The Housing Guide 2022, Student Life at Washington University in St. Louis

O u r l o c a t i o n i s i d e a l a s w e a r e e a s y w a l k i n g d i s t a n c e t o B J C , S L U ,

W A S H U m e d , t h e G r o v e , a n d C e n t r a l W e s t E n d ! S w i m m i n g p o o l , 2 4 / 7 g y m , 1 / 2 a c r e p e t p a r k , w a s h e r / d r y e r i n e v e r y u n i t , & 2 c o u r t y a r d s . O n s i t e m a i n t e n a n c e a n d m a n a g e m e n t .

Julia Robbins Editor-in-Chief editor@studlife.com

Via Poolos Managing Senior Scene Editor scene@studlife.com

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Managing Senior Sports Editor sports@studlife.com

Ved Patel

Managing Chief of Copy copy@studlife.com

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Managing Senior Design Editor design@studlife.com

James Ellinghaus

Nina Giraldo

Avi Holzman

Senior News Editors

TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS

Annabel Shen

Senior Scene Editor

Kellen Wang Emily Hu Head of Design

Gracie Hime Cathay Poulsen Chief of Copy

Holden Hindes Senior Photo Editor photo@studlife.com

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Welcome to Housing Guide 2022!

Welcome to Housing Guide 2022!

First off, I’ll just say that the housing process is often a sh*tshow and you’re not alone with whatever you’re going through. Housing is not the end-all be-all for your college experience. Yes, it is ideal to live with people who you like and who don’t treat common areas like trash cans, but life goes on regardless of how many dishes are left in the sink or how little you might interact with your roommates. Even if you aren’t able to live with your best friends or live in your favorite dorm, that’s not

a death sentence for an entire year at school. Like anything in life, you can make the most of wherever you end up living. If you get a place off-campus, you’ll typically have more space, quicker access to off-campus dining, and maybe some type of yard or basement to throw parties in. If you stay on campus, you’ll be more conveniently located to classes, on-campus activities, and you won’t have to deal with landlords when your sink breaks. There’re pros and cons to every neighborhood and every living situation. If

you’re in an extracurricular with upperclassmen, definitely talk to them about where they live and what advice they may have for you. If someone can hook you up with their landlord (if they’re decent), that’s a great way to find a place to live for next year. If you’re in need of more advice, come to a Student Life production night because we’re all super cool and fun and might help you with your housing journey…and maybe convince you to join StudLife along the way. Good luck with your search!

— Julia Robbins, Editor-in-Chief

STREET PROFILES STREET PROFILES

Forsyth

How long is the walk to campus?

20 minutes

Where do you go for groceries?

Costco and Trader Joe’s How many bedrooms?

3

How safe does your neighborhood feel?

5/5

How much is your rent? $1300/month

How is your neighborhood/ neighbors?

8/10

How is your overall satisfaction?

9/10

How does it compare to dorm life?

It’s a lot more responsibility with cleaning and cooking, but I enjoy being able to make my own meals and have a bigger room.

Pros of living on your street?

I like meeting the adults who live across the street as they are very friendly! The walk to campus is also beautiful.

Cons? Sometimes it is a bit inconvenient as I can’t just quickly go back to my room like I could when I was living in a dorm.

Kingsbury

How long is the walk to campus?

8 minutes to the closest building on campus (Olin) Where do you go for groceries?

I normally drive to Trader Joe’s in Brentwood (48 Brentwood Promenade Court, Brentwood MO), sometimes walk to United Provisions (6241 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, MO)

How many bedrooms? 2

How safe does your neighborhood feel? 4/5

How much is your rent? $910/month

How is your neighborhood/ neighbors? 9/10

How is your overall

satisfaction? 9/10

How does it compare to dorm life?

I love it. I love making my own food and having my own space that I can make my own. It feels much more like a home rather than a place I’m staying at. I know everyone who lives in my building and many people who live around me, so it still feels like a community.

Pros of living on your street? It’s right near campus, a lot of my friends live on my street and in my building, its close to the loop which has a lot of fun restaurants and stores.

Cons? It’s not as clean as living on campus, when they have people actually coming and cleaning for you.

satisfaction? 7/10

How does it compare to dorm life?

It’s definitely better. Only real complaint is food options are better but more expensive and harder to get. Also cleaning everything is hard.

Pros of living on your street?

I prefer living closer to the loop and further from campus, as I can walk quickly to food but I don’t go back and forth from campus at the same rate.

Cons?

None really unless you want to be closer to a specific area. Also I didn’t have a dishwasher.

How Long is the walk to campus?

15 min

Where do you go for groceries?

Schnucks (Richmond Heights)

How many bedrooms?

3

How safe does your neighborhood feel?

4/5

How much is your rent? $1250/month

How is your neighborhood/ neighbors?

5/10

How is your overall satisfaction?

8/10

How does it compare to dorm life?

Overall much better

Pros of living on your street? On the loop, close to restaurants and amenities. Close to other people

Cons? Loud at night

Max Rogler ‘24

Emma Urban ‘24 Izzy Singer ‘23

Rosedale

How long is the walk to campus?

10 minutes to the East End; 20 to the DUC

Where do you go for groceries?

Trader Joe’s (Brentwood) How many bedrooms? 2

How safe does your neighborhood feel? 3/5

How much is your rent? $1800/month

How is your neighborhood/ neighbors? 6/10

How is your overall satisfaction? 6/10

How does it compare to dorm life?

