Join Holden, Alex, and Hassan in this episode of Husky Housing as they go over the issue of getting housing amidst large incoming classes and high room rates. They also share what it is like living with roommates and how weather affects housing.
Transcript
Alex: Hello and welcome to Husky Housing. I am Alex, your host. I am here with Holden and Hassan and this is where you can get all your Husky Housing info. Alright, first up, we have Yconn over admitting students. According to the NBC Connecticut and Uukconn’s Daily Campus, in 2024, Uuconn received 56,700 applicants and accepted 4,700 of those 5,006, 700 applicants as freshmen. With the school over admitting about 400 students. What are your reactions to that? Holden
Holden: Um, well, personally I feel like UConn is not really making enough housing to begin with for how many people they are admitting. Um, every year it seems like they’re admitting more and more people, but in the time I’ve been here they’ve only built one new housing complex and they have plans for another. But that’s not going toa be done I don’t think until I’m already gone. So I feel like they need to work more on making more housing if they’re going to support adding more and more people on campus. Um, I know that a lot of people have been forced to get someone added to a room, like make a double into a triple or add something like that in order to make it work, but I don’t think that we should be having to make our own housing situations worse because of their over acceptance.
Alex: All right, Hassan, um, what do you think?
Hassan: Yeah, honestly I agree with like everything you’re saying. I think it’s kind of ridiculous. Uh, like I remember, I think it was my junior year when I was in Gariggus. One of the study rooms got turned into a bedroom. And you know, I don’t think we should be getting to the point where we have to accommodate for things like that. And they do have plans to make housing, but we’re just, you know, I’m not sure how quickly they can get those projects done because we had the highest, I think are the biggest freshman class coming in this year and people were, you know, struggling to get housing. Even people that have been here longer, like seniors are also struggling. So, you know, and also price of everything goes up even off campus. So it just becomes harder for the students.
Alex: Yeah, I agree. I think that overall UConn itself is trying to be a bigger campus than it actually is. I think bringing in too many people has been a major issue in the past couple of years. Um, especially when like, not only are you admitting a record amount of freshmen, but you also have transfer students. And I know in community college where I came from, um, there’s a UConn admissions that guarantees you into UConn. So not only are you getting transfers from, uh, other colleges, but you’re also having that from the Connecticut community colleges and the high schools. And it’s just a bit too much for UConn housing. Um, secondly, uh, one thing I wanted to talk about was the room rates for Yukon housing. So I’m going to go through a couple of roommates, what they get you, and then we’re going to talk about um, what do you think about that? Are they too expensive? Are they too cheap? Overall opinions on it. So at UConn they have eight official room rates and then another ninth one that’s just oak. So the first room rate is $4,033 a uh, semester. Um, that includes doubles in North Campus, West Campus, Towers, Sprague, Whitney and Holcomb. Uh, it also includes triples in traditional resident halls and a quad or four person room in a traditional residence hall. Then there’s rate 2 which is $4443. And that includes doubles in Northwood, Northwest Middlesex, which is North Campus, Hicks, Grange, and East campus alumni, McMahon, Buckley, Shipley and Hilltop halls. Then there’s your rate three which is $4,659 a semester which includes Busby and Garrigus suite triples. Uh, south campus quad or four person rooms and worth double rooms. Then there’s rate four which is $5,308. Um, that includes Busby, Garrigus and South suite doubles. Husky Village, Northwood apartments, uh, single and two badd two person graduates or single in two bed three person undergraduates. Uh, it also includes a regular single for any dorm and a regular double with a private bathroom. Then there’s rate 5 which is $5,591 a semester and that includes Connecticut halls, double or or semi suite doubles and Werth hall singles. Um, rate six is $5,866 which is busby, Gariggus and South suite singles. The Charter Oaks and Hilltop apartments. Two bedroom four person apartments. Uh, Hilltop apartments, double efficiency and a Connecticut hall single, semi suite single or full suite double. Um, Then there’s rate 7 which is $6943 which is charter Oak, Hilltop Apartments which is for bedroom for person and rate eight is $8,046 with charter oak and hilltop apartments, two bedroom, two person. Then there’s an extra one which is rate eight which is uh, or an add on to rate eight which is $9,681 a semester and that’s two bedroom, two person in oak apartments or three bedroom, three person in also in Oak apartments. So what are your reactions to that? Is the price is too much for housing, uh, at least on campus. And how do you think we can change it up to make it more better for students?
Holden: Um, so in my time at UConn, I’ve lived in rates one, two and six. I think, uh, currently I’m in rate six. I do feel like there is a lot more that you do get that does make the price a little more fair. For example, in rate one, it’s mostly just the room and then anything else is communal. But in rate 6, I have my own laundry, bathroom. Um, I have a kitchen with an oven, a microwave, stove, uh, and a fridge. But also at the same time, uh, personally with my room, it also came with a lot of issues which I know that work orders are free, but uh, that does involve people coming in and having to fix them and intruding on your life. Like me personally, the door to my bathroom doesn’t actually lock. Um, my dishwasher I think is broken. All of the chairs were broken and we had to replace all of them. Um, so I feel like maybe, well, the rates can actually be pretty good for what they’re worth. Um, they also, they should really be focusing on making sure that some of those higher rates actually are like set to that standard.
