[SlideDeck2 id=19298] Not all UP-owned rentals will be available for rent this year. Photos by Kate Stringer. Info from PortlandMaps.com.
Emily Neelon |
With the UP rental preview this Saturday and housing application deadlines approaching in the upcoming month, students are scrambling to select roommates and residence halls, secure off-campus houses and sign leases. Sorting out whom to live with, where to live and affordable pricing can be a confusing and catastrophic process, but with proper preparation, the transition can be smooth and stress-free. Associate Director for Housing Alex Hermanny suggests that one way to aid the process is finding the right roommate or housemates to live with next year.
“I think you want to find people that have similar expectations to what a roommate or housemate is going to be,” Hermanny said. “You want to be with people you can have honest conversations about money with. You want to find someone that is as clean as you are. That can be hard, (but) it’s totally worth it in the long run”.
Along with figuring out whom to live with, students must decide where to live. With so many options, the decision can be tough. Let’s make it easy.
Residence halls:
Deadlines:
- Online Housing Application and $100 Deposit due Feb. 24.
-Housing Selection March 1-5.
Rates for dorms and apartments:
PROS:
Support from community
“You really get a chance to have students build communities that are consistent,” Hermanny said. “We really want people to feel like that they have a family from the minute they get there. You have the benefit of an RA staff, hall director and pastoral resident all in one place.
Hall traditions
“The halls have traditions that you may not find somewhere else,” Hermanny said.
Traditions:
-Villa Maria Hall: Annual Man Auction
-Mehling Hall: Ice Cream Crawl
-Christie Hall: Christie Pub
-Shipstad: Mr. and Mrs. Shipstad
Easy access to community
“You can meet people pretty easily,” freshman Schoenfeldt Hall resident Andrew Leigh said.
CONS:
Limited freedom
“Residence halls can be a challenge (for students) who want to do their own cooking, who want to take care of themselves, and make all of these decisions,” Hermanny said. “Some students find the meal plan to be an added expense they don’t really want.”
Lack of space
“When you live in a dorm you have to share all of your space with everyone,” senior Hannah Robinson said.
Tyson and Haggerty:
Deadlines:
-Housing Application and $100 Deposit due Feb. 10.
-Housing Selection Feb. 19.
Restrictions:
Apartments in Tyson and Haggerty are only available to juniors, seniors, and graduate students.
Rates: See residence hall rates (above)
PROS:
Fully furnished
“They’re furnished which is really appealing to students,” Hermanny said. “A lot of them like that they have a full kitchen, that they have access to cable television and Internet provided by the university.”
Closeness through proximity
“I really like living in the apartment style housing because you get a lot closer to who you’re living with in your unit,” senior Marissa Birmingham said, who lives in the Honors House in Tyson and Haggerty. There’s less of a dorm life community, you don’t necessarily know everyone else, but you get to know your apartment really well.”
Unique traditions
“They have a lot of really cool traditions that have started this year like the Oktoberfest,” Hermanny said. “The community of Haggerty/Tyson is of older students and we want to understand that and treat them differently than they were treated as a first-year student living in a hall.”
CONS:
Less community than residence halls
“You don’t see many of the people that live down the way because you live in an apartment that’s pretty contained,” Hermanny said. “You may not see as many people as you would see on a residence floor.”
UP-owned houses
Deadlines:
-Housing Application and $100 deposit due Feb. 10.
-Housing Selection Feb. 19.
-Rental Preview this Saturday, 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Rates: Range from $1,750 - $2,080 per semester per person. The houses do not close over winter break, so your rent is covered during this time as well.
PROS:
More freedom
“You have extra freedom,” Hermanny said. “You don’t have staff around, which people find appealing. You get to live in a house community which looks a lot like it will after graduation.”
UP as landlord
“Your bill is still from Student Accounts and some students can apply their scholarships to certain things depending on the ways they are set up,” Hermanny said.
“P-Plant is available to come when you need them, so I’ve never had to deal with a landlord,” senior Kay Bodmer said. “It’s nice that the rent is rolled into our tuition.”
CONS:
Older buildings
“Most of the UP houses are older than the other rental houses in the neighborhood, so most of our appliances are not as new,” Bodmer said. “(The houses) take on a little more wear-and-tear because people are switching in and out each year.”
Non-UP-owned houses
For students that wish to live in a non UP-owned house, they must take on the tasks of house hunting, negotiating and paying rent, and interacting with an outside landlord. Senior Hannah Robinson, who lives on a non UP-owned property, advises other students to get in contact with house owners early.
Rates: $725/month - $2614/month, according to Zillow and Trulia listings for University Park Neighborhood
PROS:
Realistic living situation
“The next step up (from living in a dorm) is living in a house off-campus where you are making your own choices about how you want to live and what you want to do with your free time, what kind of life you want to have before you graduate and go off into the real world and get an apartment,” Robinson said.
CONS:
Dealing with a landlord
“Living off-campus, you have to develop a new relationship with a landlord,” Hermanny said. “You are working with someone you may or may not know and you may or may not know how well that will work out in responding to maintenance requests and other questions you have.”
Extra expenses
“You have to set up your utilities, cable, Internet, an account with the Portland Water Bureau, the gas and electric company,” said Hermanny of both UP-owned and non UP-owned rentals.
*For more information on housing and selection times and locations by hall, go to up.edu/housing.
*Residence Hall prices for the 2014-2015 school year subject to change.
