Pine Apartments at Downers Grove CCOM

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SuperDOgirl

SuperDOgirl
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Hi CCOMers,

I am curious to find out whether or not the on-campus apartments at Downers Grove are furnished. I greatly appreciate your answer.

Thanks,
SDG
 
They are not furnished. They are, however, very convenient if you don't want to drive to class and/or the library for studying. Let me know if you have any more questions.
 
What kind of condition are the apartments in? Also, is there a parking lot near there?
 
They aren't spectacular but they aren't terrible either. Maintenance is good about fixing things if they break, and we've only had 1-2 minor problems. Other pluses are free cable TV and free high-speed internet. You only pay for electric/gas and you can apply for LIHEAP, an Illinois public assistance program to help pay for electric/gas during the winter. They don't count student loans as income, so you typically get the max amount.

There is a parking lot right in front of them.
 
delicatefade said:
They aren't spectacular but they aren't terrible either. Maintenance is good about fixing things if they break, and we've only had 1-2 minor problems. Other pluses are free cable TV and free high-speed internet. You only pay for electric/gas and you can apply for LIHEAP, an Illinois public assistance program to help pay for electric/gas during the winter. They don't count student loans as income, so you typically get the max amount.

There is a parking lot right in front of them.
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I think you can apply for LIHEAP even if you live off campus... at least thats what the county Human Services office told me. Does anyone else do this?
 
You can - they just advertised for it on campus which is how I found out about it.
 
Hello, everyone, I have a quick question. How hard is getting into the Pines? Does apply early help? Thanks!
 
lilymoo said:
Hello, everyone, I have a quick question. How hard is getting into the Pines? Does apply early help? Thanks!
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I talked to Dr. Dombrowski last month. She is in charge of this. It sounded like there were a lot of people waiting for a room so she could not guarantee me a spot at that time. You should try emailing her now to see if there are any openings.

[email protected]
 
lilymoo said:
Hello, everyone, I have a quick question. How hard is getting into the Pines? Does apply early help? Thanks!
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You can probably try to get on the waitlist for the apartments, you should call the housing people as soon as you can. I think applying early definitely helps, but you should give it a try.
 
I've heard that cell phone service at the apartments is not outstanding. I was just wondering if one service is better than the others. Thanks 🙂
 
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Don't worry if you don't get on-campus housing. There is plenty of affordable housing nearby.
 
Thanks, guys. I am now on the waiting list. 🙂
 
...thanks for the answer SDG... 👍
 
Just another one of my random questions. Shower or tub in Pines???
 
SuperDOgirl said:
Just another one of my random questions. Shower or tub in Pines???
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They have a tub, although I dont' believe they have the best neighborhood. I would suggest checking out some apartments north of the river. Currently, I live at Bennington Ridge and its less then ten mins away from school right off of Parvin Rd. It feels secluded and the management handles all my problems in a timely fashion. Not to diss the Grove - but a lot of people that lived there now live here. They also offer a special for us students - so I hope this helps some. Oh - there number is 816-455-1551. Ashley 😀
 
I have a few questions about the Pines. How are the apartments heated? A radiator? Do students pay for heat? Another poster said that internet and cable are free. Is this still correct? Thank you!
 
Med-Ic-Al said:
They have a tub, although I dont' believe they have the best neighborhood. I would suggest checking out some apartments north of the river. Currently, I live at Bennington Ridge and its less then ten mins away from school right off of Parvin Rd. It feels secluded and the management handles all my problems in a timely fashion. Not to diss the Grove - but a lot of people that lived there now live here. They also offer a special for us students - so I hope this helps some. Oh - there number is 816-455-1551. Ashley 😀
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Can you elaborate a little more on that? I'm just a little confused, I thought the neighborhood was basically the campus, and even that was a 10 minute walk away.
 
AMEM said:
I have a few questions about the Pines. How are the apartments heated? A radiator? Do students pay for heat? Another poster said that internet and cable are free. Is this still correct? Thank you!
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midwestern.com says its central AC, which would mean its probably not radiators....i think.

and it sounds like the poster who talked about the cable/internet lives at the Pines, id say its probably accurate info.
 
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AMEM said:
I have a few questions about the Pines. How are the apartments heated? A radiator? Do students pay for heat? Another poster said that internet and cable are free. Is this still correct? Thank you!
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I don't live there, but I heard the apartments, students pay on their own for heat.

I think the heating is not that great. Some guy I know said the walls are just bricks with no insulation, so the heat bill goes way up, but it's not warm at all. So, this same guy who lives there was saying, he shut off the whole thing (I guess it's an option), and just put in space heaters on local areas he uses.

I don't know if this is true or not. I do go to the school, but I've never been in the Pines. Call the school to verify about heating.
 
Does the pines have closet space?
 
I'm currently living in the pines apartments and I wanted to answer some of the questions....

