I am currently in Gainesville checking out the campus and town, etc.

Let me first say, if you are a single guy, there a beautiful ladies EVERYWHERE! lol.

On to more important matters, as far as housing goes; there is on campus graduate housing of which 80% is for foreign students; there is a long waiting list so if you are interested, APPLY TODAY and hopefully something is available. $25 nonrefunding app fee. The Corry complex, especially, looked nice because it is adjacent to the law school. Rents are also reasonable; highest was like $550 for a 2 bedroom.

There are also probably hundreds of apartment buildings around campus. I heard from an alumni, fwiw, that west of downtown is a better area than east of downtown.

Other than that, Gainesville is great, UF is great, and this trip definitely solidifies my choice.

Sdevante, Congrats on your admissions to all the good programs.
My questions are:
Where did you get your apartment?
How can I apply for on campus graduate housing?
Is it better than off campus apartments?
What are your recommendations which are within short walking distance from law school?
Can I wait the housing search till April?
Thank you.

Good questions, KimchiTax!

Sdevante, in addition, how much is a Bud there?

Best!

<blockquote>
Where did you get your apartment?
How can I apply for on campus graduate housing?
Is it better than off campus apartment?
What are your recommendations which are within short walking distance from law school?
Can I wait the housing search till April?
</blockquote>

I got my apartment at the Gables, see www.thegablesuf.org. I posted a Craigslist ad and this really nice Ph.D. student e-mailed me for a roommate. I think the Gables are primarily condos so I'm not sure how easy it is to just rent a place there.

I believe graduate housing information is on this page: http://www.housing.ufl.edu/housing/. Apply NOW if you want any chance of having an on-campus apt in August. Also, if you are less particular with your requirements (1br v. 2br, location, etc.) you are more likely to get one. Most foreign students get on-campus housing, is my impression.

Better than off campus? That depends what you want. It is generally cheaper and potentially closer to the law school. I didnt get a chance to walk through one, but my impression is price is the main motivating factor. The Gainesville market is surprisingly expensive; I found it equal or even more expensive than Nashville, which is a much larger city.

There are, unfortunately, not very many apartments within walking distance to the law school. It is on the corner of campus, so to speak, in a primarily residential neighborhood, so there are more houses for rent than apartments. Camelot (I think) is the closest to the law school, but I read bad reviews about squirrels getting inside apartments and building nests there, lol. One good thing; you can ride the bus for free (and if you've looked at Florida's piece of crap budget, that's about the ONLY way they expect you to get around town), so you don't have to live right by the law school.

You may be able to wait until April, but I think if you do that, you'll end up scouring Craigslist for roommates or random apartments. All of the corporate owned apartments seem to lease in January / February for August. If you want to spend a bit more money and get a nicer place (FOR SURE), then do it now. If you are willing to take your chances, wait until April and see what's available. That is my impression; As I said, I was going to wait, but once I was down there last weekend and got to looking at the rental cycle, I decided I better get on it while I was there.

General recommendations:

West of Main street is good; East of Main street is the run down part of town.

I looked at Trimark Properties; the people were friendly (maybe a bit snooty), had REALLY nice places, but were kinda high in price for the nicer apartments. They did have a nice studio apartment at University Park (I think) that was decently priced and I think on a bus route.

I looked at Arlington Square; they seemed nice but the affordable studio apt. was the size of my closet, lol. They do have 1 BR and 2BR if you want to spend more money; studio was something like $625.

That is about the extent of my knowledge; I used the internet to check out the two main corporate realtors (Trimark Properties: trimarkproperties.com and Paradigm Properties: teamparadigm.com) and just drove around checking out stuff.

Also I had GREAT success by posting an ad on Craigslist stating that I was going to be a graduate level law student and looking for a nice quiet place; I had all kinds of people e-mail me about apartments or houses to be roommates in. I think if you were willing to do sight-unseen, you could probably find a great place now by doing that.

----

As far as how much a Bud costs... I assume you mean beer, and I'm more of a Jack and Coke guy, so I can't help you directly. FWIW, prices were much better there generally than in TN b/c tax rate is only 6.5% or so, and it might not even apply to food/drink.

Thank you for your detailed information.
Your apartment at Gables looks amazing.
How much do you pay? Close enough to school?
(I wouldn't probably have a car.)
I paid 25$ for the housing application, although I am not 100% sure where I will end up this fall.
Obina, is it set in stone that you are going to enroll at UF?

I pay $520 including water, cable, internet, etc. Have to pay electric separately. Total rent probably costs $580/month.

This is unusually low for the market, I think, which is why I snatched it up pretty quickly.

The Gables is three bus changes from the campus.

Yeap! I'm still looking for an apartment, though. University House at 13th and Jefferson at 2nd are my favorites. Unfortunately, my impressions come solely from theirs websites, once I'm in Brazil. My idea is to share a 2/2 apt.

Sdevante, thanks for the info! Did you come across one of those places?

I didn't specifically check either of those two places, although I'm sure I drove by both of them. Jefferson at 2nd is pretty close to Arlington Square. That area near Main Street is a bit far from the law school (not walking distance), but probably on a bus route and there is this trendy new shopping center near there that has shopping and restaurants. Seems like they are trying to revitalize downtown a bit with that. That would definitely be walking distance to the Jefferson apts.

Don't know too much about the University House... I spent most of my time in south and west Gainesville. I "think" Jefferson would start heading towards the edge of town more towards residential neighborhoods, but not sure. That is close, I think, to the University Park apartments I looked at.

Hey Guys, Im going to be at the Dental School in Aug this fall and I'm looking for a Grad student as a roommate preferably a female. If interested email me at zho1@hotmail.com!
Thanks
Go Gators!!!