It was nice to have parking right in front of the building and our own furniture. Our building got bought by a different company halfway through our lease, so the change over in payment and communication was a bit complicated. Also, there were some issues like a stove burner that didn’t work that never got resolved. All in all, it was nice to have access over the summer and during other times where WashU has weird restrictions. We could also host things without restrictions and had a

nice basement space!

Pros of living on your street? Super close to engineering side of campus, which was great for my engineer roommate. Close to the loop and a short walk to Kaldi’s. There are a lot of WashU students on Waterman/ Rosedale but more “regular” people on McPhearson who were really nice — during one of the snows where the road didn’t get plowed, a couple hung out on their porch with a shovel and helped people who got stuck. There is usually parking on Rosedale even if Waterman is full except for during church hours on Sunday a.m.

Cons?

If you have class in Seigle it’s a FAR walk. A lot of seniors tend to live on Kingsbury/ Wash Ave and it’s a far walk from Waterman to these places. They send emails about neighborhood events but I never heard of anyone attending these. I wouldn’t walk around alone at night on Waterman, and I did have a friend who had someone try to rob her at like 2 p.m. on a Wednesday, so not the safest. However, these issues were really isolated, and most of the time it felt fine. Our rent was pretty expensive for the size/ quality of the apt and the fact that we didn’t have designated

McPherson

How long is the walk to campus? 15 minutes

Where do you go for groceries?

Schnucks (Richmond Heights) and the Target (Brentwood) How many bedrooms? 2

How safe does your neighborhood feel? 4/5

How much is your rent? $1400/month

How is your neighborhood/ neighbors? 8/10

Zane Watson ‘24

How is your overall satisfaction?

7/10

How does it compare to dorm life?

It is much more quiet and gives you the ability to dictate your relationships with your neighbors.

Pros of living on your street? Much safer than Waterman and many WashU students as well as professors live on the 5900 block of McPherson. Rent is typically cheaper across the board as well.

Cons? A slightly longer walk.

Waterman

6100 Block

How long is the walk to campus?

10 min to the East End

Where do you go for groceries?

Costco, Dierbergs, Whole Foods

How many bedrooms?

2

U Drive

U Drive

How long is the walk to campus? 8 minutes

Where do you go for groceries?

Schnucks (Richmond Heights) How many bedrooms? 3

How safe does your neighborhood feel? 4/5

How much is your rent? $1750/month

How safe does your neighborhood feel? 5/5

How much is your rent? $1500/month

How is your neighborhood/ neighbors? 9/10

How is your overall satisfaction?

How is your neighborhood/ neighbors? 8/10

How is your overall satisfaction? 8/10

How does it compare to dorm life? Much better

Pros of living on your street? Super close to campus Cons? The train is loud

9/10

How does it compare to dorm life?

“Much better. I have a kitchen and a bigger room.”

Pros of living on your street?

“Very close to campus, and the train station.”

Cons?

“Buildings are kinda old.”

Justin Lewitus ‘24

Mia Cuda ‘22

PHOTO CREDITS: HOLDEN HINDES, VED PATEL

Waterman Blvd

Ved Patel ‘24

Annabel Shen Senior Scene Editor

It’s 6 p.m. and you trudge your way back home from a long, arduous day of classes. Throwing your backpack onto the ground, your stomach begins to grumble as you hurry to the fridge. You open the fridge door.

Nothing.

A few leftover boxes from weeks prior are scattered on the shelves, and a carton of milk stands lonely alongside half-empty bottles of ketchup and sriracha. You open one of the leftover containers out of curiosity — ABSOLUTELY NOT. The congealed rice flops over as you stare wearily at it. It is another night of mac and cheese — or perhaps you’ll be fancy today and make ramen instead.

As Washington University students begin to live off campus starting their junior or senior year, many struggle to maintain a healthy routine. Although I am, by no means, a model college student, here are some tips and advice that may just help you get through the next week.

These are things that I hear my friends say all too often. After living on my own for two summers and living off-campus for the semester, I have found some easy dishes to make that will ensure that you save money and get a little bit of nutrition into your system.

Roasting vegetables is probably the biggest idea that I can push. It is so simple, and there are so many vegetables that you can do it with that you won’t get flavor fatigue. Just peel or cut up vegetables of your choice: carrots, potatoes, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, etc. Pour some olive oil and sprinkle some salt and pepper on them and shove them into a preheated oven for 20-30 minutes at 380 degrees Fahrenheit. While you wait, you could take a nap, finish an assignment, or even go on a run (provided you’ll be alert and back in time for the timer to go off). Roast a big bunch of vegetables all at once so that it can last you all week.

leave the house.

Living off campus, I’ve realized how precious time is. The more you put off certain chores, the more effort and time it will take in the future when you decide to clean up. Imagine cleaning the pasta sauce off of a plate that you just used, versus pasta sauce that has crusted over a plate for three days.

Exactly.

Personally, if I clean up immediately after an activity, it also gives me a sense of accomplishment and completion. I can shift my mind to focus on the next thing at hand instead of having to remind myself to clean my dishes at 11 p.m., when I should be focused on turning an assignment in instead.

out if that means being more aware of your surroundings. I also give an extra apartment key to a trusted friend in case anything goes wrong.

I get it. Cooking food is a challenge.

