Thursday, February 21, 2008

So, the newest thing I'm excited about is potentially living off campus next semester. Cihan, Lauren, Sarah, and I are looking into sharing an apartment, which would be sick. Reasons why it would be sick:
  1. cheaper rent. right now we (as in Dad) pay over $700/month for my dorm. This is a ridiculous price to pay for the convenience of living on campus. Nice apartments I have seen max at about $550/month per person. Most likely cheaper.
  2. i would get my own room without isolating myself in a single.
  3. we would still be within walking distance of campus as well as the RPI Shuttle if we get lazy.
  4. i would not have to get an overpriced meal plan. currently we (as in Dad) pay about $150/week for me to eat in the dining hall on a daily basis (which i often don't, it's gross). four of us living together could easily survive on $200/week for groceries, dividing to $50 per person. even if i'm underestimating, worst case scenario we spend half as much on groceries as we would on meal plans.
  5. upgrading from a squeezy double to my own room complete with bathroom, living room and kitchen would be sweet.
Downsides include signing a 1 year lease (most likely June 08-June 09) and only being present for 8 or 9 of the 12 months (subletting them possibly?), and the fact that since Cihan is not 18 or on good terms with her parents her name wouldn't be able to go on the lease.
We're checking out an apartment this Saturday, asking lots of questions, and are still on the lookout for more.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousFebruary 22, 2008 at 1:54 PM

    i could come crash on your couch!!

    you also forgot to mention that they hook these apartments up. they come fully furnished with 42" plasma TVs and stainless steel appliances.

    also it is only students who live in the apartments. you must prove that youre enrolled at RPI to live there. that means its very similar to the dorms because its all students.

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  2. erin_at_rpiFebruary 22, 2008 at 2:03 PM

    The apartments Kara refers to are those provided by www.troystudenthousing.com. As she says, they are hooked up. However, come to find out they have limited availability because most of the better (closer to campus) ones are already leased. We're going to check out the ones that are still available and we're also looking on craigslist and the RPI Off Campus Housing database. (http://offcampus.union.rpi.edu/search.asp)

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  3. AnonymousMay 8, 2008 at 1:33 PM

    Please beware of TroyStudentHousing. They are very sleazy and have scammed and unfairly treated a large number of RPI students. They have had a mysterious number of the plasa TVs stolen, they advertise in many illegal ways (stapling posters to benches and telephone poles all over Troy and the RPI campus), and just recently they spammed over 5,000 RPI student e-mail addresses with unsolicited e-mail advertising their apartments.

    They are also buying up huge amounts of property in Troy, gutting the buildings, and compartmentalizing them into more and more rooms that they overcharge students for. They give you an "allowance" for utilities which you then have to pay for if you go over, and the room you're renting could be had for much, much cheaper from almost any local landlord (I'm paying $290/month for a great place right next to Horizon Terrace, I live with 3 friends who pay the same.)

    I urge anyone interested in TSH properties to avoid them to help stop their abuse of RPI students and Troy as a whole.

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