By Nina McCambridge
Spring means it’s time for college students to finalize their housing for the coming academic year. Carnegie Mellon students who are staying in university-run housing next year have already been assigned their rooms. Many other students have chosen to live off campus. Students were mainly concerned with the factors of convenience and price in this decision.
Nolan Cynkar, a first-year chemistry and philosophy student, said he is looking forward to being an RA at Hammerschlag House next year. In addition to his passion for working with students, Cynkar became an RA because it was convenient. He wanted to stay on campus while covering housing costs with the RA stipend.
Cynkar currently lives in Residence on Fifth. Although that residence hall is not known for “being close to everything,” Cynkar says it works for him because he often has classes in the Mellon Institute.
Noah Kim, a first-year math major, is moving to Fifth and Clyde next year because “it seemed like a hassle to find a third-party landlord and also, CMU is covering a substantial portion of my housing.” Paying for housing on campus is typically more expensive than renting off-campus with roommates — Carnegie Mellon students pay around $12,000 for around eight months of housing on campus, which comes out to around $1,500 per month in a double, which is above average even for a roommate-less apartment in Oakland, which is $1,310 according to Rentable. However, financial aid applies to on-campus housing, which can make on-campus housing the better financial choice.
Kim also said that convenience was a major consideration, which is why he plans to continue living on campus as a third-year as well.
Benjamin Ingimarson, a fourth-year math major, also says that, because he enjoys being close to other students, he would have liked to stay in a dorm for all four years. However, during the pandemic, he had to rent his own apartment in order to stay in Pittsburgh because on-campus housing was not offered for the full year. After that, he didn’t move back on campus because “they kind of kick you out [once] you’re already out of the system.”
According to the Housing and Residential Education website, for room selection, “Students living off-campus are not eligible for General Room Selection but can apply for the Housing Waitlist. … Housing is not guaranteed to waitlist applicants.”
The apartment Ingimarson ended up living in had a rat infestation, multiple maintenance issues, and a landlady who wouldn’t fix those issues. He also didn’t like living in Squirrel Hill because it is a family-oriented neighborhood and he prefers living among other college students. He ended up switching to a better apartment.
In general, students at Carnegie Mellon are concerned with proximity to campus, a simple process, price, and ease of socialization. Of course, on- campus housing tends to win out on proximity to campus. It also tends to be simpler to deal with; Ingimarson points out that “if you live off campus, you have to deal with the rent by yourself. There’s also things like amenities and like, you know, cleaning your house.”
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