This is another piece of advice that seems obvious or hard to follow through with, but I PROMISE that once it becomes a habit, it will make your life so much easier. Just finished eating dinner? Wash your plate and place it on the drying rack. Just went through five tops to decide what to wear for the day? Hang/ fold and return the tops that you’re not going to wear to their original locations before you

When living off campus, you are no longer protected by the invisible bubble of protection that WashU offers. As nice as it sounds at first, living off campus means that there is no Residential Advisor for you to go to in an emergency. There are no emergency blue light posts nearby.

I always make sure at the end of the night to check that my apartment door is properly closed and locked. I avoid walking outside late at night once the sun has set, unless I have a friend or two right next to me. In addition, if it is dark outside, take your AirPods

One thing I noticed after I began to live off campus is how convenient it is while living on campus to make and see friends. Being on campus makes socializing or grabbing food with friends as easy as walking down the hall. However, once you start to live off campus, it can become rather isolating since you will not be constantly surrounded by people.

As I consider myself an introvert, allocating time for socializing and reaching out to friends proves to still be a skill I want to improve on. I realize how much I cherish and value those friends around me — being able to connect with them outside of class is as important as maintaining a healthy and balanced college life. Dedicating time outside of schoolwork and work is not only good, but necessary.

Obviously, this list of advice could go on and on and on. I don’t have everything figured out myself — not in the slightest bit. However, these are a few key pieces of advice that I think students should keep in mind as they begin to transition towards more independent living. Hopefully some of these stick with you. And please, don’t eat too much midnight ramen.

“What should I eat today?”

“Would it be easier to just Uber Eats something from the Loop?”

“Maybe I’ll just microwave a frozen Hot Pocket.”

Housing location is central to shaping your experiences on campus, and that’s especially true in the case of being on- or off-campus. Do you prioritize the convenience of being close, or the independence of the daily 20-minute walk? Do you stay near to the beating heart of campus activities and events, or look beyond the WashU bubble for a place to spend your days? Here are the answers WashU students gave then asked to weigh in on their experiences and preferences in both on-campus and off-campus housing.

ON-CAMPUS

“God, I loved living on campus! I only lived there freshman year (I’m a senior), but it was incredible. My floor community was really supportive, I had a wonderful RA, and I felt like I was always meeting new people. It wasn’t uncommon to be in the study room at 1 a.m.

OFF- VS. ON-CAMPUS

OFF- VS. ON-CAMPUS

with a whole group of my best friends. I miss the community.”

“I don’t think people weigh nearness to your classes enough. Sure, having a kitchen is amazing, and breaking out of the WashU bubble is important, but those of us who run five to ten minutes late to every appointment, meeting, and class have no choice but to prioritize proximity. Also, on the days where it’s hard to get out of bed, it’s much easier to convince yourself to take a 10-minute walk than a 20-minute sprint.”

really great experience for me to have a roommate and hallmates that I was close with, and there’s always someone to talk to no matter the time or situation. I miss the closeness of the on-campus community.”

OFF-CAMPUS

“You have your own space, generally more room, and fewer restrictions. (I can have candles and a space heater and no one is going to say anything to me).”

“Living off-campus is cheaper, and if you’re an upperclassman you’re not missing out by living off-campus since most of your friends will be off as well. Also, it’s a nice transition to a more adult/ independent life.”

access to laundry machines, and things get fixed really quickly.”

“There’s more independence. You can host parties and are forced to learn to be an adult before graduating. I now know how to meal prep, fix things around the apartment, and get all my chores done on a regular basis. You just don’t get that when you have a dining hall, maintenance staff, and cleaning staff on-campus.”

Adel Cynolter Staff Writer

EDURain is an off-campus housing marketplace and financial empowerment tool. It was founded in 2020 by Bryon Pierson, Arron Zhang, and Washington University graduate Adam Knox-Warshaw, with the goal of making college more accessible to underserved students. “We are the most unlikely team to ever build a company ever,” Pierson said. Pierson himself is an LGBTQ Black man who ran away from home at fifteen and put himself into foster care. Only 4% of foster care children go to college and only 44% get highschool diplomas. He continued, “Those demographics have created a unique environment where true innovation and work is able to happen.”

EDURain started out as a tool to make filing FAFSA simpler and faster, but as the company explored the higher education space, they realized that about half of all student debt comes from housing. The co-founders decided to focus on helping students find off-campus housing. According to Zheng, on-campus housing tends to be more expensive and students tend to pay for on-campus housing because they are unfamiliar with

“I really miss the community aspect of the South 40. It was a

alternative options.

EDURain is focused on helping students graduate debt free. “We come from student support first,” Pierson said. “We brought that with us and that is something that is unmatched in student rental spaces.”

EDURain is free to access. It provides a one-stop platform for finding properties around campus, roommates, renter’s insurance, a credit-building service to increase your credit score, as well as a scholarship search database. It is also a hub of information on living off-campus and financial advice for college students.

EDURain’s housing tool is very simple to use. You can use it without an account, but creating one takes less than five minutes and allows you to save properties and participate in EDURain’s integrated roommate search. You can see for each property if someone is looking for a roommate and connect with that person. Or, you can indicate if you are looking for a roommate on the property listing itself. Having an account also allows you to fill out a questionnaire to find scholarships specifically geared towards you!

To find a property, you simply have to select your state and school, which will bring up apartment listings

“Living in The Lofts was fantastic. It’s so expensive to go through WashU housing, but at least utilities are paid for, you have

“I personally just liked having more independence and being a part of a neighborhood.”

