Obligatory 117 days until graduation!
I have written this column before, but differently.
Residence Life is opening the doors to register for housing next year. This is an annual stressor in our busy lives. We have to study for classes, prepare for interviews, work to fund our lifestyles, and yet, on top of all of this, we have to find out where to live in the following year.
It didn’t used to be so bad. Once you got into River Terrace, you were set! Just hunker down, wait for your lottery, and squat in the same spot you’ve been at—no need to pack up all of your belongings and no need to stress out about getting good roommates for the next year (unless you had a roommate leaving, in which case you opted to pull someone into your abode).
But, alas, some whiny parents complained about how it was unfair that some students could get pulled into the luxury apartments and their kids could not. To that, I say ‘screw you. Life isn’t fair, and it is best suited to those with connections.’ And that was a valuable life lesson to learn—if you made friends, you could get benefits you otherwise couldn’t. I was pulled into River Terrace the year before they axed that program, so I am understandably miffed at the whole situation.
This point aside, you can’t do this anymore. If you want to stay on campus, you have to refresh your housing.
So lets look at all of the different possibilities and the benefits and downsides to each.
ON CAMPUS HOUSING:
Guess what goonies, you can’t stay in your freshman dorms. Some of you may take that for a blessing, but financially savvy folk will see it as a curse. Hayden, Davis, Humphreys, and CPH are typically the cheaper housing setups at Stevens, the highest of them being CPH, which costs $4,500.00 AND a $3,100.00 “Platinum Meal Plan” (which is basically the “unlimited” meal plan from Sodexo with added benefits) for a triple, no less. This is an awful deal.
For students who want to stay on campus, you have three options (excluding specialty housing, like Greek Housing and the Lore-El Center): Jonas, Palmer, and River Terrace. Though cheaper than other housing options, they require a meal plan, which really equalizes the playing field. But, their proximity to campus is a godsend to active members of RSO’s and other activities on campus.
I am going to preface my assessment with my views on the dining policy. Compass One is better than Sodexo (except for the fact that we can’t take food out anymore. To hell with you all for closing that option), but the dining plans are still ridiculously over-priced, even by Hoboken standards. The platinum plan in particular costs $3,000, when factoring out the 100 duckbills. $3,000.00, divvied up assuming you ate at Pierce 3 times a day, 7 days a week, for 15 weeks, comes out to just over $9.52/meal. Of course, there are guest passes and other perks, but this is isn’t cheap. Hence, I always go for the cheapest meal plan, or none, if possible. (Because, let’s face it, how many times are you going to skip a Pierce meal to go out on the town with your friends? Probably more than once a semester.) So, for the next batch of analyses, I am using the lowest possible meal pan for each.
Jonas Hall, Upper Campus, hotel-style rooms, recommended $2,000.00 “Silver Plan”, total price $6,500.00 a semester.
Palmer Hall, Upper Campus, Freshman-Dorm Style, “Silver Plan”, total price $6,450.00 a semester
River Terrace, Lower Campus, Suite Style, “Silver Plan”, total price of $7,700.00 a semester.
Palmer Hall, Upper Campus, Freshman-Dorm Style, “Silver Plan”, total price $6,450.00 a semester
River Terrace, Lower Campus, Suite Style, “Silver Plan”, total price of $7,700.00 a semester.
Jonas is good and all, but $50.00 a semester less and you can live alone in Palmer with most of the same amenities (except a nearby bathroom, which may upset a few). But, not having to clean your own bathroom/shower and being by yourself are premiums, which Palmer really has going for it.
River Terrace really took a hit, and it is definitely not worth it. I have lived in each of these places for a small duration of time, and River WAS the nicest, but having to interact with three other people in a suite can get really bothersome, even if you have the shortest class commute and elbow room. Being forced into a “Platinum, Gold, or Silver” meal plan is also a total rip-off, since one of River Terrace’s boons is that it has a kitchen. How dare you, Residence Life…
River Terrace really took a hit, and it is definitely not worth it. I have lived in each of these places for a small duration of time, and River WAS the nicest, but having to interact with three other people in a suite can get really bothersome, even if you have the shortest class commute and elbow room. Being forced into a “Platinum, Gold, or Silver” meal plan is also a total rip-off, since one of River Terrace’s boons is that it has a kitchen. How dare you, Residence Life…
OFF-CAMPUS HOUSING:
For students who want to live off campus, there are a lot more options, but they come at a cost. I will divide them into two categories: Close to Campus and Far from Campus.
