Living Arrangements

After I made my decision to go to medical school, my mom decided it would be a good investment to buy an apartment where I went. WashU Med was perfect as the housing prices aren’t ridiculous, but the areas around Washington University Medical Campus are increasing in popularity each year. We found a great realtor in the area through recommendations from family friends and toured condos during the weekend of Second Look. Our realtor knew the ins and outs of the neighborhoods in St. Louis, as well as which condo associations were better than others. Thankfully, we found one that fit both our budget and my vision for my space! Because I know I will be here for at least four years, I painted the entire condo and did some home renovations in August before school started which was a great learning experience for me! With owning, I do have to deal with general maintenance and problems that arise with the condo. So far, I have found some great maintenance people in the area who are super affordable and kind (happy to give recommendations). Being a part of an HOA is great, as I don’t have to worry about trash, water, landscaping, snow removal, or parking. Both my neighbors in my building are physicians, and we all do our best to help each other out when we can. Having a condo usually means you have more space than renting and usually nicer appliances. In my two-bedroom, two-bathroom condo, I have a newly renovated kitchen, office, dining room, living room, and deck! I absolutely love my space, hosting friends for big events, and making it feel like a real home!

Going into medical school, I went back and forth about whether to live with a roommate. I really enjoyed the friendships I developed with my college roommates, but I did not know anyone in our incoming class beforehand. Ultimately, I decided to try to find a roommate to have some additional company and keep housing costs down. The upper-class WashU Med students were super helpful and provided a spreadsheet that included information about different neighborhoods and apartment complexes near WashU Med, as well as a section where incoming students could share their contact information and what they were seeking in a roommate. I ended up reaching out to several students from my class over the summer and used FaceTime with my eventual roommate before we agreed to live together. It is OK to be selective when choosing your roommate to ensure that you are a good match. Even if you do not end up living with someone that you talk with over the summer, it’s still a great way to meet your future classmates and friends. Having a roommate has been great for me (so far) and if you are considering it, I highly recommend just going for it because at the end of the day your class is going to be full of smart, motivated, and interesting people!

You might hear that the Central West End (CWE) is expensive when you visit St. Louis. That may be the case for some apartment complexes, but it is possible to find affordable apartments if you’re willing to do a little bit more work. I live on McPherson Ave in the CWE, just an eight-minute bike ride to campus, and I pay half the price for an entire condo unit (including a porch, shared swimming pool, and indoor parking) as many of my classmates pay for a studio. The best way to find these good deals is to talk to current students looking for roommates or renting out their places. Another option is to walk down the street in CWE, look for “for rent” signs, and call the phone numbers mentioned. One disadvantage of this kind of search is that these places are often not listed online, so you can’t read reviews of the realtors associated with them, which can feel suspicious. However, if you reach out to current students and do appropriate research on the place before you sign the contract, you’ll find that this process is not as daunting and complicated as it seems!

Living with another medical student has been nothing short of fantastic. Not only was it nice to have a familiar face on the first day of class, but it has continually been nice to have someone on the same schedule as me. We are able to share tips and tricks very readily and consistently remind each other of important deadlines coming up. I highly recommend living with a classmate. #Moliver4ever

At first, I was nervous about living with a non-medical student because I thought it would impact my ability to form a community with my peers in medical school. However, I have found that I have been able to form an even larger circle because of the fact that my roommate is a second-year PhD student at WashU. Not only have I been introduced to my roommate’s friends, but it is also comforting to have a separation between my work and living environment. Since my roommate knows nothing about medicine, we have very few conversations about the topic, which is refreshing after spending most of my time surrounded by it. I would definitely recommend finding a roommate outside of medical school if you have any interest in it!

As one of the medical students that came straight from undergrad, I never had to rent before. I was a little worried about this experience, but luckily finding apartments in St. Louis was fairly easy. My first step: looking at the Dis-O Guide. The Dis-O Guide is a one-stop shop for all things housing. Prior to deciding on my current apartment complex, I read the entire housing section, which not only helped me get an overview of the main apartments that other medical students stay in but also gain an understanding of what to look for in an apartment (i.e. gated parking, mail rooms/package lockers, maintenance services). Being in school while also looking for apartments, I was unable to travel to St. Louis to check apartments in-person. I contacted each of the apartment complexes I was interested in to request a virtual tour. Ideally, in-person is always the best route before signing a lease; however, the apartment complexes are pretty considerate of medical students that may have to sign their lease before moving to the city. From there, the leasing papers are quite straight-forward, although I would recommend getting a second pair of eyes to read over the agreement to ensure that everything checks out. There are medical students at almost every apartment complex you will be considering, so we are happy to help facilitate any first-time renting questions you may not feel comfortable asking the complexes themselves.