“Just keep distance in mind! It might be fun to live somewhere like Tower Grove or Forest Park Southeast, but is it feasible/ convenient as an undergrad?”

from around campus with virtual tours available for nearly every listing. On EDURain, you know landlords are student friendly. If you know of a landlord who could be interested in participating, you can refer them to edurain.org. Landlords benefit from partnering with EDURain by having student renters that are more informed and are incentivized to pay rent on time through EDURain’s credit-building service.

On Nov. 6, EDURain’s creditbuilding service, which allows students to report their on-time rent payments in order to increase their credit score, is set to become active in the next two weeks. Currently, you can pre-register at edurain.org/creditbuilding. They have partnered with TransUnion, one of America’s three credit bureaus. The platform will be completely free and will allow users to report their on-time rent payments to increase their credit scores, similar to how on-time credit card payments also increase credit scores. According to EDURain co-founder Arron Zhang, students in urban areas tend to have around 40 points lower credit scores than their peers. This makes renting more difficult as landlords prefer renters with higher scores.

Another service coming in the next few weeks is a legal assistance

tool. The tool will give general advice based on legal counsel EDURain received about common legal issues students face in renting environments. EDURain co-founder Knox-Warshaw, advises students to teach themselves and understand their rights as a tenant beforehand, so when the time comes, they’ll be able to “land that property much easier.”

EDURain is specifically looking to “unite all of off-campus housing resources at every school in the St. Louis region,” according to Pierson. They are specifically looking to connect with WashU to provide a better platform with more built in student support, and so they can receive the credibility to partner with more landlords and more schools.

“Kitchen! Way cheaper! Feel like a real human being!”

“I met some of my closest friends in college because we were suitemates in our first year.”

EDURain: your one-stop-shop for off-campus housing

PHOTO COURTESY OF ARRON ZHANG

Upperclassmen housing options and other ResLife updates

James Ellinghaus Senior News Editor

On-campus housing will be available to a limited number of juniors and seniors in the upcoming housing application.

Juniors and seniors will have options to select on-campus apartments in the spring, with more information about the bed count coming after the housing application closes on Friday, Feb. 10, Will Andrews, Director of Housing Operations for the Office of Residential Life, said.

However, he noted that “most juniors and seniors will live in off-campus apartments,” even with this change. Upperclass students with specific medical needs will be given priority for on-campus beds.

“Students with approved medical accommodations will be assigned housing based on their needs for [on-campus] and offcampus housing,” Andrews said.

According to Andrews, multiple factors go into the decision of whether or not to extend on-campus housing options to certain juniors and seniors.

“While first-year class size is important, we also have to look at the retention rates of the rising students,” he said. “Another factor that we look at is density, and as was the case this year, [an] ongoing construction project ended up removing 18 beds from our overall occupancy. In addition, we are required to have beds available for emergency situations.”

For the past few years, the COVID-19 pandemic has restricted the amount of oncampus beds available to students.

Andrews said that there were 3,140 beds on the South 40 available to first-year students and upperclassmen during last year’s housing application. There were also 1,000 North Side beds

available to upperclass students, fraternities, and Living Learning Communities (LLC), and 740 off-campus beds for upperclass students.

As of this article’s publication, Residential Life has not released the number of beds that will be available in the upcoming housing application.

In terms of quarantine housing, Andrews said that there are currently no plans to set aside beds for quarantine next year because it is “too early” to make this decision. However, he added that if a plan should develop, it would likely consist of the same 40 beds from this year’s housing plan, all of which are located in the Millbrook apartments.

As for other features to the upcoming housing application, the University will continue to not offer triples as an option for first-year students, according to Andrews.

“We won’t be utilizing triples

for the upcoming year,” Andrews said. “Triples right now are being used as doubles.”

Andrews noted that some rising sophomores can expect to live in a double room next year.

“To live on campus, about 10 percent of [the Class of 2026] will have to live in doubles,” he said.

Students can expect to hear more details about the 202324 housing plans as the year progresses, including important dates and guidelines.

“[More] changes [to housing selection] are going to be announced soon,” Andrews said. “We want students to pay attention to deadlines…Our goal as always, but even more so this year, is to make students aware of what options they have.”

APARTMENT TOURS FOR DUMMIES:

APARTMENT TOURS

A guide to your first house walkthrough

Clara Richards Managing Sports Editor

Apartment walkthroughs are like a first date: as soon as you open the front door, you’re scanning for red flags. Do the walls already have water damage? Might be a sign that the roof has sprung a couple leaks. Do the floors creak incessantly? Could be bad if you have an upstairs neighbor.

There are some basic things to look for in the apartment search: if the apartment fits the right amount of people, if it has a layout that you like, and if it has basic amenities. There are also a few not-so-obvious apartment oddities to look out for when trying to evaluate living spaces in the greater St. Louis area. While there are some newer apartments on the market, just as commonly, there are older houses that have unusual quirks. It’s important to consider the orange flags that might make you pause before signing a lease — the elements that aren’t necessarily a make-or-break, but still are good to know about.

Air conditioning and heat

Almost all houses have a central thermostat which landlords will point to in the walkthrough for temperature control. “Look,” they might say. “We just updated to the latest system.”

But what they probably won’t tell you upfront is that many of the front and back rooms in the older houses — for example, a sunroom or a front bedroom – don’t have ventilation. In the summers, they might trend a toasty 83 degrees, and in the winter, they’ll drop down to the fifties without a space heater.

Air conditioning in your bedroom isn’t a necessity, especially with the temperate St. Louis falls and springs. But be sure to ask what parts of the house receive ventilation and consider if that is a deciding

Garbage disposal

factor for your living situation.

