Kalamazoo gives students options in apartments

By David Alexander
Western Herald

Making the decision about where to live is one of the biggest decisions a college student has to make. When they look for a place to live, they have to find somewhere that fits with the student’s needs.
Price, proximity to campus, amenities and community are a few things that are important to students when considering where to live. On campus, an obvious dichotomy exists between the benefits of living in the residence halls and living in an apartment.

Western Michigan University Apartments and several apartment complexes around campus offer alternatives to living in the halls, if residence halls fail to meet their needs. The application for WMU Apartments, which has Elmwood, Goldsworth Valley, and Stadium Drive facilities, must be submitted by March 1 for Summer I housing and May 1 for Summer II.
Assistant Director of Resident Life Laura Darrah said that prioritizing becomes necessary when determining who will be accepted to WMU Apartments.

“There is an element of priority. Students with families are given priority. The WMU Apartments are upperclass [men] only. Graduate assistants, graduate associates, fellows, or post-doctoral students have priority. [People with] certain disabling conditions [are also given priority],” she said.

According to the WMU Apartments Web site, in order to be eligible to live in WMU Apartments, WMU students need to fulfill certain requirements. Applicants must be a graduate student, enrolled in at least three credit hours, or a minimum of one credit hour if working on a thesis or dissertation or an upperclassman enrolled in at least six credit hours.

Priority is also given to non-traditional students, students who are married, and full-ride athletic Grant-in-Aid scholarship recipients, according to the Web site.
After priority assignment is completed upperclassmen are accommodated. Students are notified of assignment approximately 30 days beforehand. Completing an application, however, does not guarantee assignment.

Elmwood and Goldsworth Valley have both furnished and unfurnished one-and-two-bedroom units. The Stadium Drive complex offers furnished and unfurnished two-bedroom units. Prices for the 2008-2009 academic year range from $573 a month for an unfurnished one bedroom in Elmwood to $803 a month for a furnished two bedroom in the same complex.
But WMU Apartments is not the only option in town. There are other options for students looking to stay on campus who need apartments.

Locally-owned Bronco Apartments offers on-campus housing to students through its five complexes: California West, University Village, White Gate, Bayberry Pointe, and Park Campus. Kevin Campbell, manager and maintenance coordinator of Bronco Apartments, said they try to accommodate students on an individual basis to suit their living needs.

“The biggest thing, I think, with our properties is we include everything except electric on all of our properties, including high-speed internet and cable TV,” Campbell said.
Campbell said that the most expensive units in California West are two bedroom, one and a half bath, 1,100 square feet apartments that are priced at $695 per month. The key thing, he said, is that the complex is close to campus.

Oftentimes Bronco Apartments will offer students such deals as $200 off their lease or $200 on the spot to sign the lease. But deals are contingent on the time of the month and how leasing is going, he added.

All of the complexes offer four, eight, and twelve month leases, with the short-term leases being around $100 more. Bronco Apartments are “housing for the financially smart student,” Campbell said.
“We look at everyone individually. Being that we’re locally owned, and we run everything right from here, decisions are all made here,” Campbell said in reference to tailoring leases to a student’s needs, “I will individualize a little bit with who I am walking with, get their feelings, what their looking for, what their looking to spend.”
Campbell encouraged potential tenants to apply early for residence next semester because the apartments fill up fast.

Still, some students prefer dorm life. Despite the lessened living space when compared to an apartment, there are many advantages to living in the dorms, Darrah said.
Darrah said that advantages to living in the dorms include an academic advantage, with all but one of the resident halls having a cumulative grade point average of 2.6, and two had a 3.0 average.
Along with the convenience of being within walking distance to classes and professors’ offices, having a meal plan, the First and, newly-added Second Year Experience for freshmen and sophomores, and involvement in events like the Alumni Dinner Series, where students can converse intimately with former WMU students on how to be successful after graduation.

For students who want more space, super single rooms are available. Super single rooms are rooms  that are the size of a regular dorm, but for only one student.  Additionally, Darrah said meal plans are optional, so students can watch their spending,

Housing costs for the 2009-2010 academic year will not be available until late April or early May, Darrah said.
Another amenity to living in the dorms is that Residence Life offers the “Residence Hall and Dining Advantage.”

“What the [‘Residence Hall and Dining] Advantage’ is, is that whatever the housing rate you paid your first year living on campus is going to be the housing rate you pay for up to four years living in
the [residence] halls,” Darrah said.

There is also a priority system to assigning students dorms, said Darrah. Students are notified in late July or early August as to whether they have a unit. Sign up for the residence halls opened up on Feb. 2

There is no one best answer as to where to live. Whatever choices students make in regards to their housing it is important to keep in mind the things that are important to them, and how those things fit into their prospective place of residence.

For more information about WMU Apartments and dorms visit wmich.edu/apartments and wmich.edu/housing/contract/rates respectively. Information about Bronco Apartments can be found at rentbroncoapartments.com

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=4101

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 19 2009. Filed under Housing Guide. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com