Housing

On-campus or off-campus?
There is much debate about this, and in the end it's personal preference. You'll have to do a little research and make a decision that you will be happy with.

Okay, you want the "I don't want to think about it, just tell me what to do" answer? Live on-campus for 1 to 3 years, then move off-campus. You'll get the on-campus experience with dorms and maybe apartments, and then you'll save some money and get some real-life experience living off-campus once you're more socially established.

Pros

 * Easy &mdash; Just click a few buttons on a website, send in some money, and you get a spot.
 * Convenient &mdash; Class is only a few minutes away, so you can roll out of your bed and go to class in your pajamas.
 * Fast Internet &mdash; Second fastest wired internet connection in the country
 * PLs/RAs &mdash; There is a student leader to help deal with your problems, whether it's keeping the noise on the hall down, or obnoxious roommates, or anything else, they are there to help.
 * Activities &mdash; Housing and RHA sponsor various activities and small parties with free food, which you get to participate in.
 * Community &mdash; The freshmen buildings typically have a higher focus on community, and your community usually will outshine the building's facilities if, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD, OPEN YOUR DOOR WHEN YOU ARE PRESENT. In other words, open doors make happy floors.

Cons

 * Size &mdash; Starting as a freshman, you'll spend one or two years in dorms or suites. As an upperclassman, you will often be placed in an apartment, which, while larger than a dorm or suite, is still usually smaller than off campus apartments.
 * Expensive &mdash; On-campus housing is between two and five times more expensive than off-campus housing. If you paid the same amount to live off-campus, you'd get a swanky place with lots of amenities.
 * Rules &mdash; GT Housing has much stricter policies regarding items and organisms that are allowed in your room than off-campus housing. (GT Housing no-nos include painting walls, using nails to hang pictures or posters, keeping pets, and (officially) having a member of the opposite sex sleep over more than a couple of days a week.)
 * Moving &mdash; Because most residence halls close during the summer, students living on campus typically have to remove all their belongings from their room more often than if they lived off campus. Additionally, move out is often a rushed processes, as student transferring between dorms are granted only three to five hours to move from one building to another.

Pros

 * Cost and space &mdash; You'll pay much less in rent living off-campus, and you'll get more space, too. If you're paying out of your own pocket, this is the unquestionable winner.
 * Freedom &mdash; There is no PL/RA to watch over you, or keep you from having loud parties at 1am. (You do still have neighbors, though.)
 * Home isn't at school &mdash; Many people appreciate not feeling like they're "at school" 24/7. When they go home, they're "home", and not at school.
 * Less restrictive &mdash; Do you want pets? Want to paint your walls? Want to legally have a toaster? There are still rules in a rented apartment/house, but it's generally much less restrictive than GT Housing.
 * Live with anyone you want &mdash; Want to actually live with your significant other? Apartments don't care who lives with you, although they may require them to be listed on the lease (which is largely unenforceable, but often a good idea).

Cons

 * Signing a lease &mdash; You have to do all your own research – find houses or apartments for rent, visit them, check prices, and sign a contract. Since you probably don't have enough income, you'll have to have your parents or someone else with sufficient income back your lease as a "guarantor". Companies like Promove can help you find an apartment, which is some relief.
 * Commuting &mdash; There are a couple of off-campus places (e.g. 100 Midtown, and much in Home Park) that are within comfortable walking distance of Tech. Any further out, and you'll need a bicycle or scooter, or more likely a car. You'll want to plan your schedule carefully so you can go to school, do all your classes in a block, and go home. All-nighters become more difficult, because you have to drive home at 4am when you're exhausted.
 * Furniture &mdash; Unless you pay more to get a pre-furnished place, you'll have to supply your own furniture. (There is an upside, that you can find a lot of stuff free or cheap on Craigslist, and you get to keep it when you move or graduate.)
 * Internet &mdash; You have to pay for your own internet now, and you will be hard-pressed to find better than 20Mbps down / 6 Mbps up.
 * Roommates &mdash; If you have a fight with your roommates, you're on your own.

General Notes
These are items to consider that can tip the scale in either direction; it isn't usually clear whether on- or off-campus is better.


