Every semester, students at BYU-Idaho have to decide where to make their “home away from home.”

As students search for the perfect apartment, many consider factors such as price, location and sociality.

“Much of [the decision] is cost driven,” said F. Douglas Sorensen, assistant director of housing for BYU-Idaho. “Students can decide how social they want to be.”

Apartments are available with anywhere from two to 15 roommates. Students can share a room or request their own, for an added price.

For those who prefer a more quiet social setting, single unit apartments, usually houses that have been converted into student apartments, are available in the residential areas surrounding campus. Small complexes with anywhere from 12 to 50 students are often similar to single-unit apartments in their sociality and price, but offer some of the benefits of living in an apartment complex, like a convenient laundry room, a lounge for visitors or a larger social scene.

The university also operates on-campus dorms for men and women. The men’s dorms are single-room, two-student units with shared bathrooms. The women can choose between cooking and non-cooking dorms.

The cooking apartments have a kitchen and two bedrooms for four students. The non-cooking apartments, like the men’s dorms, are designed for students who eat at the campus cafeteria. They have three rooms for six students and no kitchen.

As students look for housing, Sorensen counsels them be careful not to sign a contract unless they are committed to living in that particular apartment. Students in the past have thought they could sign more than one contract and then just decide at the last minute which one they could actually live in.

“Read your contract,” Sorensen said. “Know what you’re getting into.”

When you do find the apartment that you want, don’t hesitate to sign a contract as early as possible. “The best places fill up fast these days,” Sorensen said. “Many students wait until the semester is about to start, thinking that they’ll get a good deal. It doesn’t actually work that way, though.”

Married students have no restrictions on housing, Sorensen said. They can live in regular community housing. However, the university does have an on-campus housing complex for married students called University Village.