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Rhodes College sets about 1,875 students on a Gothic stone campus in the heart of Midtown Memphis, directly across from Overton Park and the Memphis Zoo. Midtown is the city's most walkable, artsy stretch: century-old bungalows, tree-lined streets, and a deep arts scene. Right at the campus edge, Overton Park spreads out with trails through the Old Forest, a dog park, and the Overton Park Shell, an open-air amphitheater with free live music. Students bike the Vollintine-Evergreen Greenline and drift south to Cooper-Young and the Overton Square entertainment district for shows and nightlife. Memphis brings the Grizzlies, barbecue, and music history you can hear on the street. Campus is compact and walkable, though most students keep a car for the wider city.
Rhodes runs a three-year residency requirement, so unmarried, full-time undergraduates live on campus and stay on a meal plan for six consecutive fall and spring semesters, which covers your first, second, and third years. Most students do not move off campus until senior year. Even then, roughly three-quarters choose to stay on.
Exemptions exist for married students and certain age or hardship cases, handled through Residence Life. When you do go off campus, the Midtown rental process is straightforward big-city stuff, so you will apply through property managers or individual landlords, expect a credit and income check or a co-signer, and put down a deposit. Confirm whether the historic houses in the area include parking, since street parking varies block to block.
Many Midtown apartments run a standard twelve months that will not line up neatly with the academic calendar, so watch the lease term. Read the utility split carefully on older buildings. The twelve-month leases on most units create a regular stream of openings and sublets year-round.
Housing policies change frequently. Always verify current requirements directly with Rhodes College before signing a lease.
Since most Rhodes students stay on campus through junior year, the off-campus hunt is really a senior-year move, and Midtown is a normal city rental market rather than a student-housing frenzy. Apartments here lease year-round, but the best Midtown units, especially the renovated ones near Overton Park and along the Greenline, get snapped up in late spring and early summer as leases turn over. If you want a specific building or a house with roommates, start touring in February or March for an August move-in. Starting early gives you first pick of the renovated units.
Classes begin in late August, and the best Midtown units near Overton Park and along the Greenline get snapped up in late spring and early summer as leases turn over. Demand for the renovated buildings peaks during this stretch. If you are arriving in spring or need a short-term spot, watch for sublets from students leaving for study abroad or graduating in December. Signing before the late-spring turnover widens your options.
Midtown's steady supply means late searchers can usually find something into the fall. The twelve-month leases on most units create a regular stream of openings and sublets year-round. A summer search still works, just with thinner pickings. Watch for sublets if you are arriving in spring or need a short-term spot.
The historic district right on Rhodes' northern edge has quiet streets, mature trees, and the Greenline trail.
Classic Midtown bungalows steps from Overton Park make this area walkable and central.
A lively, artsy corner full of vintage shops and nightlife, Cooper-Young is popular with young renters and a bit pricier.
Common questions from students searching for housing.
A room in a shared house near Rhodes usually runs $500-$800/month per person, while a studio or one-bedroom in Midtown typically lands around $900-$1,300/month. Renovated buildings near Overton Park sit at the higher end, and older bungalows come in lower. Budget another $60-$150/month for utilities, since many Midtown houses are old and heating or cooling adds up.
Other universities in Memphis share a similar off-campus housing market.
The University of Memphis brings about 22,205 Tigers to a city that basically invented its own soundtrack. Campus sits in the leafy University District, a short hop from Midtown, where most of the action lives. On football Saturdays, Tiger Lane fills with smoke and tailgates before kickoff at the Liberty Bowl. Midtown…
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