Alex: Uh, Hassan, what do you think from moving from on campus to off campus housing? How is it different?
Hassan: Um, so going from on campus to off campus? The main thing for me was
honestly just saving money. Um, I don’t remember like the exact numbers, but for my
current house that I’m living in right now, it’s um, like eight minutes from campus. It’s,
there’s five people living there. Um, and I think we’re Pay, I’m paying 700amonth, um,
for my own bedroom. And it’s a decently sized house. I actually really like the house. I
just, I do think it’s a little too far. Like even like living eight minutes off, it might not seem
like that crazy, but sometimes, like if there’s traffic that, you know, eight minute drive
can turn into 15, even 20 sometimes. Um, so, you know, you got to keep that in mind
when you’re off campus that you kind of, you know, have to have it in the back of your
mind to get to campus a little bit earlier, then maybe you would want to. Um, but I
definitely like having more freedom, you know, like I don’t have an RA in my house. You
know, we can do whatever want. Obviously we don’t want to like destroy the place, but,
you know, it’s way more freedom for us. Um, you know, we can be loud whenever we
want, I guess. Um, uh, I think, I’m not sure if this is true, but I think I get better wi fi too.
Um, so that’s nice. It’s definitely nice. Um, but I would say for the most part, if you’re just
trying to save money and you don’t mind, you know, living a couple minutes off campus,
the closer you are, the more expensive it’ll be. Especially on like, um, Hunting Lodge
Road. That’s a lot of expensive houses there, even though they’re not like that great.
But it’s like a, you could walk from, from there to campus. Um, so I definitely do
recommend off campus housing, but I also miss, you know, on campus housing as well.
I like being close to everything. You know, you could just walk out of your dorm and go
to a dining hall or, you know, go to class, whatever you need to do. It was just way more
convenient.
Alex: Yeah, um, I think my, like I’ve only a lived at home when I was at community
college, but I also, um, I think I’m in rate four. Yeah, I’m in rate four. So with the single,
um, again, I just, I kind of wish there’s a little bit more room because the room can get
very crowded at times. Especially when you have other people in your room with you.
Um, I think like when you have more than like one person in your room, I think it gets a little harder to find space to like, for people to sit. Cause sometimes people don’t want to sit on the bed. And you only got one chair. And so it gets a little, um, interesting. And the closet situation, it’s like, it seems small, but like, it’s a nice closet. It just, at times it could seem a little bit too in the corner of the room, at least for me, because my closet built into the wall so it’s not like access. Like I have a dresser and
then I have a closet built on the wall. And the dresser is great, but the closet in the wall
just seems a bit too like cluttered and small. Um, moving on to, um, housing for next
year. So, uh, recently there’s been email going out. I know today it’s gone out. Um, as of
recording this, basically saying you are guaranteed for housing next year. For now, what
is everyone planning on doing for housing? I know I’m planning on living in a single still,
but I don’t know where that’ll be picked later. Hassan, are you planning on living on
campus? Are you moving away?
Hassan: I’m going to be staying, uh, off campus as well next year. I got one more year
left. Um, but we’re currently looking at a place. We’re not sure if this is going toa be the
one, but the current place we’re looking at is, it’s like a duplex and it’s a little bit closer
as well. It’s like right down Stores Road. Um, it’s like $600 a person I believe. So I feel
like, you know, if we can get that one in, that’d be pretty nice. But you also have to keep
in mind when you’re off campus, like all the hidden fees that could be there. Like you
have to make sure you take a look at your lease. Like for a current house, we’re paying
for a lot of things that we like, didn’t know we were re gonna have to pay for. Like we
have to pay for oil every couple months. You have to pay like a trash bill recently,
um, like for people coming in to take our trash on Wednesdays. Um, so you want to
make sure you communicate like these things with your potential landlord if you’re
looking to live off campus. Um, but yeah, I’m definitely gonna stay off campus. I just, I
feel like I just like the freedom and I like the, you know, I like saving money I guess as
well. Um, but those are the two main reasons for me.
Alex: All right. And uh, Holden?
Holden: Um, so I haven’t gotten the email yet saying that I’m guaranteed housing. So
I’m praying that that does come. Uh, cause I’m not exactly sure what my plan would be
if I have to suddenly switch to off campus. I’m not opposed to off campus. It’s just that at
the moment I don’t have uh, the privilege of a car. So that would be something that I’d
have to wind up trying to get over the summer. Um, as for on campus, the current plan
of if I do get the guaranteed housing is that I’m going to try and live in ah, a CT hall
suite.
