Advice for first year housing plans/options?

[tryingoutthisdream]

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Hey, guys! So I am first generation college grad and incoming med student at UofA Tucson. I’m super excited about the adventures that are to come but I am getting nervous as I feel like I am putting off finalizing housing options due to not knowing where to start! It seems like there are so many options and, understandabley so, little advice/guidance on how to navigate through.

Do you just reach out to the individual landlord and sign up for the lease of your interest? I have zero financial support and my income is all based on the financial aid & scholarship awarded. I have no preference over living single or with a roommate as I’ve enjoyed both in undergrad. I have found a few spots that I feel as though that are financially fitting but I feel odd reaching out to the landlords as I have no money or financial support from my parents.

This post may come off as naive, but I’m trying to fight off the hesitation and just commit to housing plan before it is too late.

Thanks guys!

 

[themoonman2]

You're not going to be able to find a place to rent this far in advance. Start looking maybe 1-2 months before move in date. When you apply, your landlord will make it clear what documents you need to provide. Your school will give you enough money to live comfortably.

I would recommend reaching out to people in year above you as to where they recommend living for the year.

There are services like zillow, craigslist, etc that have listings of open apartments you can ask to view.

I would also recommend finding somewhere a reasonable distance to your school for at least the first year.

 

[aymar]

You're not going to be able to find a place to rent this far in advance. Start looking maybe 1-2 months before move in date.

This is highly location dependent. Most of the desirable apartments were scooped up by the end of May for July move-in at my school. Nothing wrong with being proactive. If its an apartment complex you are looking at, many of them have waiting lists organized by desired move-in date.

 

[BunnyMan17]

My school had a facebook group where people would post spots in houses, sublets are often posted on specific class year pages. Typically the landlords were well acquainted with the medical student situation and were willing to work with us.

 

[Tenk]

I always tell MS1s to fly solo the first year. This way you can focus on the adjustment and not have to worry about social situations. Then over the course of the year if you meet someone you would want to room with, go for it. This is what I did and I am very glad I did. The amount of money you save for one years rent is not worth the risk of moving in with a complete stranger who is going to pretend on Facebook to be absolutely perfect. If you know the person you are going to move in with though that’s a different story obviously. Good luck and enjoy!

 

[M&L]

i am so happy i found this thread.

I am also working on finding a spot, and i decided to definitely live alone (i am over 30, and have two pets, so, honestly, i i feel like living with someone would not work out for me). So what i did, - i made the list of apartment complexes that i liked, called every single one, asking about all those details. Make a priority list for myself, picked a favorite. So now i can starting logging in once a week to see if apartments are available, and i already know where to look. I highly recommend it. This way you will feel much more organized when time does come around.

 

[Advising629]

OP: If you are feeling overwhelmed about handling housing issues, you might want to see if there is graduate student housing via the university where your medical school is. This could meet your need for at least the first year while you get grounded, assess your students loans, meet other students, learn the area, etc.
This could be a good fit if you are coming directly from undergrad, have not had an apartment before, are coming from out of town, and are attending a university that has housing near the medical school that is geared toward med, dental, pharmacy, and other professional or grad school students only.
Call the university housing office and ask. That office could also be a starting place for apartments where medical student often rent, if the apartment route remains your goal. It'll work out.

 

[tryingoutthisdream]

You guys are so awesome I appreciate all the advice! I started making my list of places I'm interested in today

 

[Avwu]

OP: If you are feeling overwhelmed about handling housing issues, you might want to see if there is graduate student housing via the university where your medical school is. This could meet your need for at least the first year while you get grounded, assess your students loans, meet other students, learn the area, etc.
This could be a good fit if you are coming directly from undergrad, have not had an apartment before, are coming from out of town, and are attending a university that has housing near the medical school that is geared toward med, dental, pharmacy, and other professional or grad school students only.
Call the university housing office and ask. That office could also be a starting place for apartments where medical student often rent, if the apartment route remains your goal. It'll work out.

How do you find housing infotmation and their phone numbers?

 

[sharkbyte]

I always tell MS1s to fly solo the first year. This way you can focus on the adjustment and not have to worry about social situations. Then over the course of the year if you meet someone you would want to room with, go for it. This is what I did and I am very glad I did. The amount of money you save for one years rent is not worth the risk of moving in with a complete stranger who is going to pretend on Facebook to be absolutely perfect. If you know the person you are going to move in with though that’s a different story obviously. Good luck and enjoy!

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve seen on this site. Agree 100% with living on your own first year and then re-evaluating at the end of the year if you need to. I’m an M3 and I’ve had 2 other roommates all throughout med school and it’s starting to get frustrating and tiresome dealing with all the typical roommate issues of being messy, loud, disagreeing about the thermostat, having people over for long periods of time without asking/letting us know, not doing chores equally, etc. it sucks. Only live with a roommate if you need to save money and/or you feel really lonely living by yourself.

 

[mrbreakfast]

1) Now is not too early to look for places, depending on the location. Where I currently live it is standard practice to find a place and put down your deposit 3-4 months before you would move in because the market is so tight. You don't have to commit now, but don't wait too long.

2) For apartment hunting, I generally look online and make a big excel sheet with information for each place I like. As an M1, I would try to find something relatively close to the school and somewhere safe/nice. It's ok to cut costs at certain points in life, but you don't want to increase your stress during M1 with a crappy apartment.

3) If you joined your class FB group (if it's up yet) people will start offering spots in apartments to be roommates. Your call. However I would typically recommend flying solo for your first year. Every class has a few people who are super not into med school and mess around/drop out during M1 year. You don't want to be stuck with one of them. It's MUCH easier to make some friends you like and move in together later.

 

[EMS0821]

For what its worth, I started apartment hunting back in late March and got off the waitlist for the apartment I'll move into in July about 2 weeks ago. It certainly doesn't hurt to look early; you'll have more options if you do as the most desirable spots are going to continue to get filled up.