HOUSING

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On-Campus

• Application starts early. Some fellowship/PhD students may be notified of guaranteed housing
• Finding a roommate might increase your chance of being selected through the housing lottery system

​Off-Campus

• For all international students, many landlords may require an American social security number (SSN) for background check purposes (some apartments near UCLA do not require SSN, but always check with the landlords)
  • Landlords can potentially charge you for a higher deposit price if you have no social security number because landlords cannot do background checks on you
  • You can potentially bypass this problem if you have an American friend or peer/relative that you can co-sign with

 

• Read through the contract carefully to protect yourself. And don’t hesitate to ask any questions.
• Most off-campus apartments come with no furniture and no lights
  • Be sure to carry at least one light and a sleeping bag when you move in on the first night
  • Most apartments don’t provide free wifi, so call internet/cable providers ahead in order to have wifi set up when you move in. Check with your building manager to make sure which internet/cable providers are allowed for your apartment (some buildings have such rules). Most commonly used one: Time Warner

 

• Portals for Off-Campus Housing Search
  • Some sites can be helpful for looking for apartments (but be aware of scam. Sometimes it is safer to go to the site and find or contact the on-site management to make sure the posting is real):

                           https://www.zillow.com
                           https://www.onradpad.com
                           https://losangeles.craigslist.org
                           https://westsiderentals.com 
                           https://hotpads.com

• Roommate Search / No Housing on Arrival :
  • Airbnb: short term stay 
  • facebook groups with ucla housing search

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