I lived in Rush's campus housing the first year. Not too bad, there are about 12 apts per building, 6 buildings per court, and 3 courts, all withing walking distance to Rush. Most people live in studios or one bedrooms if they live alone, 2 bedroom apts if they have a roomate. I lived with my girlfriend, so we had a one bedroom. It was a regular apt - about 650 square feet, bedroom, bathroom, living/dining room, and a free parking space for $806/month. Rent was taken right out of my loan on a quarterly basis. The best reasons for doing so during first year were that I could go into anatomy lab or go use my microscope for histo any time I wanted. I was on a night schedule for most of last year, so I would often be in anatomy lab at 10pm or so. It was pretty convenient being able to walk just a couple blocks and not have to deal with driving there. The negative aspect is that the apartments are not really that nice, especially if you have a non-student living with you. The appliances are old and crappy and our apartment was a garden apartment with no security bars or anything.
Now that I'm starting second year, however, I have much less of a need to be at school at odd times. We moved to a lakefront highrise apartment for $1100 a month (+$165 for parking). MUCH nicer with a view of the entirety of Lake Michigan and almost all of the south side of Chicago, secured parking space, 24 hr security, NEW appliances
etc.
Once you learn how you will be studying (look at some of the threads around here - everyone studies differently), if you find you study mostly at home and skip a lot of class, I HIGHLY recommend finding a nice apartment for second year. If you're going to be at home the majority of your day, you might as well be in a really nice environment. For first year, however, I recommend staying close to school, whether that means campus housing or an off-campus apartment nearby.