It’s easy to walk past the sink in the kitchen and head straight to the (arguably) more exciting kitchen appliances, like the fridge or the dishwasher. But stop first to check if the sink has a disposal system. A sink garbage disposal, while not a necessity, makes collecting food waste infinitely easier.

It also saves you the potential hassle of clogged pipes when your cookie dough accidentally goes all the way down and your sink just starts gurgling. Hypothetically.

Water pressure in the shower and shower head height

In the bathroom, you’ll glance over at the toilet, sink, shower — you’re checking to see if they’re there at all. But while you’re in the space, flip the shower on and off.

If you’re tall, look at the shower head and see if you’ll have to squat to wash your hair every day.

Granted, water pressure may be low on your list of priorities. But when the showers at the Athletic Center, grimy floors and all, start to seem more and more appealing, you know you might have a problem.

Hot water in the sink

While you’re at the kitchen sink, just twist the handle and make sure that there is both hot and cold weather from the sink. Don’t just assume that there’s hot water in the sink, because that isn’t the case in all St. Louis apartments. Before you ink your name on a lease, you’ll want to know whether you’ll have to get hot water from the bathtub every time

you need to scrub a pot

Street

parking rules & garage

entrances for years, you can make a clear inference: the lock will bolt shut if you turn it. Not so fast.

In your apartment tour, it’s worth it to actually turn the locks, especially to bedroom doors or bathrooms.

Do your doors lock?

As you walk away from the house, take a look around at the parking situation. It’s worth it to ask your landlord about street parking in case friends are visiting or your family is in tow. Parking rules are good to know about upfront, rather than after receiving six tickets from the Clayton or UCity police. There’s a door, and there’s a lock. As a human who has navigated

Sometimes, the bolt and the lock won’t align, which can be good to know if you have a roommate or value your privacy. Some landlords sometimes aren’t contractually obliged to fix them, so you’ll want to find out if you will be stuck with lock issues.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY TUESDAY HADDEN

Stop by our upscale resale shop to find a wide variety of items for your dorm or apartment. Unique and useful items are added to the floor daily! All proceeds from the shop help empower unique learners through Miriam’s educational programs.

SOUTH 40 VS. THE VILLAGE SOUTH 40 VS. THE VILLAGE

As places with quite distinct cultures, amenities, and benefits, it’s no wonder the debate regarding whether the South 40 or Village is better has raged on for so long. We can’t tell you what to think (and the truer, less fun answer is probably — as it often is — “different strokes for different folks”), but we can tell you what some of your peers think. Here are WashU students’ reasons why they land on either side of the argument: make your own conclusions.

LONG LIVE THE SOUTH 40

“There are more options

as far as food, study areas, and the fitness center on the South 40. Plus, it just feels like the center of the WashU undergrad community that's living on campus. No clubs ever host events in the Village.”

Village Café.”

“I only ever lived in the Village during COVID. I was trapped in my dorm for a year. It was bad.”

“The South 40 is so much more central to everything.”

“The South 40’s vibe is immaculate because it is the pride and joy of WashU (and what WashU actually puts an effort into maintaining, to show freshmen and parents). Village is the 40’s sh*tty, ugly duckling of a cousin with pretty terrible everything in comparison.”

VIVA THE VILLAGE

“I love being on a part of campus that's primarily made up of sophomores. It's really nice to always see people I know walking around and getting food at the Village — it makes campus feel much more like home. Also, I don't have to see freshmen in the morning.”

“The South 40 has a more communal feeling, and feels more lively. Also, Bear’s Den is a lot less depressing than the

Map of the South 40 Map of the Village

“It’s popping 24/7 — there is always something going on and there are always people walking around. Sometimes it can be a little loud, but it does feel like you are living in a place where things are happening.”

“The South 40 has way more going on than the Village. BD has more options than the Village dining. Way more students are milling about the 40 than the Village. The 40 is magical looking, especially in the winter, because of the twinkle lights that are always up. No one uses the field in the Village but the field on the 40 has at least some stuff going on and the basketball courts are great on the 40.”

“It’s closer to frats and has nicer housing.”

“The apartment-style living was so fun and also gave us a chance to try cooking more of our own meals or baking for fun. We always had people over to watch The Bachelor or movies because we had a great common space.”

“The Village Café has BD beat, and it’s not close. Not just for the hot food options, but also the offerings in the Village Mart: last week I saw potstickers in the freezer. Potstickers! Plus, the Mart now has actual shopping baskets for your shopping ease. As someone who always has too many meal points, being able to nail down some of my groceries on campus is essential, and the Village makes that possible. Also: the Village is closer to the Loop. ‘Nuff said.”

“ The vibe on the South 40 is consistently and objectively better. (But the Village definitely has better food). ”

“ If you get lucky enough to live in Village East, rejoice! ”

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMILA DAWKINS

Administrative assignment is not

Jamila Dawkins Managing Forum Editor

the end of the world the end of the world

I’m a senior, and I have done some type of random roommate assignment for all four years of

find friends to room year, I had the

excuse of simply not knowing anyone on campus well enough to propose spending ten months living five feet away from them. Sophomore year, I found one other roommate — mostly by accident — and we went random for our third. Junior year was as random as freshman year, with COVID-19 leaving in its wake several stalled friendships and an unshakeable degree of isolation. And now, as a senior who applied very late (like, in April late) for University housing in a panicked attempt to secure any housing at all (long story!), going the random route was a foregone conclusion.

All of that is to say that I am uniquely qualified to tell you the following: it is not the end of the world.

