Department of Spanish & Portuguese

    We know how difficult finding housing can be. That’s why we’ve put together a list for you of some of the places where people in the Department are currently living. This list is not exhaustive and there are certainly other great places to live in the city. Please use it as a starting point. Questions you should ask yourselves when trying to find a place to live are:
1)    What part of the city do I want to live in/How long do I want my commute to Georgetown to be?
2)    How much do I want to pay for housing?
3)    How much space do I need?
4)    Do I want to have roommates? If so, what kind of person would I like to live with?
 

properties in bold are where multiple people from the department live; if multiple commute times are listed, that means there are multiple ways to get to Georgetown

For example, from Carillon House, you can walk (15 min.) or you can take the Georgetown University Transportation Shuttle or GUTS bus (5 min.)

It’s important to realize when looking for housing in DC that not all buildings have names. That is, some buildings are referred to by location alone as is the case with the first place on the list above.

Tips
1)    Be persistent! If you call an apartment building to speak with a leasing agent, chances are you’ll have to call multiple times before you’ll be able to speak with that person.
2)    Use Craigslist. If you’re looking for just a room or a shared apartment, it’s a valuable resource. Also, it can give you a good idea of prices around the city. Take everything with a grain of salt; not everything is true and accurate. Go here.
3)    Don’t be shocked by rent in DC. As you can see from the list above, rent tends to be fairly expensive but our stipends are designed with that in mind.
4)    Remember that not all apartment buildings advertise online and only the most expensive apartment buildings tend to use sites like www.apartments.com.
5)    If possible, plan to come to DC for a few days to look at housing and come with a list of places that you’re considering after doing some research online. Georgetown offers assistance for those coming to search for housing through the Off-Campus Housing Search Weekend & the International Housing Search Week (see important dates above for registration information)
6)    Rely on us, your fellow graduate students! If you’re unsure about a location or have a question regarding housing, ask us. We’ve had to find housing ourselves and we’re familiar with the process and the city itself.
7)    When searching, be sure to ASK IF UTILITIES ARE INCLUDED. This can make the difference between a few hundred extra dollars a month.
8)    Use websites like www.apartmentratings.com to get a feel for how people like the building but DON’T take their opinion to heart! Most of the time, people only rate the negative aspects of an apartment building and sometimes the ratings are old and outdated. These sites are just to give you an idea.
For example, Carillon House is recommended by 38% of people and got a 3/5 star rating. This is typical of these sites so don’t expect to see a place that gets an extremely high rating. This does NOT mean it’s a bad place to live. In fact, many of our students live there and really like the place.
9)    Apartments rent quickly so if you find something you like and have carefully considered the price and location, take it.

Other resources

Please visit the Georgetown University housing page found at http://grad.georgetown.edu/pages/grad_housing.cfm