So, you want to get out of the dorms? Fortunately, we have all the tips and tricks to make your decision easier.

From downtown apartments to neighborhood houses, there are plenty of options after spending your freshman year in that nasty unrenovated room. Finding the right one can be a tricky process, though.

We asked our staffers to compile their housing experiences to help you pick out your next humble abode.

House

Ryen Gailey: I found my current house through family and friends. My big sister lived in this exact house, and my exact room actually, almost four years ago and this house has been passed down through family and friends ever since. Houses and townhomes are often times rented through small landlords, and I’m lucky to have found this little diamond in the rough.

I actually live with four other Onward State staffers, and the biggest perk of this house is that we all have our own rooms. Having six girls in one house sounds like it may be a lot, but honestly, we have plenty of space here and never feel like we’re all on top of each other. I chose this house for the fact that I have my own room, it’s close to downtown, and has a great porch and living space.

It’s the perfect place to have company over and we love hosting people all the time. If I had any more years left as a student at Penn State beyond this year, I would choose to live in a house over and over again. I can’t begin to stress enough how nice it is to not live in a dirty, small, old apartment. Our little place certainly has lots of character (read: squirrels in the wall), but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Downtown Apartment

Acacia Aster Broder: The Rise is an off-campus apartment complex across from South Residence Halls. You can contact the office to get information about the complex, go on a tour, and fill out an application to lease online.

I decided to live at The Rise because I had friends who lived there during my freshmen and sophomore year and liked the units and location. They offer studio to five-bedroom apartments where you can have your own room or live with a roommate, it just depends on what unit type you apply for.

I have my own room and bathroom so I don’t have to share my space with my roommates. I like how I am close to my classes, Pegula Ice Arena, the Bryce Jordan Center, downtown, and other shops and restaurants. I’m also on a commuter meal plan so if I don’t feel like making dinner or lunch, Redifer is under a three-minute walk away.

One thing I really like about The Rise is all the common spaces. The gym and study lounge are really clean and spacious. It’s nice knowing that those in the space are other Rise residents and not random strangers. You also have a washer and dryer in your unit, which I really like because I don’t have to wait for a machine to open up like I did in the dorms.

I would definitely apartments like The Rise to anyone who wants to live off campus but not be too far from it. It’s really great to be close to downtown since I feel separated from campus, but not isolated. I also like how I don’t need to have a car to get to campus and downtown, and it’s really nice to not have to worry about parking.

On-Campus Apartment

Ryan Parsons: Although they are apartments, the Nittany Apartments are still considered on-campus housing. You can sign up for the apartments through eLiving just like a normal dorm or suite.

I lived in Nittany Apartments sophomore year because it was a great bridge between living in the dorms as a freshman and living off-campus as an upperclassman. I wanted to still be close to campus (on campus, actually) and have perks like a meal plan and Penn State’s internet. I also wanted to have my own room while still living in a house with roommates. I had a four-bedroom, townhouse-style apartment, which had two floors, two bathrooms, a kitchen, and one shower. There is also a “garden” style apartment, which is only one floor and can feature two or four rooms.

Living in Nittany Apartments honestly felt pretty similar to living off-campus. You can have an RA, but they’re split between lots of buildings so you don’t really see them much unless you go out of your way. There weren’t really many parties since the apartments are owned by Penn State, and alcohol is banned. This made it quiet, but I would still run into neighbors and people I knew in the area pretty often.

Nittany Apartments comes with all the typical perks of living on-campus like internet, a meal plan, and laundry (not free). Laundry is done at the Nittany Community Center, which can be inconvenient if you live far away from it. Luckily, I lived pretty close to the NCC and Pollock Commons, which made eating really simple. Now that I live off-campus, I miss how easy it was to grab a bagel and coffee from Edge on the way out the door.

I’ve outlined most of the major perks so far, but the location is also a big factor. I was relatively close to the BJC and Beaver Stadium, which made going to sporting events a breeze. It was also easy to schedule my classes all on the east/south side of campus so I didn’t have to walk too far. South, Pollock, and the HUB were also all super easy to get to and downtown is much closer than it was at East. There’s also a Blue Loop stop right outside the apartment complex, which came in handy when I had to get to the west side of campus or downtown in the cold.

I would recommend Nittany Apartments to anyone because they are a great option for sophomores or upperclassmen who want the feel of an apartment while still living on campus. I think I got lucky with the lottery system as a sophomore, but it was a great place to live.

Faraway Lands

Alysa Rubin: My roommates, Mira, Dana, and Dani, moved out to The Valley last year after finding it on the Internet, so I decided to move out here with them. I get my own living room, bathroom, parking, and share my apartment with my three wonderful roomies. It’s spacious, modern, and very well put together.

The Valley, located far north of campus, has its leasing office built right inside the building, which makes it an easy place to tour and call with any leasing questions. Be sure to ask a lot of questions before signing any lease!

Amenities include your own bedroom and bathroom, free parking, a washer and dryer in-unit, a clubhouse common area, a pool, and more. Living at The Valley means you are far from campus, but if you prefer a quiet, tidy living environment, you’ll love it. Since it’s so far, we all drive to campus and have the commuter lot pass as well as free CATA bus passes. 

My roommates and I actually prefer the quietness of The Valley as opposed to the loudness of downtown. It’s a great place to live and really adds a lot to my college experience. You just need to be up for the commute.

~Hidden Gems~

Penn State juniors: The Graham Building is right above Sauly Boy’s on South Allen Street in the heart of downtown. The building has four units: two three-bedrooms and two one-bedrooms. My three roommates and I live in a three-bedroom unit, and we love it.

We leased the apartment through The Apartment Store, and we found it because I had an internship with the company last year. We chose the Graham Building because we wanted to be in the middle of downtown, and we fell in love with the back porch.

In our unit, the kitchen is brand new, but that’s not the case for the other three units. We have a parking lot right out back, and you can pay for a spot each semester. The downside is that we don’t have laundry in the building, but there’s a laundromat right down the street that we always go to.

Since we’re right across the street from Champs Downtown and Pickle’s, it can get pretty loud on the weekends (and on Country Night), but the big front windows that face Allen Street make for wonderful people watching. A little Friday night rowdiness is a small price to pay for the stellar location and big back porch.

Although my roommates and I are staying in our unit again next year, I would definitely recommend the Graham Building or one of its many similar locations. These smaller apartments fill up fast, so if you can’t get your hands on this one, I would recommend looking at other apartments above downtown restaurants and businesses — you’d be surprised by how many there are.