Navigating Housing Options at the University of Florida
By Lucie Rowell, University of Florida, USA
When choosing housing abroad it can seem like an increasingly daunting task the more you look into it. As someone who was a commuter student in Manchester – this was even more daunting as I had never lived anywhere other than my home! This blog will outline how I decided on where I currently live, what my key considerations were and the challenges I faced. This is a very big decision but hopefully this bit of information can answer a few questions you may have as an exchange student.
Firstly choose what is right for you, I knew from the offset that I did not want to share a room with a stranger– as this is the majority of cases if you live in the university provided dorms in the United States. This meant I had to turn to non-university owned accommodation. This may be tricky to navigate so I would always check the reviews of the places you are looking at before becoming set on certain accommodation buildings. Secondly the decision to live off-campus not on-campus came purely from a financial perspective. It would cost pretty much double to live on campus (around $1000-$1200 a month for the same style room as what I have).
I am unsure how much exactly it costs to live in a dorm with another student at the University of Florida – checking the residence hall rates to live in Weaver Hall (the international dorm) it costs around $3,500 for the Fall and Spring semester. Now it does cost significantly more to live off-campus, I live in a relatively cheap accommodation (around $650 a month including utilities) but this is still $6,500. For me, this is worth it as the extra space, privacy and greater independence outweigh potential cost savings. Although I would say one downside is the disconnection from campus life – my friends who live on the in the dorms are much closer to the night life and any activities that may be going on. Moreover, some apartments can be far from campus which means commuting to and from can be time-consuming – just a note bus transport (the GatorBus) is free for UF students and is quite a wide network so the majority of off-campus housing is covered by the bus. However, living off campus doesn’t mean you can’t be connected to the things going on on-campus. UF has hundreds of clubs, there is something for everyone and I would recommend joining or trying out as many as possible. They are a great way to foster new friendships!
Some of the factors to consider when looking at off-campus housing are the amenities. The majority of apartments in Florida do have pools, which become a necessity in the heat!
Most also have gyms, study rooms, etc. If there is anything that you deem necessary e.g. parking, I would factor these in early. Here are some of the websites I used which helped me find my current apartment:
https://www.apartments.com/gainesville-fl/?bb=9h4u3ul9kH0gq85-B
I also joined multiple facebook groups, and looked on Reddit for real student reviews of housing in Gainesville. I found my room in an apartment with 3 other girls on Facebook from a girl who was going to be doing an exchange to Manchester – so really we just swapped lives for the year! Facebook is really good for finding subleases but do be careful for scams, make sure to check the accounts of the people posting about housing e.g. when it was created, how many friends/followers, profile picture, if they have posted any other listings, etc. And if a deal looks too good to be true, it usually is!
Not specifically housing related, but I would definitely recommend to search for WhatsApp groups for exchange students, I found the link on facebook and it really helps as the majority of questions you may have have already been answered. Moreover, you can find people who may be living off-campus near you, a lot of the exchange students live in University Commons (www.universitycommonsuf.com) as this is one of the cheapest options that also offers semester only rentals!
I hope this information has been helpful, if you are looking at studying at the University of Florida (which I couldn’t recommend more!!!) I would start looking around at different apartments online as soon as possible. This will not only help you get a feel for the area, but also housing does get full quick.
lucierowell
Hey everyone! I am a third year student on placement to the University of Florida. I hope the blog posts I create will help clarify some of things you may have about moving abroad :)
