I've been off for a bit, so I'll try to get back up to speed in one big post.
It's the total. All applicants are ranked together; there are not separate waitlists, though they will skip OOS applicants if they max out on their OOS quota. Anecdotally, it seems that the waitlisted OOS people seem to be closer to the top than Arkansas people, but that's only based on an incomplete survey of my class.
What he said. I don't have hard numbers on this either, but it seems like they only accept the minimum number of OOS initially, and then put a lot more of them near the top of the waitlist (except for in-state rural health applicants that are waitlisted, the few of them there are will be at the very top). That way as admitted in-state students defer for a year or a few decide to attend elsewhere, their spots get filled more often with OOS students (theoretically up to the max OOS number) than IS students.
Those of you that are current students ( Al and MJ ) or anyone else that has some input, besides apartmenthunters.com and similar sites how could i go about finding a place near campus. A couple friends told me that i should just go look in the area, but im trying to find a place in early may and im not sure there will be many openings then. Im looking for a 2 br (vacant) near campus (hillcrest or somewhere nearby) for under 1000/month. Is that an unreasonable expectation, and do you guys know if there are postings on campus for housing in the area. BTW i am wanting to rent not buy (like thats an option for me anyway!!
). Thanks in advance
Finding a place to live in Little Rock can be surprisingly difficult. I was spoiled by the college town approach of
everyone putting their houses/apartments/condos/lofts/etc. on craigslist or their own websites and making it extremely easy to shop for apartments. Apparently they don't need to do that in Little Rock because... they just don't. Craiglist may help a little, but things in Hillcrest rent so fast that you can't rely on it. Apartment Hunters are great people and they helped me get my search started, but once again, Hillcrest houses rent really quickly. There really aren't any reputable apartments within walking distance to campus, but there are a ton of rental houses, you just have to get lucky and find one before everyone else does, because it's a high demand area.
Your price seems reasonable. I have a pretty nice 3 bed/2 ba house on N. Cedar that was rebuilt (renovated is an understatement, even the frame was redone) in 2008 about two blocks from campus and I pay $1200 a month, so surely a decent 2 bedroom could be had for under $1000. When I was looking I compiled a list of ideas from craigslist and Apartment Hunters and just went on a two day (spent the night in LR) blitz looking for places. I looked at several apartment buildings within a couple miles of campus (if you need a place to start, here's some of my list: Rivercliff, Riverwalk, The Residences at Riverdale, The Park at Riverdale, Summit House, Block 2 Lofts, Midtown Condos, and Crestwood off the top of my head), but ended up finding my place just driving up and down streets near campus. They had put out a "for lease" sign that morning and I happened to get lucky and call within a few minutes of them putting it out. This was in early June, which is when most landlords will start putting out signs for places that will be open in July or August.
Congrats on your acceptance Jt and Alex!
Jt- From friends, I've been told to either live on campus or live a few miles away from past medical students. That area of Little Rock may not be the best place to be commuting from daily, especially in odd hours. Personally, I'm leaning towards dorms for the first year.
Dorms.... Alright, here's my take on this. The UAMS dorms are pretty bland, small, and of average nice-ness, but their convenience to campus is perfect. Parking will still be a pain in the ass though, so don't think that living on campus means you'll have an easier time getting to your car than the students that commute. Another thing to consider is very limited availability- there aren't that many on-campus apartments available. When I considered living on campus (mainly so I didn't have to fight with finding a place within walking distance to campus), I called and found out there was a 1-year waiting list for the 1 bedrooms. They could get me into a studio if I wanted, but my bedroom in my current house is the size of a studio (and I was coming from having a really nice place to myself in Fayetteville, so I couldn't handle that much of a cut in space and furniture) and they weren't that cheap. For the price though, the dorms aren't a
bad deal since they include everything. However, if you want (or don't mind) having roommates there are much nicer houses within walking distance of campus to be had for a little less money per person (and you can actually park at your house).
If you're not interested in walking to class, then the benefits of living in Hillcrest likely won't justify the higher prices you'll pay compared to West Little Rock or even North Little Rock. I have friends that live in Maumelle, Bryant, and even Conway, but after a long day in class and gross lab, your threshold for road rage is going to be low enough a commute will feel two to three times as long as it really is. You'll also be coming to (and leaving) campus most days at the exact same times everyone is heading to or leaving work, so expect traffic.
I live in maumelle and the commute is 15-25 minutes depending on traffic. I really like the area but it would be nice to live closer. I have a few friends that live in the riverwalk apts on riverfront dr. It's not far from campus at all, just off Cantrell and there are other apartments in that area as well.
I like the Riverdale area, and Riverwalk was probably my top pick for an apartment complex for the price if I hadn't found a house. However, you're still going to have to drive to class and deal with parking out at War Memorial if you live in that area, so it's not a great deal more convenient than living anywhere else in Little Rock. If I were shopping for places in Riverdale, Riverwalk Apartments, the Residences at Riverdale, and Rivercliff would be at the absolute top of my list for places to look. They tend not to be terribly cheap though, so a 2 bedroom (or larger) and roommates is probably a good move to defray costs. Some people also live at Brightwaters (right next to Riverwalk), which is cheaper, but I found it to be pretty junky and not worth the discount (I felt the same way about Crestwood in the Hillcrest area).
In the past you were able to live with your spouse in the dorms, has this changed? My dad and my mom married in undergrad, and I know my dad spent his first year in the dorms. This was before they were remodeled though...
They didn't remodel the dorms, they imploded the old tower and built new ones in a completely different location (the new hospital is where the dorm tower used to be), so they're a wildly different layout. The new dorms really aren't designed for married housing, and they're quite small. The 1 bedroom units could theoretically be used by a married couple, but it'd be like living in an extended stay hotel, not a real apartment.
As far as "where to live", that's almost worthy of it's own thread, but the general guidelines are: North of 630- this one is the most definite "rule", particularly near campus. If near campus, north of Markham is preferable. South of Markham may be okay, but it varies a lot block by block and you'll have to see if before you really know. So does north of Markham to an extent, but not near as much. Either east of University (I'd say even as far over as Rodney Parham) or West of 430. There are also some nice neighborhoods in the zone in between, but it varies a lot and they're not nice or convenient enough to really be worth looking at, in my opinion. Downtown is pretty nice if you like a little more urban/city feel (as urban as it gets in L.R. anyway), but housing options are very limited and can be expensive. The downtown commute is very easy since you can just take Markham. The WLR commute (or outlying suburbs) can be a real pain since the work traffic can turn a 10-15 minute drive into a 30-50 minute one. The Conway one is the worst idea ever, in my opinion, since I've had to make that drive numerous times at the getting out of class/getting off work times and it can easily take an hour an a half. In an area no bigger than Little Rock, that's just plain silly.
Your classmates (if it hasn't happened already, I haven't looked) will likely start a "UAMS CoM Class of 2015" group on Facebook and your Little Rock classmates and upperclassmen will find it and provide housing ideas, listings, thoughts on neighborhoods, and looking for roommates (this is how I found both my roommates). Once that group starts up, I'll find it and provide input as well, but in the meantime I'm happy to provide thoughts on locations/addresses/etc. on here. Congrats to those of you that got January admits, and I'll keep my fingers crossed for your guys in February.
, so this seems as productive a distraction as any.
