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Boston University stretches about 32,700 Terriers along a mile and a half of Commonwealth Avenue, right on the Charles River in Boston. There's no quad to speak of; campus is the city, woven into the Green Line trolley that runs straight down Comm Ave to Kenmore Square and downtown. The Charles River Esplanade is BU's backyard, packed with runners and rowers, and the fall Head of the Charles regatta launches from the BU boathouse. Game days fill Agganis Arena, where the hockey student section, the Dog Pound, gets loud. The real signature is Marathon Monday: students get the day off as the Boston Marathon roars through Kenmore. Allston, Brookline, and Fenway press right against campus, so most students walk or ride the T everywhere.
Boston University requires all freshmen to live on campus, along with any student on a University scholarship equal to or greater than tuition. The mandate is firm, so nearly every first-year is in university housing.
There are narrow exemptions: you can request to live off campus if you reside with a parent, spouse, or child whose home is within a 20-mile radius of the Charles River Campus, or if you will be 21 or older by October 1 of your entering year. Most students move off campus by junior or senior year, spreading into Allston, Brookline, and Fenway. The market relies heavily on brokers, who often charge a fee equal to a month of rent on top of first month, last month, and a security deposit.
Boston runs on a brutal calendar, with most leases starting September 1. Confirm whether there is a broker fee, check that the unit's bedroom count is legal since Boston caps unrelated tenants per unit, and watch for September 1 leases that overlap awkwardly with citywide move-out chaos.
Housing policies change frequently. Always verify current requirements directly with Boston University before signing a lease.
Boston runs one of the most aggressive leasing calendars in the country, and BU students get caught in it every year. The hunt for a September 1 lease starts shockingly early, with many students and brokers signing for the next year by the previous fall. A huge share of apartments in Allston and Brookline are locked up by January or February. If you want a decent place near campus, start looking in the fall for the following September.
Demand peaks through winter and into early spring as close-in units near campus disappear. If you wait until spring, the good close-in units are largely gone and you are choosing from leftovers or places farther out on the Green Line. Almost everything turns over on September 1, which means very few mid-year openings. Locking a lease months ahead saves you, so be ready to commit fast.
Classes start in early September, and the citywide September 1 move-out and move-in is genuinely chaotic. Your late-search fallbacks are January-start leases from spring graduates, summer sublets, and study-abroad students leaving spots open. Outside those, mid-year openings are scarce. Expect slim pickings if you miss the main wave.
Directly next to campus, Allston is the classic BU student neighborhood: lively, young, and packed with rentals, though older and well-worn.
Brookline is leafier and more polished, a short Green Line ride away and popular with students wanting a calmer, residential feel.
Fenway-Kenmore butts right up against the eastern end of campus, the closest option for classes near Kenmore Square, and runs higher.
Common questions from students searching for housing.
Boston is genuinely steep. A room in a shared apartment near campus usually runs about $1,200-$1,800/month per person, with Allston at the lower end and Fenway-Kenmore and Brookline higher. Splitting a larger apartment with several roommates is how most students bring the per-person number down.
Other universities in Boston share a similar off-campus housing market.
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