I know well the anxiety that’s starting to settle over you, especially you who are freshmen. The roommate

search often devolves into a hellish matchmaking process — if matches were only made in whispers and frantic texts. Is her group already full? He said I could room with them last month, but I haven’t heard anything; am I still in the group? It’s all the frenzy of a first date and all the drama of high school, only made more fraught by the looming grouping period deadline.

You’re starting to look around at the people whose names you still remember from orientation

and wondering when they’ll turn into your own personal cast of Friends. You want compatible roommates, sure — someone who won’t keep the thermostat at 60 degrees or steal your clothes — but you also want the sitcom, the perfect, unruly cast of best friends who make every day a romp: the worn, burntorange couch and all.

If you find that, more power to you. But I firmly believe that fewer people find it than you’d think.

For every suite that contains a raucous, perfect-storm New Girl dynamic, there are two more who have, like, two conversations before room selection and make it work. For every friend who has curated their suite’s dynamic in fine

detail, there are two more who meet the weekend before classes and quietly eke out a living situation that does the job for everyone involved.

In fact, some schools such as Duke and New York University have implemented policies that eliminate roommate requests for incoming students altogether. Their thinking is that by doing so, they force new students to meet types of people they otherwise might never meet, thus bridging gaps and encouraging inclusivity. And while I’m skeptical that random roommate assignment alone will do all of that work, and conscious of logistical issues with forcing students into such a commitment, I am inclined, somewhat, to agree

with them.

Going random last year meant that I roomed with a transfer student whose incredibly delicious food is the sole reason I now keep oyster sauce in my cabinet. A roommate who I met the Saturday before classes has, over the course of one semester, met and cooked with my mom and received internship prospects from my dad. I’ve roomed with an athlete, an ice skater, two people who were multilingual, one person who loved to bake.

There is something uniquely lovely about the slow process of getting to know someone from scratch — of knowing that someone who is effectively a stranger to you likes to listen to Japanese city pop in the shower or tends to scramble eggs after 12 p.m.

Curating your housing group is one measure of feeling more secure against a process that necessarily robs you of control at every turn. The inclination to

do so is understandable, and if it works for you, it works for you. But if that perfect suite just isn’t coming together, please: try not to worry too much about it. Because really, we’re all going random. Even your best friends may end up being awful roommates; even your roommate of two years may start switching up in year

While you can’t control how a semester will pan out, you can become a person who can broker a workable solution, regardless of the situation. Incompatibility can teach you how to adapt. How good are you at communicating your boundaries? How considerate are you of shared spaces? I know those living agreements are kind of laughable, but the quewstions they pose are ones that should be on your mind as you move throughout a shared space.

Whatever you do, good luck out there. It’ll be over before you know it.

experiences WashU students share landlord experiences RACCOONS, ROACHES, RATS OH MY! RACCOONS, ROACHES, RATS OH MY!

We asked WashU students to share stories about landlords they’ve had in St. Louis: good, bad, and grimy. Naturally, most of them ended up being in the “bad” or “grimy” variety, but nonetheless, we hope that in this mix of horror and humor, you find some ick, some tips, and a new appreciation for your (hopefully) non-leaky roof.

“When I moved into my offcampus apartment in August, there was water dripping from the kitchen ceiling from a roof leak. At first, it was only slowly trickling, so I emailed my landlord. But a week later, it started downpouring — it rained for three days straight. My entire kitchen was covered with bowls and pots, and new drips kept opening up. The roof finally got fixed the next week, so there hasn’t been a swamp in my kitchen since. But they never fixed it entirely; they had to open up a big gaping hole in the ceiling to find the leak which still has not been fixed, three months later.”

“It’s hard, but I would try to get landlord recommendations and reach out directly.”

“Check out Demun, which is south of campus. It’s a pretty, walkable area with lots of families living nearby. Start apartment hunting early (like, in January) because the good stuff gets picked up fast by other students!”

“My landlord screwed up getting me set up with the online payment portal, so I had to mail them a check for three months. After sending five emails about it, I finally ended up looking up the law firm they work at and calling them there. Turns out all they had to do was send one (1) email.”

“I rented, and knew a few other people in the same building. Many people had issues with toilets and plumbing, and at one point they emailed all of their tenants and told everyone to use stool softeners?”

“My apartment is safe, but it’s impossible to get packages, as the package room is inaccessible. The elevator is constantly broken, along with door handles and wheelchair access buttons. All in all, it’s a great place to live, and they’re fine landlords — but for the price? Not necessarily worth it.”

apartment

“For a little over three months, my apartment had two holes in the wall from water damage. Instead of properly fixing the underlying structural damage, the landlords had the holes plastered over, and the unpainted plaster is now coming off because water is STILL coming in. Half of the windows are painted shut; the other half have rotting wood in their frames. My roommates refer to one of the bedrooms as “the spider room,” and our bathroom is also infested with spiders. Our AC went out in July, and our landlords didn’t want to fix it. Now our heater’s out, and it took several emails and phone calls to get someone out to fix it.”

landlord

generally responsive to issues but…

said they had their “best cleaning ladies” clean the apartment top to bottom before we moved in, but when we got there in August it was FILTHY. Lots of sweat and time went into making this place livable on our part because the landlord didn’t do it.”

“Our landlord in Demun is actually really great. They’re not the most responsive, but when they do eventually see messages, they’re pretty reasonable and prompt. Not all off-campus landlords are terrible!”

