Housing: The Inside Scoop

When I first came to Florida Tech, I was here on a tour. During the campus tour, I got to see what one of the residence halls looked like, but I really didn't get the chance to see all three housing options that there were for incoming freshman. Since I've been at Florida Tech, a new option for freshman has been added, making it even harder to tour all of the options before signing up for a room. Well fear no more! I'm about to give you an insider scoop to what each of your housing options are as an incoming freshman. The first thing you need to know is that each housing area has different costs, so make sure that whichever you choose is in your price range. Typically, rooms that are a part of the "apartment style" housing are more expensive. This is because they come equipped with their own common space and kitchen that are shared between roommates. When living in apartment style housing, you also have the benefit of having bathrooms that only you and your roommates share. If apartment style housing isn't your thing, there is also the traditional style housing. Personally, I like to refer to it as community style housing, only because this name accurately describes what you get here. Being a private school, you are given the chance to get to know a lot of the people on campus. This type of housing really allows you to know your neighbors and form bonds that you'll carry throughout your college career. In traditional style housing, you get a two person bedroom, and the wing shares a bathroom. For this reason, the entire wing is only one gender. Columbia Village Two housing areas are considered to be apartment style here at Florida Tech. The first is Columbia Village, which has a unique dedication that you can learn about here. Columbia Village is on the main campus and has its own parking garage. The area is built of seven building with 12 rooms and each room holds four people. When I came to Florida Tech, this is where I stayed, and I had a blast. You have a lot of people around you, so you can easily become a part of the community, but you also get the opportunity to have some personal space. Newman Hall - Mary Star of the Sea The other apartment style living is Newman Hall, also known as Mary Star of the Sea. This area is a Christian community. Although the housing is across the street from the main campus, you really get a nice community feel. This building has the best lobbies and has recently started hosting weekly bible studies, which they hope to continue. Newman Hall is a hall that mixes the freshman community with the upperclassmen, and there are three different housing options. You can have a room with either one, two or four people. Roberts Hall Florida Tech has two types of community style housing options too! The first of which is Roberts Hall. Here, you are on the northern end of campus, and you also get the benefit of the Columbia Village parking garage. Roberts is a seven story building (with an elevator) that has a common lounge on each floor. Residents here often talk about the family feel that their wing tends to have. It's very common to just leave your room door open when your home so that you get to really make a lot of friends. Be ready though, there tends to be a competitive rivalry between each of the floors. Campbell Hall The last freshman housing option is in the Residence Quad. This area is a mixture of upperclassmen and freshman, but the freshman get an entire building known as Campbell Hall. The Quad has been my home for the past four years or so, and I have really grown to love it. Once again, you get a two person room and a wing specific bathroom. Here you only have three floors (no elevator) that aren't so competitive, but you still get that community feel. There is a central lobby that is getting a ping pong table soon and some nice green outside to play sports. The largest benefits of the Quad are being close to classes, close to the parking garage, close to the tennis courts and close to the Black Kats Kafe, which means milkshakes, karaoke and video games. In the future there are several places for you to look into: Evans Hall, Brownlie Hall, Wood Hall, Panther Bay, Southgate Apartments and Harris Village, but you can worry about those a little later. I know this was a lot of information, but these four freshman housing areas, really do have their own benefits. Make sure you take a look to try and find the area that's right for you!

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