Finding a Graduate School Apartment

The deadline to accept graduate school admission was April 15th. Two weeks before that, I decided I was going to go to Virginia Tech to study for a master’s in architecture. However, I also decided to set that as a personal deadline to find an apartment. I felt that once April 15 came and everyone decided where they were attending, then a scramble to find apartments would begin. Also, the week before, Virginia Tech announced in person classes for the fall. The dash to find apartments had already started.

Finding a graduate school apartment

I had specific criteria in mind while searching for an apartment. Firstly, I aimed to live on my own. Secondly, I wanted to be within walking distance from campus, preferably within a mile. I wanted to feel like I was at University, rather than commuting to it. Thirdly, I was hoping to pay under $1200 as a significant portion of my costs would go toward living expenses, a $300 difference in rental price over three years is about $10,000 more.

Initially, I sought a furnished placed due to my lack of belongings after living abroad for the past eight years. Each apartment I inhabited during that time came fully furnished. Unfortunately, furnished solo apartments were limited around Blacksburg, with more options for 2,3,4 or 5- bedroom apartments and shared rental houses. However, I was determined to live without a roomate.

My search involved scouring Craigslist Virgina Tech’s off-campus website. I had trouble finding a place, and it became more urgent when options disappeared fast. Then, during a Thursday morning physics lab, I stumbled upon the perfect place. This apartment was a 500 square-foot one-bedroom unit, located about a mile from campus. The rent is $1000 per month and includes electricity, utilities, Wi-Fi, and maintenance. It also has a room of washers and dryers on each floor. Some apartments I was considering had this in a separate building. In addition, the building only has three floors and there was a unit available on the third. I’ve always wanted to live in a unit on the top floor so that I could avoid the cacophony of noise and sounds from the apartments above. That morning, I contacted the owner and I told her I was interested. She sent me the lease and I signed it that day. In order to ensure that I would get it, I needed my dad to cosign for me because I have no rental history in the United States. Apparently, living on your own and renting apartments in other countries doesn’t count.

While I was hesitant to rent an unfurnished apartment at first, I am now extremely excited. This will be the first time I can decorate an apartment in the style that I want. I mentioned that each of the apartments I lived in abroad came furnished, but this isn’t always a good thing. You’re stuck with the furniture that it comes with and most of the time, it’s not very good. The couch in my Costa Rica house was like sitting on a rock, the bed in my third apartment in Spain was so bad you could feel the individual springs pressing against you (luckily the landlady bought me a new one). It makes little sense to invest in furniture when you know you’re going to be leaving, so you just deal with it and adapt.