College housing has become a widely debated and questioned topic, especially for current and incoming freshman students.
At GCSU, all freshman students are required to live on campus for their first year. Their options include the dorms or West Campus’s apartments.
Most students going into their second year at GCSU move to off-campus living, with choices coming down to living in an apartment complex or renting a house.
For students looking to live in an apartment complex, their options include many popular student living like Arcadia on the River, Bellamy Living, College Station, Revelry, Magnolia Park and others.
When looking for an apartment, students should look first at cost and pricing, as each apartment complex’s price varies based on room size, roommates and the amenities offered.
Annemarie Hanna, a junior mathematics major, lived at West Campus her freshman year and currently lives at Arcadia. She advises any freshman or other students to consider prices and services offered, relaying that although Arcadia is a little out of the way from campus, she does not have to worry about parking, due to their shuttle bus.
When touring apartment complexes, it is important for students to ask the management questions about monthly rent combined with utility pricing, the maintenance policies, rules surrounding hanging decor and how the management communicates with residents of the complex.
Students should be wary about the apartment complex’s location, whether it is within walking distance or whether it provides shuttle systems, and how it provides safety precautions in cases of emergency.
One of the most asked questions for off-campus living is when to start looking for the next year. Most apartment complexes start leasing for the next year early in the semester, but depending on the complex, the leasing period can go on until late in the spring semester.
“Depending on where they want to live, I’d say start looking around September,” Hanna said. “I’m not a fan of how soon you have to start looking for a place while you haven’t even finished your first semester of freshman year, but the sooner the better.”
For students looking to rent a house, they should account for pricing, the leasing period and the location of the house.
Living in a house versus an apartment can have perks like no neighbors above or below, no specific management and overall, they can be cheaper depending on the house.
When looking at a house, it is important to be aware of the scams that may occur through Facebook listings.
Olivia Hohnerlein, a junior accounting major, has experienced living in all housing options, living in the dorm her freshman year, an apartment her sophomore year and now in her junior year, she lives in a house.
“When looking for a house off-campus, I think students should first look at how many bedrooms the house has because you might as well not bother touring a house if it does not accommodate everyone you plan to live with,” Hohnerlein said.
Students who are looking for rental houses can find listings on websites like Zillow, Bobcat Exchange, Facebook, etc. As well as websites, there are several housing management companies that students can browse for rental houses.
Just as apartment hunting can be, house hunting can be difficult, as many landlords do not start listing their properties until further into the spring semester. Students interested in renting a house must be on the lookout throughout the school year.
“Freshmen should start looking very soon,” Hohnerlein said. “Most people sign leases for the following school year in late Sept. or early Oct.”
When looking for either an apartment or a house, many students worry about who their roommates are. With the quick nature of off-campus living, finding a roommate can be difficult, but there are many ways to find someone.
Bobcat Marketplace can be a great way to find a roommate or find a place to live, as many students post listings looking for another roommate. In many apartment complexes, the management will pair people in any empty rooms, considering your preferences.
For freshman students who feel overwhelmed by finding housing for the following year, on-campus housing is still an option for those who wish. Students can still live on West Campus and in the dorms.
“The dorms are a great place to meet a lot of people freshman year and make a lot of friends,” said AJ Decker, a junior English major. “By the end of the year, though, I kinda felt like I had outgrown the dorms.”
While the West Campus Village housing is primarily designed for upperclassmen and graduate students, central campus dorms are available too, with a limitation on space due to the incoming freshman class.
To reapply for on-campus living, students can access the housing application located on the GCSU Unify website. Once the application is complete, students will receive notice of their living status shortly after their submission or after the application deadline of June 30.
Students who want to live in the dorms can become a CA for a dorm floor. This allows the student to live in the dorm without a roommate, with the added task of taking care of incoming freshmen.
“The perk of living on campus is the transportation methods and having connections to the school, whether it is in the dorms or on West Campus,” Hohnerlein said. “The only perk of living off-campus is avoiding the noise that students can bring closer to campus. Especially surrounding fraternity houses.”