia's housing until my husband became a student at the Morningside Heights campus and secured some Columbia graduate housing. But yes, it is so beautiful - I used to go running in Riverside Park, and would walk my dog through Morningside Park. Lots of great restaurants and shopping in the UWS too. It's a shame everything is so expensive.

I knew a lot of Columbia students who lived in Harlem, including the 140s-150s - particularly med center kids. It was pretty cheap to live in West Harlem and there are some nice renovated buildings in Central and West Harlem popping up. South Harlem is becoming really expensive, though; a friend of mine owns a 2-bedroom apartment in South Harlem that I think he bought for $250K when he first moved in. They're selling it for like $1.2 million now.

Fordham's main campus is so pretty.

[ChasingMavericks]

Personally, I love living in student housing. I've had two experiences, one in New York where I did not choose to live in student housing and then right now I am living in California and chose to live in student housing. I think housing has a lot to offer, though it may be spendy in some cases, it is also a really easy way to be able to make a friend network and get to know more people that might not be in your program. As much as having a place off campus would be appealing to me, I know that for me at least having that ability to easily meet others and get involved trumps that.