College Housing Issues

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Next semester, I will be transferring to another college because I am changing my major, and the school I am currently attending does not offer the major in question.

I am considering applying for on-campus apartments. But the one I want, a one-bedroom that comes fully furnished, with my own bathroom and washer/dryer, is twice as much as the dorm I am currently in. And I am worried that I can't afford it.

I cannot deal with having a roommate, since during the holiday break, my roommate went into my room and downloaded porn on my computer.

I also cannot deal with crowded laundromats because people sometimes wash their clothes, and then go off and do other things (partying?), and completely fail to take heed that their clothes are still in the washing machine, not thinking that others need to wash their clothes as well, and I don't want to feel like 3:00am is the only time I can wash clothes.

I also want a place that has enough space to store my stationary bike, because the only time the rec center at school isn't crowded is at 6:00am, when it opens. I don't have time to wait 30 minutes for cardio equipment to become available, use said equipment, trot across campus back to my dorm, take a shower (especially if I am sharing a bathroom with 1-3 other people), and race to an 8:00am class.

If anyone has any advice on this, please let me know.

Contact the people charged with disability assistance at your new college and explain your situation.

Agreed. While my housing situation is far from optimal (as a couple threads I started before might imply) I was able to get a single room because I made the calls to the college. Alternately, if your disability program is slow/unhelpful, you can even try explaining your situation directly to someone in charge of housing. I find what you can get really depends how helpful/understanding the best contact you can make is- you need to find someone who will rally for you. What department this person is in depends on the university in question, of course.


Also...just a suggestion...I really regret not jumping on the ball earlier to try and find a single room WITHIN transfer themed housing. I made no close friends this year, because my single room was in a school apartment complex with upper grads that already had their social lives established. A friend of mine who has aspie tendencies transferred into transfer themed housing, and this seemed to help his social life tremendously.

I think contacting disability services is an absolutely wonderful idea.

If they can't accommodate, have you considered an apartment nearby? That's what I did. It was a 10 minute drive from campus and just big enough for me. A few other students from my college also rented there (didn't know them, just saw the parking tags on their cars). Nice place. Don't necessarily look for "student" housing - always more expensive.

I could NEVER have dealt with a roommate, I wouldn't have even tried.

I would have thought that off-campus housing was more expensive.

On campus apartments are more expensive than off campus apartments. For all first semester at the new college you should
consider living in an on campus apartment until you get acclimated to your new surroundings. Then, move off campus where
it will be less expensive to live.

Money is an important issue for me in this regard. I was originally accepted to the University of Hawaii, but it was the cost of living there that stopped me from going there.

I am currently attending a college that is equidistant from Dallas-Ft. Worth and Oklahoma City, and my new school is between Austin and San Antonio.

I work in Residential Life and Housing, and although policies vary from university to university, here's what I suggest doing:

1. Contact your school's office for students with disabilities and get started with the whole documentation issue; it can take a few weeks to get everything sorted. Let them know that you would like to live in campus housing and explain your requests for accommodation.

2. You can also contact the office of housing/residential life/residential education and explain your situation. Most university res life programs are auxiliary, which means they generate revenue through rent, so you may not find them flexible on the price (unless you qualify for some sort of grant/reduction through disabilities services).

3. Look in to apartments near campus or as far as you're willing to drive. You can often find a better deal in exchange for a 10-20 minute drive. Make sure you factor in utilities when you're considering rent, especially if money is a concern.

4. Check with the financial aid office to make sure you're receiving as much financial aid as possible.

You may be able to get a single room based on your needs which wouldn't be as nice as the apartment but would be somewhat cheaper.

Also, do you password protect your computer?

I have accommodations through the Office of Disability Services to have a single room. I did try RAP at Mason but I got double in a new so I didn't know what it was like to someone else sharing the same room so in a single in a new dorm but the newest dorms.

It's mainly the financial end that's preventing me from getting the one-bedroom.

My reasons for needing my own apartment were even more justified this morning. I arrived at the gym at my school the minute they opened (6:00am), and there is a particular piece of cardio equipment that I use that burns a lot of calories. But someone else also got there at the same time, and she beat me to that equipment, and there was a 30-minute wait for it. I tried one of the other cardio equipment, and it only burned half the calories as the other one, and I actually got dizzy and nauseous from it. I never get that way from the other one I use (the one for which there was a 30-minute wait).

I need enough room for my stationary bike, which burns more calories than any machine at my school's gym.

I'm likely to have similar problems, but more so because I'll be needing as much space as I have in my flat (apartment) at the moment for all my stuff, as I'll be moving out for the 3 years of Uni.

Money isn't likely to be a problem, as I can afford a higher rent than most student's. Being on disability means I can get housing benefits while studying.

On campus stuff is really only for the kids who are still living at home, as they're not available during the breaks, and the rents in the area are likely to be shared accommodation.

I asked the disability people about one bedroom flats and hey thought it unlikely I'd find one.

I don't fancy halls, because I plan on getting some studying in this time, and I know from experience the chaos that goes on in halls.

A shared house was some of the best years of my life, but again I'd rather do some studying than partying.

Shared room is definitely out. I did that the first college I went to as a very shy 18 year old. My room mate moved into his GFs room and his friend moved in in his place. The guy insisted on leaving the radio on so he could get to sleep, frequently jacked off while lying in the top bunk (dude?! bathroom?!), and regularly got so drunk he'd wake up late at night and use the wardrobe as a toilet. I ended up putting a pair of mole-grip pliers on the knob inside the door if he went out to the bar, just so I could sleep in peace.


I've got over £4000 of computer hardware, that I don't trust anyone else to respect, look after, or keep secure.

3:00am parties in the laundromat are where it's at if you're an aspie

I cannot deal with a male roommate because they might download porn on my computer, and opposite-sex roommates are not allowed at my school.

Password-protect your computer and either lock it or don't leave it logged in when you're not there.

The main issue I had with the computer incident was the fact that I got tons of viruses and spyware and trojan horses as a result of the downloaded porn.