Close to Campus:
Shipyard, Suite, $300.00 Duckbills, total price $8,000.00 a semester.
538 Washington, Suite, $300.00 Duckbills, total price $7,300.00 a semester.
828 Garden, Suite, $300.00 Duckbills, total price $7,800.00 a semester.
Shipyard, Suite, $300.00 Duckbills, total price $8,000.00 a semester.
538 Washington, Suite, $300.00 Duckbills, total price $7,300.00 a semester.
828 Garden, Suite, $300.00 Duckbills, total price $7,800.00 a semester.
Honestly, 538 Washington is your best pick. So close to campus, and pretty darn affordable, the only issue is vacancy – you won’t manage to get into this apartment because someone is already probably there. Shipyard is wonderful and close and convenient, but it is also the most expensive option at Stevens for housing anywhere, so take it with caution. 828 Garden is further away, but that might be an acceptable compromise for a vacancy that is still marginally close to campus.
As for the “Far from Campus” housing options, I am going to weed some out right from the bat. 100 Marshal and the Juliana are really, really far from campus, and the shuttle service is reportedly really spotty, and a lot of the tools (like the trackers) that Stevens purportedly attached to them don’t work or aren’t actually being used. Why? I have no idea, but I haven’t heard a lot of success stories about the shuttles and my few experiences with them were always terrible.
Really, there is only one honestly good housing unit that is Far from Campus, and that is 800 Madison. Next door to ShopRite, a liquor store, and the light rail, this unit is spacious, comfortable, and marginally affordable. It ends up being $7,800.00 a semester.
But, there is the other option, that many of you may have also been thinking about, and it is the option that I am currently using—Non-Stevens Housing.
Let’s convert each of the best housing options into a cost per month, assuming that each Stevens Semester is approximately 5 months long, and factoring out any meal plans.
Jonas: $4,500.00/semester becomes about $900.00 a month
538 Washington: $7,300.00/semester becomes about $1,400.00 a month
Madison: $7,500.00 a semester becomes about $1,500.00 a month
538 Washington: $7,300.00/semester becomes about $1,400.00 a month
Madison: $7,500.00 a semester becomes about $1,500.00 a month
Now, just using Zillow to test what an apartment at 800 Madison would cost without Stevens: $3,250.00/month, not including utilities, I imagine. You might be thinking, “wow! What a deal Stevens!”
Not so fast.
Remember, you aren’t living alone. Get two people in that 2 Bedroom Madison Apartment, and it becomes $1,625.00 a month. What if you added a third or fourth member? $1,083.33 and $812.50/ a month. It suddenly becomes more affordable.
Not so fast.
Remember, you aren’t living alone. Get two people in that 2 Bedroom Madison Apartment, and it becomes $1,625.00 a month. What if you added a third or fourth member? $1,083.33 and $812.50/ a month. It suddenly becomes more affordable.
And 800 Madison is one of the pricier units in Hoboken. Move to Jersey City Heights, a popular destination for frugal Stevens Students, and the rent can go so low at $1,250.00/month for a 2 Bed/1 Bath apartment. Get three people there, and it becomes $416.67/month.
With careful planning, you can get your own apartment. It isn’t easy, it requires a lot of real-world negotiation skills and a lot of market savvy to do it well, but it is often the most affordable solution if and only if you have a band of friends who can really make it work.
From personal experience, being unregulated from Stevens Housing is amazing. I can put up my string contraptions and not get yelled at by a bunch of stickler RAs. I can actually share a home with my girlfriend and not worry about ResLife expelling us for some moronic reason.
Sure, cooking for myself is a pain, and paying rent is a hassle, but I am saving tons of money by not being in Stevens Housing anymore. At the end of the day, I am fairly certain that the price is one of the deciding factors in choosing a house, and seeing as I managed to get an affordable place right next to Stevens, it is sort of a no-brainer that I recommend students run away from The Office of Residence Life.
To be fair though, everywhere in Hoboken and this entire region is a rip-off. If you came to Stevens to save a buck, you made the wrong choice. As a senior, I am glad to almost be done with this.
