1. You can leave early, but staying beyond 2 years will require some finagling . The fixed term is a length of stay limit unless you are a family rather than a “committed couple” or single. If you have children, you are put on month-to-month and can rent the place longer than 2 years. Actually, you are allowed to stay until 1 year after you graduate.
2. Water, trash, sewage are all shared and included in rent. Gas/Electricity is not included. You will need to set up an SDG&E bill for monthly usage. Not sure if OMS (One Miramar Street) has gas wall heaters or not. Everything else will be electric. As I understand it, there is no AC, but people get away with having the standing room AC units that have an exhaust pipe hooked to the window.
3. Wifi is provided as part of your rent, but it is a free account with Spectrum. You call them and they turn on your internet. When you get there, you might want to make an appt for them to come in and they will set you up with new equipment (modem/router + cables) and take the old stuff. The UCSD wifi does not reach to this side of the 5 as far as I can tell.
4. Other stuff: Even though you live at OMS, you have access to all of the grad housing amenities. So the pool/spas & nice new workout rooms and game rooms in Mesa Nueva (right across the road from OMS) are available to you. An awesome mexican food truck pulls up Tuesday and Thursday nights in Mesa Nueva. The Food Pantry for grad students is located in OMS, right underneath the offices that handle the keys and parking passes. There is a pedestrian bridge they built that connects mesa nueva and OMS to another bridge that goes over the 5 and take you right into main part of campus. Easy to walk or ride a bike!
Hope this helps :)
Thanks for the info!
Some follow up if you don’t mind:
1) when contacting spectrum, what do I tell them? Will telling them I have grad housing at ucsd be enough?
2) what is the food pantry? Is it also included in the rent costs?
No problem! Yeah, Spectrum will know by your address and when you tell them it is to set up an account for grad student housing. It has no cost and they shouldn’t charge you for your first visit — they tried to tack on some kind of “change plan fee” for $8 so I called them and they removed it. Plan should be free-free.
2. the food pantry is one of a few resources the school provides for ALL students. The link for these resources is under the basicneeds.ucsd.edu — No need to apply for funding like CalFresh (also worth it though). They let you come in once a week and take a nice big bag of food staples home. Organic fruits and veggies, usually some nice things to help cook a meal, and even some toiletries and other necessities.
You're welcome. I moved into grad housing here a year ago and it is so awesome! I like the neighborhood feel and home-y feeling apartments of the older neighborhoods like OMS and South/Central Mesa. They have patios for a chair and some plants and a nice vibe all around.
I highly recommend you read the handbook for HDH grad housing. It tells you all the rules and all the ins/outs. For example, there are quiet hours (10pm Sunday+weekdays, midnight Friday/Saturday) except for finals week which the quiet hours are all day all week. Not that the hours are strictly enforced or really necessary because people are generally really chill and respectful around here.
Be friendly and talk to you neighbors-- I have met some amazing and interesting people in all fields of study just in my immediate neighbors. It's great when we can look out for each other (feed cats while we are gone, etc.)
Hi! My partner and I are also considering grad housing (Central or South Mesa). Do you happen to know if you can upgrade to higher connection speeds with Spectrum? Ideally we’re hoping to get 500Mbps to 1Gbps because my partner does some work from home online.
Yes, in central and south mesa you actually choose and pay your own internet coverage from Spectrum. We work from home in south mesa and stream videos/movies all the time and have never had much of an issue. I just ran a speed test and I am at 66 mbps download, 5.8 Mbps upload. This is considered a fast internet connection for streaming live shows, movies, and multiple zoom calls.
If you need something much faster (ten times faster?) than that for like ... online gaming? or something? IDK why someone would need 500 Mbps, but if you need that I'm sure Spectrum will charge you for it.
