Went to a couple apartment complexes...Avalon Shrewsbury, Avalon Northborough and Haynes Farm in Shrewsbury. All of them are right off Rt. 9 and around 4-6 miles from campus. Definitely not walking distance. They are all in the $1300/month range for a 1 br/1 bath with a pool, gym, office space, etc. We really liked Haynes Farms and are definitely considering it for July.
I'm going to add my 2 cents to this part.
Those places are pretty expensive and definitely not the places where most students live--more like attendings/professors. But if you have the income to do it, I guess that's ok!
Princeton Place and Plantation Ridge/Towers are the 2 complexes within walking distance (10-20 minutes depending) of campus. The rent for a 1 bedroom is typically around $1200, for 2 bedrooms about $1500, I believe. Those are expensive and they're large complexes. Not my style but lots of students do live there. Plantation has had some security problems with people's tires getting stolen off of their cars and then management tries to fine the car's owner (a resident in the complex).
There are many, many, many houses within a 10 minute walk of campus where medical students live, usually with 2-4 roommates per house. Some are condo-style with 2 units in one building, some are stand-alone houses. Most are quite nice (space, a yard, a driveway) and rent ranges from $400-$650/person/month depending on the number of roommates, amenities, and how close you are to campus. I used to live in much more expensive cities so this feels like a cheap rent dream! There are other places in the in-between range if you go a little further from campus, like Lincoln Street, further north on Plantation, further south on Lake Ave, up to the Greendale area, west on Belmont/Highland, downtown (Main Street--where American Hustle was filmed!), down Shrewsbury Street, down Franklin Street.
Some general points:
-Wait until May or June to sign a lease. There will be flurries of emails to your umass email address starting in May and continuing to June--from landlords and from students moving out of places. There is also an accepted students spreadsheet for finding roommates. In MA, rental season is usually June-September and that is true in Worcester as well; you'll have more and better options if you wait until the summer.
-Shrewsbury is usually much more expensive than Worcester, even if you're only going over to the other side of Lake Quinsig.
-You will need a car to live in Worcester, unfortunately. There is very limited public transportation. I live about 3 minutes by foot from school so I only need to drive a few times a week, but it's pretty key for getting around town.
-Parking on campus is about $280/year (I think) for first- and second-year med students.
Let me know if you have any other questions! I *love* UMass and coming here was one of the best decisions I've ever made.
