For Some, Bad Housing Means Move Off-Campus

To say the least, the housing selection process at Columbia can be complicated, detailed, and frustrating. A blind double in Wien is the sad, but true, fate of a rising sophomore with a lottery number of 2,700.

More and more, though, undergraduates are talking about shunning the shaft rooms and blind double scene altogether by moving off campus.

Brian Ruby, SEAS '06, applied for an East Campus suite under the EC exclusion rule and landed with a lottery number of 2,925.

Instead of waiting for a blind double, Ruby and several friends have started to search for an apartment in the neighborhood.

Ruby sees living off campus as a viable alternative to staying in residential halls. His apartment will be larger than a Columbia suite, with individual bedrooms for three to four people. Moreover, "the cost of housing will be roughly the same, within $5,000 per year," he said.

Erin McConnell, BC '03, had an unfortunate lottery number last year. She managed to avoid an unfortunate room by renting an apartment in nearby Washington Heights with several of her friends. Besides private bedrooms for each person, the Riverside Drive apartment offers a large living room where McConnell can add furniture from home and invite guests for dinner.

McConnell sees her experience as particularly valuable for a graduating senior. From hunting for a city apartment to walking home at 2 a.m. in an area unpatrolled by security guards, the experience of living off campus has helped her gain a sense of independence and ease the transition into real life.

"It is a good transition from being a college student to an adult," she said.

For those who reside further away from Columbia, living off campus can be a mixed blessing.

Bobby Ghosh, SEAS '06, lives in his brother's apartment on 87th Street, which saves money and eliminates the headache of enduring the housing process. Ghosh did say, however, that commuting is inconvenient.

Students like McConnell and Ghosh belong to the minority. About 99 percent of Columbia's undergraduates live in residence halls, according to Ross Fraser, the executive director of University Residence Halls. Since more students have decided to stay on campus than ever before, URH is focused on providing adequate on-campus housing for all undergraduates, Fraser said.

Students who are considering moving away from campus can approach the Office of Off Campus Housing Assistance, a resource center for students who are seeking rental housing in New York. OCHA maintains an online database with listings of apartments not owned by Columbia that are for lease throughout the city. It organizes free workshops for all Columbia affiliates to provide them with tips for apartment hunting.

Susan Saar, the executive director of OCHA, says that getting a rental apartment has become cheaper and easier than it was several years ago. The housing market has become less competitive after Sept. 11 as a result of the soft economy, Saar said.

On the other hand, Saar suggests that beginners in the hunt for rental housing progress slowly in their search. It is better for them to try "renting rooms in somebody else's apartment" first, she said, because finding an individual apartment is a "considerable investment."

Although the services provided by OCHA are open to both graduate and undergraduate students, Martha McAndrew, the director of the Office of Institutional Real Estate, does not suggest living off campus as a viable option to undergraduates. As most commuters live a considerable distance from campus, "they cannot take full advantage of the services and activities offered by the college," she said.