For many students, finding an apartment can be burdensome. There are various things to think over when finding a place to live for the next school year.

This is an anxiety-inducing experience that many students at the University have to face. It is an unspoken rule that if someone wants to live in an apartment, they have to act fast.

Lucy Qin, freshman in Business, said the early fall semester is when students scramble to find a place to call home for the upcoming school year. Qin said the apartment hunt was news to her.

“I’ll be honest, I did not know that students live in apartments when I came here,” Qin said. “I thought everyone lived in the dorm for four years. So when people were telling me that I can’t be living in a dorm, I was really freaking out.”

Qin said searching for apartments in Campustown is difficult due to the high demand for apartments and the high population of students in such a short time.

“Realizing that apartment hunting season is two months after you move in, I’ve barely been here and you already have to look for apartments for next year caused me a great deal (of stress),” Qin said.

Pushti Vora, freshman in Engineering, was aware of the tedious process and what had to be done.

“I knew that we would have to start hunting for an apartment as soon as we got here,” Vora said. “So it was kind of an easy process, but it was really stressful. It was not as easy as I thought.”

For many students, high levels of stress and pressure are present when it comes to property searching.

Many students don’t understand why apartment searching is so urgent in the fall. Some say the high dorm price is to blame, while some think it is to be expected in a college town.

Qin suggested it’s an experience that comes after freshman year.

“People will question you like, ‘why are you living in the dorms again?’” Qin said. “It seems like a freshman thing.”

Elaine Tran, freshman in Education, explained why she thinks apartments are highly sought after.

“It’s just sometimes being in the dorms, there’s just no freedom (and) it’s a lot smaller,” Tran said. “Going here, I knew I wanted my own space, and I feel like a lot of other people feel the same way.”

When looking for an apartment, students have to keep multiple factors in mind, including location, rent and utilities. Vora mentioned a vital factor that comes even before the living space itself.

“It’s more like finding a partner, to be honest,” Vora said. “I have to stay with that person by any circumstance — if it would have been a lockdown — would I be able to stay with that person?”

Qin said that though it would be better for students to live with someone they can be friends with, vibing with roommates is the most important.

“But overall, just make sure you vibe with that person,” Qin said. “You don’t have to be best friends with them. Just make sure you can live in a safe space without having issues.”

Tran echoed this sentiment.

“Once you have a roommate, (you) get to talk about what they want, and then they settle down,” Tran said. “Once I had my roommate, everything fell into place.”

Qin said people shouldn’t worry about finding an apartment until they have found compatible roommates. However, she said finding one can be challenging for students who haven’t met any people on campus.

“I’m from out of state, so I came here not knowing anybody,” Qin said.

Across the University, students are dealing with the same process of searching for a suitable apartment. Many said they share the experiences of their dream apartment getting leased or their future roommate falling through.

“Everything will happen naturally,” Qin said. “The more you force it, the more it won’t come out how you want it to turn out.”

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