The heat is variable. I live upstairs and the bills are never more than 25 a month in the dead of winter. But my classmates downstairs are paying considerably more. However, none of us are actually paying for it; as mentioned above you can have it paid for (along with electric, which runs about 30ish a month). Comfort wise I've never had any problems maintaining a comfortable temp. They are radiators, with an interesting ventilation system. AC is central, with individual apartment thermostats.

Apartments are on campus. Less than five minute walk from centennial.

Internet and cable are free; however, the internet on campus is unfortunately pretty lowsy (one of my few gripes about the school though). Oh, and yes the cell phone service is also lowsy in all buildings on campus.

There is a "closet." It is a closet, but there's no door. If that makes sense.

On the upside though... They are plenty big enough. Can't beat the convience. All my appliances are new (I can only assume the other units are the same). You live alone. You park five feet from your door. So, all in all I like it just fine. Let me know if there are other questions I can entertain.
 
Did you have to arrange for gas and electric through the companies themselves? Could you explain a little bit about LIHEAP? Is there an application to fill out somewhere, or would I have to meet with someone?

Also, a previous poster said there's no shower, only tub, is this true?

Finally, if you wouldn't mind, could you give an example of the kinds of furniture you brought to the apartment. Did you find you had enough space for everything?
 
eagle4 said:
Did you have to arrange for gas and electric through the companies themselves? Could you explain a little bit about LIHEAP? Is there an application to fill out somewhere, or would I have to meet with someone?

Also, a previous poster said there's no shower, only tub, is this true?

Finally, if you wouldn't mind, could you give an example of the kinds of furniture you brought to the apartment. Did you find you had enough space for everything?
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When you move in you call the companies and trasnfer the account to your name. For LIHEAP, there will be info in your move in packet about how to set that up. It's just some paperwork from what I remember.

There is a shower/tub....

Plenty of space for everything. I bought a full size couch, a comfy chair, chest of drawers, and a kitchen island/cart thing (i forget what exactly they're called) from ikea here. And I brought from home stuff like a coffee table, desk, drop leaf mini kitchen table, stereo, tv, etc...
 
Thanks! That was very helpful! So, basically I don't need to worry about setting up gas/electric now b/c instructions will be part of the packet I get the day I move in? As far as appliances go, am I correct that it's just stove/oven and fridge? Is the fridge a normal-sized self-defrosting kind, or is it a smaller dorm-sized fridge? One more thing, is mail delivered to the apartment building, or is delivered to the commons? Thanks again, I appreciate the info!
 
eagle4 said:
Thanks! That was very helpful! So, basically I don't need to worry about setting up gas/electric now b/c instructions will be part of the packet I get the day I move in? As far as appliances go, am I correct that it's just stove/oven and fridge? Is the fridge a normal-sized self-defrosting kind, or is it a smaller dorm-sized fridge? One more thing, is mail delivered to the apartment building, or is delivered to the commons? Thanks again, I appreciate the info!
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Normal sized fridge... the oven is a bit small. Mail is delivered to the apartment. Don't fill out any change of address forms or anything like that until you know your unit and apartment number. The address is going to be XXX Woods Lane Apt. XX. Not the school address (a mistake I made).
 
PSU_CCOM said:
Normal sized fridge... the oven is a bit small. Mail is delivered to the apartment. Don't fill out any change of address forms or anything like that until you know your unit and apartment number. The address is going to be XXX Woods Lane Apt. XX. Not the school address (a mistake I made).
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hey does anyone know if in the Redwood dorms we can remove some of the dorm furniture, store it, and bring in some of our own? i think i remember on my interview day our tour guide said something about this but i wasn't sure. 🙂 thanks for any help!
 
cbenedic said:
hey does anyone know if in the Redwood dorms we can remove some of the dorm furniture, store it, and bring in some of our own? i think i remember on my interview day our tour guide said something about this but i wasn't sure. 🙂 thanks for any help!
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They will tell you it is not allowed, but people do it. Just make sure you put everything back so you don't get charged at move out.
 
I ve been wondering about this since I ll be applying to CCOM (very interested in this school) this coming cycle...where do students live during 3rd and 4th years? Do they live downtown? Are most of the CCOM rotations in downtown or are they in suburbs surrounding downtown?
 
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It looks as though when the official school year is over, you are supposed to move out. Is this true?

Do people find apartments for the summer time? Somewhere on the website it says you can move back home and not be charged for rent. This is listed as an advantage of not having to sign a full year lease. I see the point, but for those from other states it might be a problem. Obviously we won't be holding on to our old apartments so that we can go back home for the summer. Where do Pine Apartment residents go for the summer if they can't go home?
 
Karen12345 said:
It looks as though when the official school year is over, you are supposed to move out. Is this true?