 * Maintenance &mdash; Georgia Tech Housing has 24/7 emergency maintenance, and it's generally reliable; an after-hours emergency will usually be a lengthy headache for you, but things will get done eventually. You'll have good results with regular maintenance if you're very clear with your maintenance requests, but remember that it's always to their advantage to try the simplest/cheapest fix possible. Most apartment complexes also have after-hours maintenance, but the quality and reliability varies by location. They stand to lose your future business, so they may be a little bit more keen to meet your requests. At most houses rented out by individuals, maintenance is mostly just the person who owns the house, who may or may not take the task very seriously.
 * Quality of building &mdash; Georgia Tech renovates its residence halls periodically, but even recently renovated apartments can have serious problems. Commercial apartments vary based on price and building age.
 * Noise, crime, etc. &mdash; Noise and crime vary, both on- and off-campus. Before finding a place to live, try to learn about on-going or planned construction projects, building maintenance, and local crime rates.
 * Parking &mdash; While one or two off-campus apartments offer direct shuttle service to Georgia Tech, most do not, so purchasing a parking permit is usually a necessity. However, while students living on campus don't require a car, many appreciate the value of having a car in Atlanta, and so end up purchasing a parking permit anyway.

East or West

 * East Campus is closer to Skiles, the library, the stadium, MARTA stops, Tech Square, and two of the three dining halls.
 * West Campus is closer to the Campus Recreation Center (CRC) and practice field, Instruction Center (IC), and many major-specific buildings.


 * West campus dorms are slightly larger than East campus dorms (but they're still not what you'd call "spacious")
 * East campus dorms have tile floors and central HVAC (meaning the whole building has heat, or the whole building has A/C; Housing will switch them midway through the semester based on the weather).
 * West campus dorms have carpeted floors and each room is equipped with an individual HVAC unit (so each room can choose to run heat or A/C at any time).


 * West campus bathrooms are nicer, with each shower in an individual stall, while some dorms on East have curtain divided showers.
 * Students living on East campus have to walk up Bobby Dodd Avenue (colloquially referred to as Freshman Hill) every day in order to get to their classes.
 * West Campus is usually quieter than East Campus, as almost all on campus parties occur in or around Greek housing on East campus.

Should I do Freshmen Experience?
Probably. How much you get out of it is directly proportional to how much you put in. If you think you have a harder time making friends than most others, this might be a good option for you, as long as you are open to new things.

Residence Halls
All of the below buildings are freshmen only. Typically the Upperclassmen buildings listed on the housing website have much of the same amenities and quality of living, with Harris and Woodruff being some of the only suite-style buildings to house mostly upperclassmen. Graduate Living Center and 10th and Home are the only buildings that typically house graduate students and their families, but sometimes underclassmen live in these buildings.

Field

 * Traditionally the honors program dorm, although for the 2012-2013 academic year, this will be relocated to Matheson/Perry.
 * Right across from the stadium and has one of the best locations as well as furnishings.
 * Rooms are also above average (in terms of freshman dorm room size).
 * Co-ed by floor (1st and 2nd female, 3rd and 4th male).

Glenn/Towers

 * These buildings have the least recently renovated rooms on campus (Towers is scheduled for renovation next year, with Glenn in the following year).
 * The shower room is in a grid formation, to get from one end to the other you have to walk through someone else's shower. Also to be noted is that curtain dividers are in place, though privacy is still assured, and once you have lived in one of these buildings for a week or so you become used to it.
 * Due to lower-than-desired living standards, the men of these buildings, have a tendency to bond well, even if over the building itself.
 * Glenn and Towers are the only buildings on campus with a 'rivalry' of sorts that is played out in a competition named "Battle for the Quad." It happens every year around March, and consists of a week of sporting, gaming, and trivia contests, along with a tug-of-war between the staff of each building, and sometimes between residents.

Smith

 * Right next to the North Ave Dining Hall, as well as The Varsity.
 * While dorm rooms are relatively spacious, it's all male, and farther away from your classes.
 * Right next to North Avenue and the North Avenue Bridge (on the southern edge of campus).

West Campus
West Campus in general has bigger, nicer dorms because they have been more recently renovated.

Fitten

 * Renovated in 2012
 * Located between Freeman-Montag and Armstrong-Hefner

Freeman-Montag

 * Renovated in 2011
 * Right across the street from SAC fields and the CRC

Folk-Caldwell

 * Recently renovated
 * Pretty close to Woody's Dining Hall
 * Co-ed by floor (alternates male, female but changes by year)

Armstrong-Hefner

 * Recently renovated
 * Pretty close to Woody's Dining Hall
 * Co-ed by floor (alternates male, female but changes by year)
 * Elevator shared by the dorms

Getting out of a contract
Generally the only way to get out of your housing contract is to pay a cancellation fee. However, if you have extenuating circumstances, go to the housing office. They're often very understanding and will let you out of the contract without penalty. Always try to talk to them in person; emails will almost never work.

From what I've heard, moving into a fraternity is not a sufficient reason to get out of your housing contract.