Mary Scardetta is a huge help! I'm finishing up first year and can say she did a great job matching people up. i live in university park but that is one of many options...there are about 10 in my class who own houses and rent out rooms to other students to pay the mortgage, also some people rent whole houses and others rent apartments off campus. as far as campus two bedrooms go, they are only $80/month more than a one bedroom so at the absolute worst, you'll be stuck with that much more rent than those with one bedroom. although they say they care, they really don't care if you occupy both rooms or get a roommate. also, you have a better chance of getting an apartment if you agree to live places other than goler house. Whipple park and university park are very nice and the apartments are pretty big. my best advice is wait it out as long as possible. i know how it feels to be uncertain of where you will live next year but miracles do happen. you will call and they will say you are number 50 or something on the list for an apartment and you'll think you are doomed and then you'll get a letter four days later with an offer for an apartment. It happened to people i know. kurly...you should get in UTH if the other places dont work out. the longer you wait, the better the chance of getting an offer. It also gives other students more time to get offers and then tell mary they are looking for people.
as far as off campus goes, i'd say most of the class lives in the south wedge, the park ave area, or anything labeled as near the university in an ad. available housing in those areas can usually be found online at rentrochester.com (you have to sign up for it but it's free), rochesterdandc.com (the local newspaper with classifieds) and the graduate housing site you've looked at many times may have some listing. i like rentrochester the best. even if you aren't looking for roommates, mary is a good person to ask about potential landlords after you have some...she doesn't know them all but she knows usually knows the ones who have treated med students poorly. you shouldn't have to pay more than $750-800 for a nice size one bedroom or $1000 for a two bedroom...in fact, you can probably do much better than that and if not you are looking in the wrong places!
Also, i'm putting together a group of students from the 2006 class that will be available all summer to answer questions about housing, and just about everything else i'm sure you are wondering about. this idea is a new one that i came up with because i found the housing process frustrating and i also struggled with at least 10 times as much anxiety and questions about first year than i really needed to. we are hoping to plan some events for the summer that will help you get to know each other, us, and the area. since it's new, i'm not sure how it will work or when we will send out more information for new students to get in touch with us but it will probably be soon after classes end at the end of may.
I'd also suggest starting a U of R class of 2007 folder and then bumping it up every once in awhile. I found a folder like that here last year and was able to spend the summer getting to know few of my peers.
Congratulations on getting in!
Michelle
