from the blog
student housing tips & guides
everything you need to know about finding, choosing, and living in student housing.
How to Find a College Roommate When You Don't Know Anyone
If you don't know anyone at your school, you find a college roommate the way thousands of incoming students do: start with your university's matching portal, branch out to your class group and a student app, then screen the people who respond before you commit.
How to Rent Your First Apartment with No Credit History
You can get your first apartment with no credit by giving the landlord another reason to trust you'll pay: a cosigner or guarantor, proof of income around three times the rent, and a willingness to put more down up front. Here's the step-by-step.
First Apartment Mistakes College Students Make (and How to Avoid Them)
The costliest first apartment mistakes college students make are financial and legal: budgeting on rent alone, skipping the lease fine print, and signing a 12-month lease over a 9-month school year. Here's how to avoid each one.
The First College Apartment Checklist: Everything You Actually Need
A room-by-room first college apartment checklist: the bed, kitchen, bathroom, and cleaning essentials you need on night one, the shared items to coordinate with roommates, and the boring stuff everyone forgets.
Do College Students Need Renters Insurance? What It Covers and What It Costs
Renters insurance covers four things: your stuff (personal property), your legal responsibility if someone gets hurt or their property gets damaged (liability), a guest's medical bills after an accident in your place (medical payments), and your extra costs if a fire or flood forces you out (loss of use). For most college students living off campus, a policy runs about $14 to $25 a month, or roughly $150 to $300 a year, and yes, you almost certainly need it.
U-District vs. Capitol Hill vs. Northgate: Where UW Students Should Live in Seattle
UW housing comes down to three neighborhoods: the U-District, Capitol Hill, and Northgate. Here's the honest tradeoff on rent, Link light rail commute, and vibe so you can match where you live to how you want your year to go.