Fall at Northwestern comes as several students begin a new chapter in their college experience: navigating off-campus housing in Evanston.
NU requires incoming freshmen to live on campus for their first two years and second-year transfers for their first year. After this, students often seek off-campus housing, sharing apartments and houses in the suburbs of Evanston.
Medill junior Raghav Khosla said he began his search by contacting local realtors. Many housing options exceeded the budget of his roommate and him, so they turned to an upperclassman friend for help, he said.
They were connected with their friend’s landlord, and after several tours of their friend’s apartment, Khosla and his roommate said they decided it was the right fit.
“If you know upperclassmen, I genuinely don’t think it hurts to ask ‘What are you doing with your place next year?’ because I would say 50% of the time they’re looking for someone to take it,” Khosla said.
Weinberg junior Sofie Langenhuizen said she was surprised at the high prices of Evanston housing compared to housing at other universities. She said it was a challenge to navigate negotiating prices she felt were too high, but ultimately, negotiations allowed her to lower her rent.
Langenhuizen recommends walking around Evanston, looking for signs and asking people about their personal experiences because she finds it more helpful than looking online. She said students need to take their time with the housing process and not hurry into signing a lease.
“I feel like I had a timeline in my mind that I needed to sign a lease in October or November because I heard so many people that were,” Langenhuizen said. “But I definitely learned that things open up and there are always places. There’s always time to sign, so it’s not worth rushing into anything or stressing about it.”
But not every student prefers to live off campus right away. SESP junior Alejandra Rodriguez, a member of Kappa Delta, chose to live in her sorority house another year.
Rodriguez said she originally wanted to study abroad and didn’t want to worry about finding a sublet for her room. Although she didn’t end up going abroad, she said she loves living in the sorority with girls she enjoys being around.
“You may not get along with everyone, but if I ever have anything going on, if I ever need friends to talk to, any one of the girls in KD would be willing to listen at any time,” Rodriguez said. “I feel like that feeling of safety and just knowing that anybody is available at any time while living in the house is so warm.”
Rodriguez said it was wise of her to wait a year before doing off-campus housing — she was able to ask her friends about their experience and has already secured her housing for senior year because of it.
Khosla said finding housing was “definitely a process,” but advises students thinking of living off campus to identify what they and their housemates want before beginning their search.
“Really take your time understanding what it is you want and who it is you want to live with, even though you’re not fully sharing your room anymore, in some cases you might be, but it’s so important that you and your roommate have relatively similar living styles,” Khosla said.
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