As the calendar turns from September to October, some students will frantically begin their searches for off-campus housing, taking tours, combing through lease agreements, and finding a roommate with a checkbook to send in your security deposit.

I remember feeling overwhelmed when my freshman year roommate suggested we begin looking for an apartment to live in the following year about a month after we started college. To me, it seemed backward to need to secure living arrangements nearly a full year before moving in.

If you’re feel anything similar to this, relax and don’t let that frenzy weigh you down or stress you out.

Looking back, I really didn’t need to sign my sophomore-year lease in October of my freshman year. I secured apartments for both my junior and senior years during the second semester of the prior school year, and both living arrangements have worked out to near perfection.

Before I continue, there will be circumstances in which you do need to find a place to live early. If you’re 100% sure you want to continue living in your current set-up, sign the lease for next year as soon as possible. You should also try to secure your housing quickly if you want to live in one of the newer downtown apartment complexes such as The Rise or The Met.

Although you might get the “best” apartments by signing your lease in October or November, you definitely don’t need to. There are plenty of apartments still available if you choose to wait — some of which are among the nicest in all of State College.

As a junior, I lived in Cliffside Apartments, which is located a little less than a mile outside of downtown State College on South Atherton St. My two roommates signed on to live there in October, but I jumped in and joined the lease in January of my sophomore year. One of the roommates was no longer going to attend Penn State in 2018-19 and had to back out of the lease, so this was actually a bit lucky on my end.

Both of my roommates were seniors, so I decided to move out of Cliffside and live on my own for senior year. I’m a procrastinator by nature, but it actually worked out. I found a nice, decently-sized one-bedroom apartment in Fairmount Hills that I now have all to myself after signing the lease in April. You probably shouldn’t wait to secure your apartment until April, but hey, it worked out for me, so no harm, no foul.

If you choose to go through ARPM, they might even offer you a better deal in order to fill the spots. My senior year security deposit, for example, was only $500 instead of the usual month’s worth of rent for my current apartment.

The housing rush in State College might be officially on — especially considering ARPM sent out an email to tenants encouraging them to renew their leases at the start of this month. However, you can definitely get away with securing a lease later if you want to worry about other things now.

If you’re a freshman, my advice to you is simple: take some time to weigh your options and find out exactly what you want to do — whether it’s where you’d like to live or who you’d like to live with.

You might know exactly what you want to do, and that’s awesome. Go for it, sign your lease, and move on with your school year. But if you’re unsure or confused, know that it’s okay to take your time. It’s worked out just fine for me.