International House

Also known as I-House (or iHouse for the iPod generation). This is a great option for your first year, while you are adjusting to Berkeley. They basically take care of everything for you, and even provide you with a social environment for making new friends.

• Affiliated with, but not owned by the university.
• Provides dormitory-style housing for around 600 grad students, postdocs and senior undergrads.
• Foreign students comprise 50% of the residents of I-House, and U.S. citizens make up the remainder.
• Less than a 10 minute walk from/to Evans Hall so you can roll out of bed and stroll over to 205.
• Several statistics grad students currently live there.
• One- and two-person rooms are available.

The room/boarding rate is somewhat expensive, but I-House is convenient and a great environment for new students. Incoming graduate students who apply early (around April if possible) are likely to be admitted. Late applicants may be placed on a waiting list. Note that it is compulsory for residents to have a meal plan at the I-House dining hall (12-19 meals per week; trust us, you won't want 19). This is included in the rent.

Individuals interested in living at I-House should, at the earliest opportunity, request information from the Residence Office, International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley CA 94720 U.S.A.; the phone number is 510-642-9490. Information and applications can also usually be downloaded from their website.

University Housing

Cal Housing has up-to-date information on rents and application deadlines.

Single Student Housing

Ida Jackson Apartments

One block south of campus, the Jackson Graduate House is the closest University-owned housing to campus. It houses around 120 graduate and some undergraduate students in apartments with 2 to 6 bedrooms. The cost of rent is a bit higher than off-campus and increases in apartments with fewer bedrooms. Students usually apply early, after admittance to Cal, and are randomly assigned to a room in an apartment where number of bedrooms is by choice. Cal Housing will usually assign same gender apartments but may resort to co-ed apartments when needed.

The building was built in 2002 and is generally new and well-kept. Cal Housing provides cleaning services and toilet paper once a week to upkeep common areas of the apartments such as living room, kitchen, and bathrooms.

Manville Apartments

Reserved for law and graduate students. Located three blocks from the southwestern corner of campus at Shattuck Avenue and Channing Way, Manville apartments are within walking distance of downtown Berkeley near shops, banks, movie theatres, restaurants and public transportation.

Family Student Housing

University Village, Albany

UVA is a 58 acre complex with 760 one, two and three bedroom apartments, and two bedroom townhouses, located three miles west of the campus. UVA has its own recreational & community center, a café, laundry rooms, and child care center.

Smyth Fernwald

At Dwight Way & Fernwald Rd. The Smyth Fernwald Complex offers student families a rustic and peaceful living environment in Berkeley. 74 families live in one, two or three bedroom apartments located on the southeast side of campus. Currently only available to current residents transferring from within Family Student Housing.

Off-Campus

Available options

The most common option for single students is shared housing. This is where one person rents an apartment or house, then seeks roommates to spread the cost among additional persons. Individuals interested in this type of housing will find a large variety from which to choose. However, there is also considerable competition for this type of housing in the Fall semester. You will need patience and persistence to find what you are looking for. Be careful in your choice of roommates (duh!). Expect to pay in the range $500-800 a month, excluding utilities.

Room rentals refer to rooms available in private residences also occupied by the owners and their family; otherwise, these work similarly to shared housing. Sometimes instead of rent, the landlord may wish for you to work for them part-time (e.g. doing child care, house maintenance). This is not really advisable for graduate students except as a last resort.

Apartments and houses are slightly more difficult to find. It helps to have patience and a car when you are looking. The process can take anywhere from 2-3 days to 2-3 weekends, depending on when you look and how much legwork you are willing to do in one day. Having a car will definitely help your range and ability to view multiple apartments in one day. Treat a friend with a car to dinner, or just rent one. It's cheap and will make your search 10 times more effective. For a studio (one room) apartment, expect to pay in the range $800-1000, excluding utilities. One bedroom apartments near campus can be found for $900 - $1300.

Tips

Although it's possible to search from long-distance, it is of course much easier when you're in Berkeley - for one thing, landlords will often want to meet you before letting you live at their place. In any case, you must be easily contactible during your search, preferably by phone. When meeting a potential landlord, dress tidily. Make sure to mention that you're a graduate student. When meeting potential housemates, try to have an interesting or amusing way of telling them you're a statistician.

You may wish to consider living outside of Berkeley. Students also live in the East Bay cities of Albany, El Cerrito, Emeryville, Kensington and Piedmont, and in the Oakland neighborhoods Rockridge, Montclair, Claremont and Piedmont Pines. Often the housing here is much cheaper than similar facilities in Berkieley, commuting, however, can be frustrating. It goes without saying that you should only live in a place where you feel comfortable and safe.

Be patient, thorough and decisive. If you find an apartment that suits you, make a rapid decision. If you take too long to make up your mind, you may find that someone else has signed for the apartment in the interim.

Useful links

Cal Rentals is a service provided by the university to help students find off-campus housing.

Craigslist is an excellent resource for finding rentals and shared housing. HousingMaps is a mash-up of Craigslist rental listings and Google Maps. It is especially invaluable if you are unfamiliar with Berkeley addresses.

SISS may be useful for international students trying to understand how the Berkeley housing market works.

Case studies

Vince (native Californian)

I've been living in a one bedroom apartment near the "gourmet ghetto" section of Shattuck Ave. The apartment is $990/month and includes one parking space. I found the apartment through Craigslist and moved in the same weekend. I also convinced the landlord to install new carpet when I moved it. I'm pretty happy with the place. It's a 20 minute walk/10 minute bike ride to Evans and only 5 minutes from BART and the supermarket--plus the Cheeseboard is just around the corner.

Finding an apartment in Berkeley is not hard, but be ready for some legwork. This is the third apartment I have lived in as a grad student. When I moved back to Berkeley from Boston, I stayed an inexpensive hotel on University and was able to find and move into an apartment within 2-3 days. The following year I found and shared a two bedroom apartment with a friend I made in the department. He graduated and now I am in my current place.

-- VinceVu - 21 Feb 2007

Brad (despised foreigner)

When I arrived in the country I moved straight into I-House, staying there for two years. The first was terrific, the second less so. For the next summer, I rented the apartment of a colleague who was returning home for the summer. I greatly enjoyed this experience, while my colleague did not. (There's a funny story about a fish and a less funny story about a wedgie related to this; ask Richard to tell you when you get here.) I then moved into a house in the Elmwood neighbourhood, renting one of four upstairs rooms let by the family who live downstairs. At $700 a month, this is the cheapest place I've stayed (though it's not hard to find cheaper places still.)

If you find a place you like, don't mess around. Places don't stay vacant for long.

-- BradLuen - 28 Feb 2007