OSU provides a variety of on-campus housing choices for graduate students. There are two graduate dorms, South Campus Apartments and Neil Ave Building (dorms). Neil Ave. Dorms (located at the corner of Neil and 10th Ave) has air conditioning and is located above The Marketplace (cafeteria which accepts both meal plans and money). The South Campus Gateway Apartments are furnished apartments on campus that tend to be quite pricey but are also very nice. See here for more details. The OSU Housing office can be reached at (614) 292-8266.
International students can consult the Office of International Affairs in Oxley Hall (1712 Neil Avenue, (614) 292-6101, campus phone: 2-6101 ). They can help you and other people looking for roommates and assist you in finding housing, both permanent and temporary.
The area surrounding campus has many rental options. There are numerous rental companies in the area which can help you find housing, but it may be better and less expensive to rent from a smaller company or individual. Apartments for rent are advertised in the OSU Lantern, Columbus Dispatch, neighborhood newspapers, and online on sites like Craigslist. The Off-Campus Housing Center has lists of people seeking roommates, useful information about Columbus housing, as well as rental listings. The OSU Office of Off-Campus Housing (3106 Ohio Union at 1739 N. High Street, (614) 292-0100, campus phone: 2-0100) has detailed information about many local apartments.
Most graduate students live off campus in apartments. Columbus is known for having very affordable housing. You can easily live alone paying $650/month for rent or with roommates for $450/month. Most people live within about 2 miles of campus, though some do commute from further.
South of campus, beyond 9th Avenue and around Neil Avenue is one of the more popular places for grad students in our department to live. The #8 bus runs up and down Neil Ave. Further north in this area (closer to campus) is kind of run down and has some crime. Further south is Victorian Village (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_Village), with quite a few very nice houses and apartments, and some affordable options. East of Victorian Village, along High Street and south of 5th Ave is one of Columbus’s swanky areas: the Short North. With lots of bars, art galleries, and interesting shops, it can be more expensive and/or less spacious. Fewer grad students live there.
A lot of undergraduates live in the area directly north and northeast of campus, and most weekends you’ll find people out on their front porches playing beer pong, lawns littered with red cups, and big parties. However this area is very accessible to the Physics Research Building (PRB), so it is popular among a lot of physics graduate students. The campus bus system (CABS) has an East Residential (ER) route which runs along 4th and Summit streets north to Hudson and provides easy access to the PRB. The area due east of campus (east of High street and north of about 12th Ave) has a similar demographic, with quite a bit of fraternity and sorority housing; not many physics graduate students live there. These areas have some crime. South of 12th Avenue and east of High Street is more run down.
Clintonville, north of Dodridge/Arcadia, is a nicer area with a lot of local shops and restaurants around which is very accessible to the PRB via the #2 bus (or a 10 minute bike ride or a 25 minute walk). There are many half-double houses for rent scattered among family-owned homes. Olentangy Village, which is a very large apartment complex about 1.5 miles north of campus is a popular, if slightly expensive, place to live among graduate students (http://www.olentangyvillage.com/). Another large complex popular with graduate students is University Village, which is northwest of campus (http://www.universityvillage.com/). The #1 bus route connects this area to campus, and there is a UV Shuttle too.
West of campus is a little bit tougher to get to but is nonetheless a very nice area, with nice, affordable apartments which is popular with a lot of grad students. The #22 and #31 bus routes connect this area to campus. Southwest of campus is an area called Grandview (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grandview_Heights,_Ohio), which has a lot of restaurants and bars, and does not resemble the campus area. A lot of young professionals as well as other professional students like medical students live in this area.
Remember that when looking for a place, if you would like to not have to drive to work, look for an apartment on the COTA bus lines 1, 2, 8, 22, 31, or the CABS ER bus line. These routes all go through campus so if you live on or near them you can ride the bus. COTA access is paid for in your university fees. Check out COTA (http://www.cota.com/) and the campus CABS (http://ttm.osu.edu/cabs) for the bus routes and schedules. Google Maps also has a fairly good transit option to help you figure out a route. Biking is also a good option for the majority of the year; we have a locked bike room in the building. Parking on campus can be a hassle, as they sell more passes than they have spots, particularly on main campus, and the passes can be quite expensive. See http://www.campusparc.com/ for more info on passes.
Living on campus is another option, though it is more expensive. Most graduate students do not live on campus. It is not bad, but it is a small room, bathroom and perhaps an oven and kitchen sink. However, if you are looking for some place to live short term, you can get a feel of where you would like to live, some people have done that in the past.
Some students even buy houses or condominiums while they’re here. That’s another option.
If you would like to look for a place around campus, you can look at http://offcampus.osu.edu/ and at http://www.metro-rentals.com/. All of the neighborhoods typically listed on here are generally good. Brian, a member of the PGSC compiled a list of local apartment complexes and the like; you can find more information on that here (http://pgsc.physics.osu.edu/housing).
No matter where you decide to live, as a graduate student at OSU you are also able to access Student Legal Services which can look over and review any leases or contracts you are asked to sign. More information about Student Legal Services can be found at http://studentlegal.osu.edu/ and in the legal section found below.
If you are looking for physics grad roommates, email PGSC (pgsc@physics.osu.edu) and ask if anyone else is looking for roommates. We have the full list of incoming students. If you need assistance finding a place to live, PGSC members and other graduate student volunteers can help you. Keep in mind that a very good price on an apartment may mean that the area is not safe; please consult someone if you have any questions about where you should live.