On-campus housing in residence halls (dormitories and on-campus apartments) is not guaranteed for incoming exchange students, but is often available. If you indicated on your application that you wished to live on campus, your name will be sent to the Housing office. If space is available, you will be sent a housing contract to your Ohio State buckeyemail e-mail address. For details on life in the residence halls, see the Housing website.
Students who live in an on-campus undergraduate residence hall will be placed with at least one roommate, and often in a suite with many other students. Single rooms are rarely available.
For students age 22 and older (or who will turn 22 shortly after arrival on campus), if you choose to live on campus you will be placed in Ohio State’s “Graduate, Professional and Non-Traditional Aged” housing. For more details, and to apply, visit this page of the Housing office’s website.
If on-campus housing is not being available, or if you wish to look off campus, here is some general guidance:
Where to start?
For off-campus housing, Ohio State’s Off-Campus Student Services office (e-mail: offcampus@osu.edu) is a good place to start looking. When using this search tool, you’ll want to refine your search as follows: under “Campus,” be sure to select “Columbus,” and if you’ll only be here for one semester, select “Short Term Lease.”
Short-term leases
Some local landlords offer less than 12-month leases, and you will be e-mailed a spreadsheet showing rental agencies and properties where this is an option. If you do not receive this message, contact Caroline Omolesky at omolesky.2@osu.edu.
Additional Resources
Renter’s Guide: Every year the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) surveys students renting from various landlords near campus, and compiles the responses into this document, which gives you a sense for which properties students have had positive experiences with in the past.
Off-Campus Living Guide: In particular, review the information on page 30 (page 20 of the electronic document), on identifying rental scams.
Roommate search: Once you have your Ohio State log in information, you can use it to log in to search for roommates who are a Ohio State students. You can upload a profile of yourself if you want current students to be able to contact you about living together; this is recommended, but not required.
Safety
For safety reasons it is generally advisable to live north of 12 Ave. and west of Indianola Ave. or High St. It is strongly recommended to live near a COTA bus line that runs up to the OSU campus. Of course the closer you live to campus, the more convenient your housing it will be. Be sure to carefully review any lease before signing and committing to housing, whether through an individual or a vendor, since you will be personally responsible for dealing with any issues that arise.
The Off-Campus Housing Excellence Program: The Off-Campus Student Services office partners with the Columbus Fire Department to perform free home visits for any OSU student living within the University District, to identify safety concerns (fire hazards, mold growth, insecure appliances, etc.) and make recommendations for improvements to the living environment. This is a great way to identify concerns that your landlord should be correcting for you.
Free door alarms, light timers and smoke alarm batteries are available at the Off Campus Student Services office, located in Room 3106 of the Ohio Union. The office staff can demonstrate how all these items work.
This page of the office’s website has helpful safety information you should review.