Finding a Place: A lot of medical students live in an area that consists of Williamsburg Village Apartments, Summit House Condominiums, and Somerset Village. It’s a 5 minute walk from Shands and a bunch of med school students/professional students live there.
*More information on apartments can be found in the “Housing Options” section of this Web site.
These are just some popular ones, but if you haven’t figured it out yet, Gainesville is a college town and there’s housing galore. Most undergrads live SW of the main campus, basically towards Butler Plaza, or north of University Ave.
If you didn’t want to make more trips to Florida than necessary you can always go on apartment tours during Second Look Day weekend and get copies of leases to sign and mail in after you’ve made a decision.
Finding a Roommate: If you’re looking for a roommate scout out the class Facebook page and see if there’s anyone there looking for a roommate/contact someone that you think you’d be able to room with. There’ll also be a bunch of other people not in your class (i.e. older med school students, other professional students, etc.) posting on that Facebook page wanting a roommate so you can try your luck that way. Some apartment complexes also have their own roommate matching service.
Furnishing Your Place: The best places for cheap furniture are Children’s Home Society of Florida’s Family Treasures Thrift Shop (710 N Main St.), Haven Hospice Attic Retail Store (300 NW 8th Ave), and Habitat for Humanity (2317 SW 13th St). Also, if you go north on Main St. and turn left onto NW 8th Ave, you will pass about 5 thrift stores.
Start looking around as soon as you get here– the turnover of apartments happens around the middle of August and as people move out you can get a lot of stuff for free.