Updated with current information for 2022
If you haven’t lined up your Ohio University housing for next year, time to put down the glass blown flower vase and get on it.
Your experience at Ohio University essentially depends on your housing situation. The type of apartment you get, whom you room with, where you live affect not only your GPA and whether or not you graduate on time, but also whether your college experience is truly memorable. When you’ve got 2.5 children, a barking dog, a mortgage and a grinding 9 to 5, you’ll be thanking yourself you rented a cool Athens Ohio rental when you had the chance.
Pick Your Roommates Carefully
Don’t assume just because your buddies that the bro (or sis) honeymoon won’t come to a grinding halt. Some people make great friends but atrocious roommates. And the brutal truth is your friendship might not survive the lease. Pick someone you not only get along with but can live with. Are they clean? Do their sleeping and partying habits match yours? Will you essentially also be living with their significant other as a non-disclosed roommate? Does their music suck cockroaches? As the ghost knight said to Indiana Jones at Holy Grail Happy Hour, choose wisely.
Who’s Sleeping in the Living Room?
Think carefully about how many people you’ll want to live with. More people on the lease can make for fewer bills and bigger parties, but also a lot more mess and chaos. And if you live with half your graduating high school class, will you ever find time to study? It essentially comes down to how many other people you’re willing to put up with. You could play the safe route and just live with yourself and rent a one bedroom studio apartment. You could also shack up with a significant other (careful, living in sin makes for some complicated breakup.) You might just live with a good friend or a couple of close friends with a two, three or four bedroom apartment. Anything larger, and you’re pretty much signing the lease to a frat house.
Apartment vs House
The other choice you need to make is what kind of Athens rental you want. Do you want a house with a porch? A house with a yard? Do you want housing that has access to off campus parking? Do you want cable, Internet, and a pool thrown in? Do you want to live close to campus, further off for quieter studying, or in the country where you can get away from it all?
Typically, apartments are found closest to campus, usually right along Court Street or scattered near Uptown. These units often don’t come with a yard or have their own parking spaces, though there are a few exceptions. Typically, an apartment will come with one or two bedrooms, though there are a few three and four bedroom units available.
Houses, meanwhile are a bit farther away from campus but offer a more consistent set of amenities. Yards and parking spaces are common for these rentals, and most even have a built-in washer and dryer! These units typically come much larger, starting around four or five bedrooms, with the standard being six or more bedrooms!
Size matters
As outlined above, the distinction between apartment and housing student rentals is crucial to deciding what kind of living experience you want to have.
Another important factor to consider is the size of the student housing that you want. Rentals in Athens vary wildly in sizes, from small studios to large six bedroom homes.
But the size of the unit itself is important. There are two-bedroom apartments bigger than the size of some four-bedroom houses! The bigger the unit gets in size, the more likely it is that it will be harder to clean. This is something super important to bear in mind during your housing search; if you are a neat freak, it may be best to choose a space that is much smaller in size.
Conversely, larger spaces are better for your mental health, studies show.
The decision is really up to you. Student housing comes in all shapes and sizes, so take your time and choose the location that is right for you and your friends!