On the brink: still in the dorms

In a wood paneled study lounge in the basement of Bryan Hall five sophomores sit around a couple of random desks pushed together. A few books lay scattered about and a motley assortment of coffee mugs leave rings on the table; clearly this is their study cave. With exams and homework piling up, housing plans are the last thing on their minds during the eighth week of winter quarter.

The friends met during their freshman year and decided to look for a house together fall quarter. “We just went around to all the real estate agents and demanded sufficient board for 5 people.” Spencer McNeil (pictured here "studying" in his dorm room) said of their search. They ended up at Athens Real Estate (the coffee shop and nice art in the office was a big hit with the whole group) and found a house big enough for all five: a house with a three bedroom apartment on the first floor with two single bedroom apartments on the second. Three boys would live downstairs and Spencer and Alex would live in the apartments. However, like most groups of friends looking to live together, the plans fell through. Alex and Spencer are still looking for places to live.

“I just don’t want to have to deal with whole looking for a house thing”

said Alex, who is considering living in the dorms next year. It’s simply the most convenient option. By choosing to live in the dorms, the struggle to find a place to live is bypassed and bills are included; no worrying about gas, electric and cable.

On the other hand, Spencer says he can’t stand to live in the dorms next year but he hasn't really started to look for an alternative place to live yet. Going outside to smoke, living in a supervised setting (resident advisors), communal bathrooms and getting mail from the office in his dorm are all things he won’t miss next year. If he finds another place to stay, that is.

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Two generic desks, two generic desk chairs and two generic extra-long twin beds take up most of the space in a room not much larger than a walk-in closet. A square of industrial plastic carpeting covers scuffed linoleum tile. A mini fridge with a microwave bolted to the top has to be plugged directly into a wall, so there are basically two options for placement: to the left of the outlet or to the right. Assorted personal effects are crammed anywhere they can fit. Sound familiar? If you’ve ever had to live in a dorm room, you know exactly what I’m talking about.

For most college students living in the dorms is seen as a right of passage; everyone has to do it at some point. At first the dorms are fun. You are a freshman and there are always new people around and something interesting is always happening. After a while the dorm becomes uncomfortable. Communal living just isn’t as good as home. Eventually, it becomes the bane of your existence. There can’t possibly be anything worse than staying in the dorms another quarter. Like the majority of upperclassmen, you begin to look for a place to live off campus.

Searching for off-campus housing is hard. It’s often time consuming and confusing. There are lots of things to consider and decisions to be made. You have to take the time to make appointments to see houses and apartments, look at every lease, and weigh all of your options before making a very important decision. After all, you’ll have to live there. Sometimes the best advice comes from people who have gone through the entire process. Gimme’ Shelter is here to help you find the right place with advice from people who have found off-campus housing and lived to tell the tale.