“ My landlord pulls up and fixes things within an hour of being notified.”

“I have roaches. They say I don’t. The wall in my living room is quite literally falling down. They say it isn’t. The kitchen is flooding when it’s raining. They imply it’s my fault, and then stop responding.”

“We have a family of raccoons living in the attic, but they’re pretty considerate housemates.”

“I love my

and the

is

they

“Find an independent landlord if possible (not a company).”

SIMPLE COLLEGE COOKING SIMPLE COLLEGE COOKING

Lily Taylor Ved Patel Contributing Writer Chief of Copy

Do you burn toast and pretty much know nothing about cooking? If so, this recipe guide will be perfect for you! Here are five easy, quick and (hopefully) fool-proof recipes to spice up your college diet!

RAINBOW STIR FRY

There are probably veggies in your (mini)fridge that are about to go bad- throw them in this stir fry!

MICROWAVED POACHED EGGS

Perfect for those of us who don’t have stoves or just don’t want to use them.

Ingredients

- Eggs - Salt and pepper

- Water

TACO BELL CRUNCHWRAP SPOOF

If you need further inspiration, you can find many variations of this on any social media platform!

Ingredients

- Tortillas

- Beans (refried or whole)

- Rice

- Tortilla chips (for crunch)

- Lettuce - Tomatoes

Shredded cheese

- Optional: ground meat or meat replacement

Ingredients

Spinach

- Canned chickpeas

- Tomato puree (enough to coat chickpeas)

- Curry powder

- Grated or powder ginger

CURRIED CHICKPEAS & SPINACH

(serves 4; adjust for different numbers!)

GRILLED CHEESE!

- Olive oil

- Minced garlic cloves or paste

- Diced yellow onion

Ingredients

Bread of choice (get literally any kind you like)

- Cheeses of choice (American, cheddar, and swiss are favorites)

- Butter and/or Mayo

Ingredients

- Chopped veggies (carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, bok choy, onions, peppers, etc.)

- Soy sauce

- Garlic powder

- Grated or powder ginger

- A little olive oil

- Rice

- Optional: fried egg or meat of choice

Instructions

- Fill microwave-safe mug ½ with water

- Crack an egg into the water

- Cover the mug with a small plate, saucer, etc.

- Microwave 30 seconds or until cooked

- Serve on toast for an easy breakfast or add to any meal!

Instructions

- Heat your beans, rice and whatever else you’re throwing in

- Heat up a tortilla in a pan

- Put your fillings in one quadrant of the tortilla and fold the other sides over

- Serve with guac, salsa, etc.!

Instructions

Heat or cook your rice

- Throw your veggies into a pan with your oil and spices and cook until browned

- Add your rice and mix it together in the pan (add more spices if you want!)

- Add soy sauce or other sauces and enjoy!

The primary component of my first-year diet

- Optional: store-bought tomato soup (I prefer the Panera at-home brand)

FANCY RAMEN

Just like ramen, but fancy!

Ingredients

- Ramen packet

- Garlic powder

- Vegetables of choice (mushrooms, broccoli, etc.)

- Optional fried egg or meat

Instructions

- Drain and rinse chickpeas

- Sauté onion, garlic and ginger in skillet with olive oil

- Add curry powder and mix

- Add ¼ cup water, spinach, and sauté until spinach wilts

- Add chickpeas and tomato sauce to skillet and sauté until heated

- Serve over rice, with bread, or alone!

Instructions

- Spread butter/mayo on both sides of the bread

- Throw both slices onto a pan and toast one side of each

- Flip both slices and top with cheese

- Once melty, flip halves of sandwich together

- Enjoy with soup (or not!)

Instructions

Make your ramen (I’ll refer you to the packet for further instructions)

- Sauté or heat any veggies you want

- Throw in veggies and some garlic powder and stir

FANCY MAC AND CHEESE

Just like fancy ramen, but mac and cheese!

Ingredients

- Boxed mac and cheese (I prefer Annie’s shells & aged cheddar)

- Onion and/or Jalapeño

- Milk (a little more than the box recommends)

- Butter (a little less than the box recommends)

- Black pepper

Instructions

- Boil mac

- While that’s going, dice onion/jalapeño

- Heat some butter in a pan and sauté veggies

- Once done, drain water from the pasta (make sure to leave some pasta water in the pot)

- Mix in milk/butter/cheese powder to the pot

- Simmer sauce until it reaches the desired thickness

- Stir in veggies and pepper

ILLUSTRATIONS

BY SOPHIE LEONG AND SYDNEY TRAN

Stay connected to campus with WashU’s Northside Residential Communities, available to all upperclassmen.

These safe and secure communities include shuttle stops to main campus, unique layouts, furnishings and amenities to make it a more independent living option than traditional dorm rooms.

Options include:

OFF-CAMPUS APARTMENTS

Rosedale Court Apartments

520 Kingsland Avenue Apartments

Washington Avenue Apartments

The Lofts Apartments

Greenway Apartments

University Drive Apartments

ON-CAMPUS SUITES AND APARTMENTS

Millbrook Apartments

Village East Apartments

Village House

Lopata House Chapter Facility Housing

Sophomore Suites on the South 40

A Jamaican-American’s noncomprehensive campus ramen ranking

Jamila Dawkins Managing Forum Editor

When I left home for college, I did so with a cooler that contained three bulging freezer bags: one with roast chicken legs and curry goat, one with vegetables, and one with bags upon bags of rice. “To tide you over,” my mother said. They were preparing me to eat on enemy lines.