Do people find apartments for the summer time? Somewhere on the website it says you can move back home and not be charged for rent. This is listed as an advantage of not having to sign a full year lease. I see the point, but for those from other states it might be a problem. Obviously we won't be holding on to our old apartments so that we can go back home for the summer. Where do Pine Apartment residents go for the summer if they can't go home?
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in all honesty , a few of my friends live/lived at the pines and i thought they were pretty gross. they are "updating" them currently but they are pretty old grimey apartments. they are on campus, but i'd say that's the only plus to them. for the same price there are plenty of nice apartments within 1-2 miles of school. it takes me maybe 5 minutes maximum to get to school from my apartment at cityview. same goes for kids living at yorktown apartments or other ones around the area.

p.s.-> in the winter its way too cold to walk to class from the pines...you'll end up driving out to the garage to get to class anyways.

there is a lot to do here in the summer, research with profs and all that jazz, so i'd try and keep a place in the summer. worst case, you can sublease if ure not around, and its not hard to sublease a place out around here.
 
NRAI2001 said:
I ve been wondering about this since I ll be applying to CCOM (very interested in this school) this coming cycle...where do students live during 3rd and 4th years? Do they live downtown? Are most of the CCOM rotations in downtown or are they in suburbs surrounding downtown?
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i'd say at least half of ccom'rs head out to the city for years 3 and 4. maybe a 1/5th of our Ms-1 class lives in the city right now, and i'm moving out to the city as an Ms-2. yeah the commute is a hassle, you have to wake up earlier and leave campus a bit later, but the pros of living in the city outweigh the costs of the commute most of the time. ( in my opinion )

rotations are relative...they are spread out, but i believe the city is the best place to be because it's pretty central to the rotation sites.
 
I would have to disagree with the above post about the Pines. I live in the Pines right now, in a renovated unit, and I think it is fairly nice. The kitchen was completely redone (new sink, microwave, cabinets, and granite countertops), they are completely carpeted with new carpet, they have a new bathroom, and have been repainted. Now is it a mansion or as nice as yorktown and cityview (probably not). But it is pretty nice to live on campus b/c regardless of the weather and traffic it takes you about 10 min to get to class. It does get cold in the winter, but for the most part you can walk. I mean a week or two ago it was around -20 surface temp and I walked to class twice (wasn't great, but doable). Also we have had bad weather this winter and people that live off campus have to leave between 30 min and an hour to get to campus on time. I think for convenience it is not too bad. The renovated are about 800 a month, plus about 40 for electric and about 50 a month for gas. You have your own AC/heat (wall unit) that works well. You also get free internet and a really nice cable package (7 hbos, 5 espns, all the news channels, i think over 80 channels) built into the cost of rent. I would have to say once they renovate all of the apartments (happening this summer) they won't be too bad to live in. Off campus places might be a little nicer, but unless you have roommates I think you will be paying much more per month (at least 800 if not up to over a 1000 for a one bedroom, plus utilities and internet at the least). I do agree though that there are plenty of things to do in the area and on campus during the summer that I would recommend on trying to do something and keep your unit so you don't have to fight for it again. Just my opinion. Good luck in your decision
 
Thanks for all the comments. I worried this thread was completely dead.
 
So I need some help deciding which housing to pick. I think I definitely want to live on-campus just because it would be convenient and I like being really close to classes and the library. I'm not sure if I should pick the Pines apartments or the dorms. So I would like any feedback about what current students think about on-campus housing. Also, is there a meal plan that is required if you pick the dorms?
 
I would suggest you submit your application soon. Its first come first serve. Also I believe you can change the order of your application after you have submitted it. I'm not sure if this would change your place in line or not but either way it would be best for you to submit asap and if you feel like changing it later then so be it. Good luck!
 
if you apply to on campus housing and then not get the place that you want, is it possible to back out of the application and just live off campus?...i just don't want to commit to on campus housing and not get what I want. I kinda want a kitchen, but the Pines are the only ones with kitchens and they are competitive.
 
I asked Katherine Rent (housing director) this question and she told me to ONLY rank plans that I would be willing to sign a contract for. So you don't have to apply for all of them, you could just rank the Pines if you wanted.
 
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In the next couple of weeks, assignments to incoming students will be made. They make you an offer via midwestern email, which you have to accept within 72 hours. After you accept, they mail you two contracts. You have 2(?) weeks to return a signed copy, after which the contract becomes binding.

^^^^ info from housing department at CCOM
 
PSU_CCOM said:
Plenty of space for everything. I bought a full size couch, a comfy chair, chest of drawers, and a kitchen island/cart thing (i forget what exactly they're called) from ikea here. And I brought from home stuff like a coffee table, desk, drop leaf mini kitchen table, stereo, tv, etc...
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Hey so question if I have a 3 seat couch and a love seat or lazyboy. Will I have room for this? Thanks!
 
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