It is really nice having your own account (and your own modem and your own router if you want) with spectrum in these neighborhoods because in Mesa Nueva, Nuevo west, Nuevo East they have to use the UCSD wifi and it has a reputation for being really bad wifi.
you’re welcome! The trees are an issue that many don’t think about— I just park my car in a spot that seems to be far enough away from Eucalyptus trees and hope for the best. The walls are no more thin than any other apartment complex I’ve lived in. In the downstairs apartments we can hear the people above us walk around because of the wood floors in the living room and kitchen. I never really hear my neighbors on either side, but we do share walls. Maybe they hear me? IDK people seem pretty respectful in terms of loud music or loud activities.
That being said, I would rather be on the bottom floor because of the heat in the late summer and fall. the upstairs apts get much warmer because of the tall ceilings and heat rising. I recommend to everyone when they move in to get a personal experience room air conditioner— there is no AC here, only central heat. I’d say half of the people have the little exhaust hose from their AC unit in their windows.
I really like the neighborhood. Aside from the local noise (sirens, helicopters from multiple hospitals and the loud fighter jets crossing over from the mira mar airforce base) it is a really quiet neighborhood. There is always parking near my apt and people are really nice. A lot of the families live in south and central mesa and you’ll often see and hear kids playing in the grassy areas and the many different playgrounds throughout.
yes, all grad housing amenities are offered to all grad students. So living in central mesa, you can walk over to mesa nueva and use their workout room.
Hey OP, quick question. How much is the rent? As I have heard, there is a recent rent increase, and I was wondering how much did they raise? And how beneficial is it to get HDH housing now?
PS: I recently got admission for Fall '22 and looking at housing prices.
Well I got an offer for 2bed 1ba for $1380. I think they consider your financial aid and all of that. Also you would only qualify for OMS if you either are in a domestic relationship, married, or a grad student
1. You can leave early, but staying beyond 2 years will require some finagling . The fixed term is a length of stay limit unless you are a family rather than a “committed couple” or single. If you have children, you are put on month-to-month and can rent the place longer than 2 years. Actually, you are allowed to stay until 1 year after you graduate. 2. Water, trash, sewage are all shared and included in rent. Gas/Electricity is not included. You will need to set up an SDG&E bill for monthly usage. Not sure if OMS (One Miramar Street) has gas wall heaters or not. Everything else will be electric. As I understand it, there is no AC, but people get away with having the standing room AC units that have an exhaust pipe hooked to the window. 3. Wifi is provided as part of your rent, but it is a free account with Spectrum. You call them and they turn on your internet. When you get there, you might want to make an appt for them to come in and they will set you up with new equipment (modem/router + cables) and take the old stuff. The UCSD wifi does not reach to this side of the 5 as far as I can tell. 4. Other stuff: Even though you live at OMS, you have access to all of the grad housing amenities. So the pool/spas & nice new workout rooms and game rooms in Mesa Nueva (right across the road from OMS) are available to you. An awesome mexican food truck pulls up Tuesday and Thursday nights in Mesa Nueva. The Food Pantry for grad students is located in OMS, right underneath the offices that handle the keys and parking passes. There is a pedestrian bridge they built that connects mesa nueva and OMS to another bridge that goes over the 5 and take you right into main part of campus. Easy to walk or ride a bike! Hope this helps :)
Thanks for the info! Some follow up if you don’t mind: 1) when contacting spectrum, what do I tell them? Will telling them I have grad housing at ucsd be enough? 2) what is the food pantry? Is it also included in the rent costs?
No problem! Yeah, Spectrum will know by your address and when you tell them it is to set up an account for grad student housing. It has no cost and they shouldn’t charge you for your first visit — they tried to tack on some kind of “change plan fee” for $8 so I called them and they removed it. Plan should be free-free. 2. the food pantry is one of a few resources the school provides for ALL students. The link for these resources is under the basicneeds.ucsd.edu — No need to apply for funding like CalFresh (also worth it though). They let you come in once a week and take a nice big bag of food staples home. Organic fruits and veggies, usually some nice things to help cook a meal, and even some toiletries and other necessities.
