Getting your dorm assignment was easy; you sign up with your name, and in a couple of months, you’re given a dorm. No hassle, no stress, no need to pick anything out; college made the system simple. But what happens after the year is up? That’s when you start apartment hunting, which is probably the most stressful decision you’ll have to make in college.
Everyone’s first guess is to look towards CollegeTown, basically the hub for all FSU apartments. FSU CollegeTown has become somewhat of a small town within a big city, the neural network of Florida State. With events like the Gameday Block Party, live music specials, and pre-game events, it can become easy to feel like you’re missing out on the whole college experience if you don’t live within the few blocks that make up CollegeTown. That’s why most freshmen start off their search with the apartments there that are available to choose from.
As a junior who has lived in two different apartments off campus, here are a few tips I learned to utilize to narrow down my search.
- Online Forums
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Yes, I know it sounds like the obvious first place to look, but first-hand information comes from somewhere. While sifting through the many possible choices for off-campus living, I needed somewhere that gave me the truth: the good, the bad, and the ugly. No one is more honest than a Reddit thread talking about college apartments.
They’re also the perfect places to hear real experiences from previous students who lived in the apartment. Trusting reviews can be hard, especially with all the different college apartment horror stories that have been spread throughout the corners of the internet.
- Look Outside CollegeTown
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As I said before, CollegeTown is always the popular choice, but it’s not your only choice. CollegeTown apartments practically cost an arm and a leg every month for rent. On a student dime, those costs can get kind of tricky. What I’ve learned through endless amounts of apartments offered, there are plenty of cheaper, less expensive options the further you go off campus. They take a bit of searching to find, but there are some gems out there.
If traveling to and from school stops you from taking your sights further out, I recommend looking into the FSU’s bus routes that are offered to students. Most off-campus housing, even the ones further out, makes sure to be within walking distance of an FSU bus stop, which is free to all students. The bus system of FSU is very underrated, as most students don’t really take the time to research where they go, but there’s at least one bus that heads in any direction in Tallahassee and back to campus.
- Go On Tours
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Probably the best way to get a feel for what you’re looking for is going on apartment tours before signing anything. Being able to see what the apartment might look like in real life can take the pressure off trying to find the right apartment for you. Usually, they’ll show you a display apartment, which can also help with being able to imagine yourself in the apartment and even how to decorate it!
Apartment searching can sound stressful, but it doesn’t have to be. It might seem like your options are limited and that CollegeTown is your only option, but I encourage all of those who are on the hunt to look at FSU’s Off-Campus Student Life University Housing website, which provides a list of FSU-verified student apartments across Tallahassee.
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