FAQ
- 1. Types of place? (1-bed, 2-or-more, efficiency, dorm, house)
- 2. Need a roommate?
- 3. What area do you want to live?
- 4. Your budget?
- 5. Close to campus or a bus stop? (which bus?)
- 6. Close to a grocery store?
- 7. Have a car?
- 8. When do you need an apartment?
- 9. When do you begin searching for an apartment?
Frequently Asked Questions for New Students
1. Do you need a roommate?
If you like to live by yourself due to any reasons including study time, safety and convenience, you definitely do not need a roommate. If you want to speak English, learn new cultures, and share your spare time with your roommate, you may want to have a roommate. Good places to find a roommate are the university union building (on the 1st floor), international office, and definitely the Internet. By using these resources, when you get information about your tentative roommate (name, phone number, address), be sure that you call him/her to set up a time to look at an apartment before you actually go to the apartment. Get all information you need from him/her before making a decision to move in.2. What area in Austin do you want to live?
The closer to campus, the more convenience is to go to school. A bus stop and a grocery should be considered. But most of all, your safety. Different areas have different neighbors. In general, North and West parts of downtown (or UT or highway i-35) are better to live. On the other hand, East and South parts are not preferable (at least to me) due to higher crime reports. However, this is not a concrete rule because some apartments are in good neighbors (i.e. Riverside and Cameron Road), even though they are on the East or South sides of UT. The best way is to visit the area before you actually sign a lease or pay a deposit. If you have an apartment address, you may search for an Austin maps from the Google Map.3. Do you need to take a bus? What is your major?
It is quite convenient to take a bus in Austin and it takes about 5-45 minutes to get to UT depending upon where you live. Most UT buses will run every 5-30 minutes during daytime, and about 30 minutes after 6pm. The UT buses run from several directions and stop at various locations. If you want to take a bus from your apartment to school, and have a bus stop in front of or near your department building, you should know which buses you will take. You can get UT bus information, and your department location from the following website, http://www.capmetro.org/riding/schedules_ut.asp. Some apartments are far from UT, so you may need to take Austin city buses. They have information about the city buses online at capitalmetro.org. The UT and City buses information can be obtained from the International Office building, on a bus, or at a visitor center.4. Do you need a car?
If you live far from campus or a grocery store, you may need a car. Driving in Austin is not too bad, but challenging during the morning and afternoon. Austin is a fast-growing city, so you may see traffic jam sometimes during the rush hours. However, in general it is convenient because there are several highways and the city plan is well organized. If your apartment is not close to a bus stop, far from campus, or far from a grocery store, you may consider having a car. The upside of having a car is that it is very convenient for shopping, going to school at night, and traveling. The downside of having a car is that parking spaces around campus are very limited during daytime. You may choose an option of paying about $100/semester to get a parking ticket, but it does not guarantee that you will have a parking space on campus. Higher-priced parking tickets are also available and there are more parking spaces. Some students live a bit far from campus, so they drive close to campus and park there, before taking a bus to their campus. This option can save your time because a bus runs every 5 minutes and takes 5-10 minutes to get to campus, faster than searching for a parking space (if you can find one).5. What kind of place you need? How much is your budget?
You can have choices of living in a 1-bedroom apartment, a 2-or-more-bedroom apartment, an efficiency, a dormitory, and a house. Cost of rental for each choice is different, and there are several pros and cons for each one as well. According to a rental cost, here is the rank from high cost to low cost (per month): dormitory ($500-$700 + food cost), 1-bedroom apartment ($550-$850), efficiency ($500-$700), house ($800-$1000), and 2-or more ($400-$700/person). However, this is only a guide, the actual cost may be different based on where you live, facilities, and others. And keep in mind that this rental cost does not include utilities costs, about $30-$100/month. If you have several options for yourself, for example you want to live in 1-bedroom or efficiency, you will have more choices to choose when you search for an apartment. On the other hand, if you strict with only 1-bedroom, it may be more difficult to find one close to campus and a grocery store.6. When do you need an apartment? When do you search for an apartment?
The sooner you search for an apartment, the better choice you will have. You may need to go to Austin earlier before the school starts, find an apartment on-line, or ask for some help from someone you know. For the fall semester, you may begin searching for an apartment from April to August, and for the spring semester, you may begin your search on November to January. But it’s a good idea to arrive Austin at least a couple weeks before the school starts, so you can get used to Austin before actually living here. I bet you will like Austin, and we all welcome you to Austin.Here is a checklist for apartment searching.
If you need further help or information, let us know. Good luck with your trip and welcome to Austin,
Nuntapong Ovararin 05/05/2001 Last Edited by Seehapol Utitsan May 2009