Alex: Let’s move uh, on to roommate. Um, I don’t have roommates, so I can’t speak on
any roommate issues or roommate things that have gone on. But you guys have
roommates, so what is it like know to have a roommate? Do you have any horror stories
of roommates? Are there any ups and downs compared to having a roommate, to not
having a roommate? What do you guys think?
Holden: Um, so I’ll get into the horror story in a second. I have had two roommates
while at Yukon. My current roommate is, um. He’s really great. He’s a bit messy. But I
feel like I would rather somebody who is, um, more laid back than somebody who’s like,
extremely strict. Um, especially. Cause I’m the type of person who has a really rough
sleep schedule where I’m constantly changing that. And some days I’m more lazy with
the cleaning, other days I’m not.
Hassan: Um. Um. What’s. So I’m currently living off campus, obviously. I, uh, have four
roommates right now. They’re four my friends. So, like, um, we were like in the same
frat together. That’s how I met them. Um, but, you know, I will say, if you’re living off
campus, you definitely need to pick your roommates wisely. You know, you want people
that are going to actually help, like, clean and, you know, do all these extra chores that
you’re now going to have to do. Um, um. But I will say, like, you know, when it comes to
like, going to sleep and not being like, bothered by people, if you, you know, if you want
to just be by yourself, you can go into your own room and just chill there. But usually,
um, even in the house I lived in last year, we kind of just chill like in the living room most
of the time. Um, we can have people over as well. Um, we’ve like, hosted some like,
watch events, uh, for like, sports, um, with people at her house. It’s usually like, ah, a.
It’s a more like. I don’t know how to like, describe it the right way, but it just feels more, I
guess, homey. I don’t know when you get to hang out with your friends in, uh, in a house compared to a dorm.
Alex: I think one thing I want to get into is like, you know, roommates are cool,
especially when they’re good. Like, I. Obviously you guys have had bad and good
roommates. But like, sometimes I feel like, you know, um, I’m a person who needs
aone. Like when I need alone time, I need alone time. And most of that has to do with
like, just me just in my room just playing video games on my Xbox or like watching
YouTube or TikTok or whatever it is. And so like, having a roommate would not be the
best because also, like, I feel like a lot of people at UConn, they like the party as this is
a party school. And uh, I like to go to bed. Like, my bedtime is like 8 to 9 is when I’m in
bed. Normally, like anything, like if they come in loud, I’m gonna be awake, I’m gonna be
pissed. Um, well, let’s get into some of the ups and downs of having a roommate. Do
you guys have any ups and downs of having a roommate?
Hassan: Honestly, I feel like when it comes to roommates, you really just, you need to
pick the right ones. Which, you know, is ways you’re said than done obviously. But you
know, it depends on the roommates you’re either gonna have. You’re gonna have ups
and downs to, you know, every single person. Um, like for me, I guess the downs I
would say is like, you know, what you were talking about earlier, uh, with the, with like
roommates coming back like really loud at night after going out. Um, like actually this
morning I got woken up by like 6am These kids were still in the living room, like just
talking, um, screaming actually. Um, so like, you know, that I guess can become brutal.
But I would say like for me I’ve definitely had more positives because I’ve generally liked
the people that I’ve lived with. Um, and you know, these guys are gonna be people I’m
still going toa be friends with even after they graduate and I graduate. Um, you know, I
also like going out with them and makes those things, I guess easier. Uh, but I guess for
off campus, the downs I would say is like sometimes just like getting everyone to like
pay stuff on time. I don’t know why it’s so much of a hassle, but like I kind of like run.
Like I have to like handle all of the payments for like everything that we pay for and like
waiting for them to send me money sometimes, sometimes I’ll wait like even up to like
two weeks. So you know, that can also get pretty annoying. But it’s, you know, it’s. I
guess I understand better because they’re my friends. Like I can’t get too mad at them
because you know, I do actually care about them. So that’s why I feel like you just need
to pick your roommates very wisely. You’re gonna have ups and downs. Like everyone’s
gonna have some ups and downs to them, but you got to make sure you can deal with
the downs, I guess.
Alex: And winding down. Do you have any final thoughts about housing at Yukon?
Holden: Um, well, I think that a little small issue I did wanna bring up is recently like the
snow, um, just because my dorm, we had the snowstorm over the weekend and then
they salted some of our sidewalks, but not really all of them. And then there was still a
lot of ice even just around campus. But I live at Hilltop and so you have to walk so far to
get on campus. And when that sidewalks icy, it’s like, why do we even have classes
today? But then, um, off campus, I do know people who again only like a few minutes
off campus, but their roads weren’t even plowed. Um, so they, I think when people think
about commuters, they think about people going really far on the highway or something.
But we live in a relatively rural place with a lot of um, streets that I imagine living off
campus must be hard on because, well, it’s not really UConn’s fault um, if the places
aren’t plowed and they don’t cancel classes. That is awful for these off campus people.
But then they also want you to live off campus because they don’t have enough housing.
Alex: Um, and I think that’s it. Um, I’m Alex, that’s Holden and Hasan. And thank you for
listening to Husky Housing for all your Husky Housing info.