My parents could never stomach instant, pre-made, or frozen meals. These were deemed unhealthy, disgusting, and worst of all, American — the product of a culture too lazy to spend a little of their time making something from scratch.

I never found myself craving Hamburger Helper or Jimmy Deans, but I did always want to try instant ramen. So over the course of my freshman year, I tried every brand of chicken-flavored ramen on campus. Here’s my (incomprehensive) briefing on the stand-outs.

Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup Chicken Flavor Pack

Maruchan was the first brand

of ramen I ever tried and almost put me off my chicken ramen quest altogether. A week after that initial 6-pack purchase, I crammed a brick of fried noodles into a tea mug (the only non-plastic dish I had in my dorm room), filled the cup with boiling water from my roommate’s kettle, and waited. For seven minutes.

The noodles melted away in my mouth. Nothing tasted like chicken. Worst of all was that the noodles in that particular package all tasted unsettlingly sweet, as if someone had soaked each brick in simple syrup. With no other experience to measure mine against, I felt that I had been holding out for nothing.

I compared the contents of my sad tea mug with the memory of my mother’s spicy chicken noodle soup: the thick broth, product of hours on the back burner of our gas stove, packed with flavor and spice and little vegetable treats. The mushy, salty mess sitting in my cup paled in comparison. After stomaching a few more spoonful’s, I dumped the rest of the noodles into the garbage and reheated one of the many homemade meals in my freezer.

Nong Shim Bowl Noodle: Spicy Chicken

Flavor

As finals rolled around and I found myself awake past dining hall hours, I found myself in need of quick, portable meals that would keep me up at night. That meant ramen, and luckily for me, I had noticed a new brand on the shelves at school: Bowl Noodle, Spicy Chicken Flavor.

It’s true that food tastes better when you’re hungry. But when you’re hungry, in-between allnighters, in the dead of winter, and attempting to cram three months’ worth of Logic and Critical Analysis into your skull before your 8 AM exam? Instant ramen tastes like nirvana.

Of course, it didn’t taste anything like my mother’s chicken noodle soup. But I loved it anyway.

Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles and Chicken Flavored Soup

When I returned back home after spring semester finals, I was itching to eat all of the foods I had missed while at school. What I couldn’t anticipate when I touched down in

New York, however, was that, even while eating my childhood favorites, I’d crave instant ramen all summer.

And so, one day when my father sent me into the grocery store to pick up some last-minute items, I added another item to the list: one packet of Sapporo Ichiban Japanese Style Noodles and Chicken Flavored Soup.

That night, near midnight, I pulled out all of my favorite things from the fridge and started working. I shredded cold leftover chicken, boiled eggs and chunks of sweet potato, chopped scallion and garlic and ginger and carrots. Anything that I knew smelled and tasted like home. Then I boiled my noodles, added the broth packet and a bit of sesame oil, and threw it all together into one bowl.

I bet you’re wondering how it tasted. The answer is: good. Pretty good. For a girl wholly unused to eating food that’s not the fruit of her mother’s overworked Dutch pot, tripping and stumbling over the new palettes she’s discovered away from the nest? Pretty damn good.

Student Life presents: 2022 Residental Life Guide Residential Life Guide

Welcome to Student Life's Residential Life Guide!

If you want to see what residential life looks like at WashU, look no further than the coming pages. WashU’s dorms consistently rank in the top of the country, and it’s not just because of the TempurPedic mattresses. The Residential Life website has more content on the amenities that each type of housing offers. 2023-2024 WashU housing rates will come out in January, but you can check out the Residential Life website to see current rates.

THE LOFTS THE LOFTS

COMMON ROOM BEDROOM

OUTSIDE

A tour of an apartment on Delmar.

Here’s an example of what an apartment that two WashU students live in on the Delmar Loop can look like. We pay $1225/month, plus utilities. We have central air, coin laundry in the dirty basement, and a dishwasher that we don’t use because it’s occupied by cockroaches. My roommate’s bedroom is not pictured.

The living room. All of this furniture is secondhand. The closed door is one of many closets. Yes, the wall is falling down; no, our landlord hasn’t fixed it; yes, it has been months. Life goes on.

The bathroom. Bring your own showerhead: the ones in the apartments are often not great. The toilet is slightly below average size.

Still my room. Bed, desk, bookshelf. In the middle of my English thesis, the book piles continue to grow. Usually I leave my bike up against the bookshelf. A

Enter from the back door into the kitchen. I strongly recommend fridge magnets, they’re great for entertaining friends while you cook.

Still the kitchen. Anyone can cook! Behind that door is a pantry.

All the living room essentials. Dining table, record player, The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, Bob Ross jigsaw puzzle, television, a second coat closet.

My room. Dressers are heavy and expensive; modular wire shelves are cheap and easy to move. The poster is my mom’s favorite painting from the St. Louis Art Museum.

generous helping of windows.

Photo essay by Photo Editor Holden Hindes.

LUXURY IS CALLING

Entry access control for residents only

Fitness center with weight, cardio and therapy rooms and towel service

24th floor rooftop lounge and sky deck with 360 degree views of Clayton

Community lounge with pool table, wet bar and private theatre

On-site Kingside Diner restaurant

Pet-friendly community with pet spa

High ceilings with oversized windows

Amazing views of Shaw Park to the west and Downtown St. Louis to the east

Modern Dorms SOUTH 40 SOUTH 40 ZETCHER

Village / Lopata House

LOBBY OUTDOORS

Millbrook