How to Help Your College Age Student Find an Apartment

Parents of today’s college students are often accused of being too involved in their chi
ldren’s lives. When it comes to guiding their decisions, most students need your help. What they usually don’t need is for you to make all their decisions for them.

One extremely personal decision that should be left primarily up to the student is where to live when looking for off campus housing.

Although you certainly can expect to be involved if your paying the rent, college is a time for your child to make decisions for him or herself. Certainly you should be involved in setting the monthly budget for rent, but the decision about where to live should be left, primarily, up to the student.

Your student knows more about his or her lifestyle on campus than you do. He or she probably has a good idea about where he or she wants to live, and often they are working in tandem with friends who will become their apartment roommates.

When parents get involved in the decision, particularly if two or three sets of parents get involved, finding a place to live can become a very complicated process.

Campus resources are widely available, as are online services for finding an off campus apartment. In most cases, it’s best to guide your son or daughter to those sources and let them take the lead. The best reason: if they end up not liking where they are living, it won’t be your fault.