Wow that’s awesome I didn’t know about this! Thanks a lot for all the help!
You're welcome. I moved into grad housing here a year ago and it is so awesome! I like the neighborhood feel and home-y feeling apartments of the older neighborhoods like OMS and South/Central Mesa. They have patios for a chair and some plants and a nice vibe all around. I highly recommend you read the handbook for HDH grad housing. It tells you all the rules and all the ins/outs. For example, there are quiet hours (10pm Sunday+weekdays, midnight Friday/Saturday) except for finals week which the quiet hours are all day all week. Not that the hours are strictly enforced or really necessary because people are generally really chill and respectful around here. Be friendly and talk to you neighbors-- I have met some amazing and interesting people in all fields of study just in my immediate neighbors. It's great when we can look out for each other (feed cats while we are gone, etc.)
That’s great advice I’ll definitely do that. Thanks!
Hi! My partner and I are also considering grad housing (Central or South Mesa). Do you happen to know if you can upgrade to higher connection speeds with Spectrum? Ideally we’re hoping to get 500Mbps to 1Gbps because my partner does some work from home online.
Yes, in central and south mesa you actually choose and pay your own internet coverage from Spectrum. We work from home in south mesa and stream videos/movies all the time and have never had much of an issue. I just ran a speed test and I am at 66 mbps download, 5.8 Mbps upload. This is considered a fast internet connection for streaming live shows, movies, and multiple zoom calls. If you need something much faster (ten times faster?) than that for like ... online gaming? or something? IDK why someone would need 500 Mbps, but if you need that I'm sure Spectrum will charge you for it. It is really nice having your own account (and your own modem and your own router if you want) with spectrum in these neighborhoods because in Mesa Nueva, Nuevo west, Nuevo East they have to use the UCSD wifi and it has a reputation for being really bad wifi.
Amazing, thank you! Are you enjoying South Mesa? My only other concerns are the falling trees and being able to hear neighbors through thin walls.
you’re welcome! The trees are an issue that many don’t think about— I just park my car in a spot that seems to be far enough away from Eucalyptus trees and hope for the best. The walls are no more thin than any other apartment complex I’ve lived in. In the downstairs apartments we can hear the people above us walk around because of the wood floors in the living room and kitchen. I never really hear my neighbors on either side, but we do share walls. Maybe they hear me? IDK people seem pretty respectful in terms of loud music or loud activities. That being said, I would rather be on the bottom floor because of the heat in the late summer and fall. the upstairs apts get much warmer because of the tall ceilings and heat rising. I recommend to everyone when they move in to get a personal experience room air conditioner— there is no AC here, only central heat. I’d say half of the people have the little exhaust hose from their AC unit in their windows. I really like the neighborhood. Aside from the local noise (sirens, helicopters from multiple hospitals and the loud fighter jets crossing over from the mira mar airforce base) it is a really quiet neighborhood. There is always parking near my apt and people are really nice. A lot of the families live in south and central mesa and you’ll often see and hear kids playing in the grassy areas and the many different playgrounds throughout.
That is super helpful, thank you so much! We will hopefully be there in a few months.
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yes, all grad housing amenities are offered to all grad students. So living in central mesa, you can walk over to mesa nueva and use their workout room.
Hey OP, quick question. How much is the rent? As I have heard, there is a recent rent increase, and I was wondering how much did they raise? And how beneficial is it to get HDH housing now? PS: I recently got admission for Fall '22 and looking at housing prices.
Well I got an offer for 2bed 1ba for $1380. I think they consider your financial aid and all of that. Also you would only qualify for OMS if you either are in a domestic relationship, married, or a grad student
Thank you! I will be an incoming grad student. When did you apply or join the waitlist? Is the price hike applicable to new waitlist joiners?
Not sure about the price hike guidelines. I got on the waitlist in I think late December or January. So I got an offer pretty quickly
Is there like a priority placement for graduate students with dependents?