New grad students to US - housing

The first part of this post talks about admits/admissions/funding and such.

Now that you have decided to join UCLA, let's get you settled here. The primary resource is the Bharatiyam website. It contains a lot of useful information. Below is a collection of questions freshers asked me.

Bharatiyam:
http://www.studentgroups.ucla.edu/bharat/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bharat_ucla
bharat DOT ucla AT gmail DOT com

Co-op housing:
http://www.geocities.com/uchaonline/ucha_home.htm

UCLA off-campus listing:
http://www.data.cho.ucla.edu/cfapps/mainpublic.cfm

Craigslist:
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/

UCLA fall 2009 Indian community:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ucla_fall2009/


I plan to get down there by the end of August. How do i find a place to stay? Do i post it in the bharat UCLA community and ask for help. One of my friend would be joining with me. How do i go about in deciding on a place to stay?

Options:
- Weyburn Terrace grad housing
- University apartments
- Co-op housing
- Privately-owned apartments



The university offers accommodation to some grad students at Weyburn Terrace for (at most) first two years (you would know if you have been offered a spot - not everybody gets one). This is the cheapest private-bedroom option you will find close to campus. It's about $900/month per person. Even if you have been offered one, you can choose to decline it. Sharing bedrooms is not allowed at Weyburn.

University apartments are more suited to married grad students. They are also economical if you share bedroom with a roommate, which is allowed in this case. These apartments are farther from campus (about 4-5 miles) and harder to get due to a long waiting list. If you're looking to live close to campus early on, this is not the best option.

The "Co-op" housing is not owned by the university, but they allow only students to board. Find out more about it on the website. It's a cheap housing option close to campus if you are fine with the trade-offs.

Privately-owned apartments are the most common accommodation and allow you the most flexibility. Accommodation is rather expensive around UCLA. This are is called Westwood/Westwood village. If you look at the map of UCLA campus, you will notice it's shaped like the mickey-mouse face. There is a pocket of housing to the west of it next to the left ear of the mickey-mouse. This is also the area that includes Weyburn Terrace. You can usually find a place here for $450-$650/mo per person for a shared bedroom (3-5 people in one apartment), or double that for your own bedroom. This housing area provides the easiest access to UCLA. There are also a few houses to the east of the campus (Hilgard Av).

The next pocket is to the south of the campus, south of Wilshire Blvd. Houses will become cheaper as you go farther from the campus. This pocket (about 2-3miles from the campus) is a comfortable distance for biking to the campus or taking a bus. Commute time either way will be about 15-25min (excluding bus-wait time).

You can live farther if you want yet cheaper accommodation. Culver City is a nice neighborhood with bus access. At this radius, there are too many residential communities to list. Refer the map.


How do I find a privately-owned apartment?

I found Craigslist and UCLA community-housing (off-campus) database helpful in my housing search for an off-campus apartment.

I wanted to look at the apartment before I signed the lease and so, found one only after arriving at LA and going around looking. That's what most of my classmates also did. I stayed with some senior grad students while looking for an apartment. The process was to look at the listings, call and arrange appointments to look at the house, apply if to liking and finally sign the lease once settled, before moving in. I fixed my roommates before starting the house search, naturally.

Unfortunately, the Weyburn apartment is offered on an 'unfurnished' basis, except for the basic equipments in the room. It would have been so much easier if all the rooms were furnished.

"Unfurnished" still includes the basic utilities - refrigerator etc. I don't know if you'll get a mattress or not - ask someone who lives in Weyburn.

I wonder if you could let me know about general availability of furniture around that place, rental or purchase, how to lug it into the room and where to store it when I vacate the room at the end of the academic year.

That's the good part - with all the students moving out, there is an abundance of used stuff on the streets. You are welcome to pick up anything you like. If you would rather prefer a new mattress, you could order it from a store and they'll deliver it. Moving around stuff isn't easy without a car, but usually you will find stuff within walking distance. You can always promise us seniors a treat and we'd be happy to help you move in. Putting stuff at the end of the year etc is not an issue - you'll be able to work that out.

Is there some Desi Community of UCLA which helps the Indian students?

Did I already mention Bharatiyam? How about ucla_fall09?


This isn't the most help FAQ. What do I do now?

Are you kidding me?! Well, ok, I know. Finding an accommodation is a daunting task. It appears like a jungle in the beginning. There's no easy way out. Absorb the geography, lay down your preferences (close to campus or not, own-bedroom or not, budget, roommates), then see what fits your needs best. And be on the lookout for postings on the groups above - it's easiest to move into an already settled house.

I hope I can call you up for any assistance when we reach there.

Wouldn't you if I said no? :P

Welcome to Los Angeles, babeyh!