By: Heather Weems, Morgan Goss, Dominic Ortega, and Hunter Lee

College students have a difficult time comparing apartments with the resources available to them. Websites “comparing” apartments only compare one thing at a time and only include apartments that have paid to be on their site. We think that testing different apartment complexes based on what we found that students value in a home will help students with their decision. We compared a random group of popular three bedroom apartments around Denton to see which ones would appeal most to students based on our developed criteria.

To find the best three bedroom apartment; We visited each apartment complex and looked at the features described on the website. We took into account their size (for three bedrooms only), rent per month, amenities available through the apartment complex and distance to campus. For each apartment in the above categories it was ranked on a scale of 1-10, 1 being the worst and 10 the best. Then we gave each category a weight, in terms of importance in the overall decision. (The weight was based on the “reasons to choose an apartment” list of importance at apartmenthunters.com) Rent, 1-10, 40%, i.e. score of 5 becomes 5*.4=2 Amenities, 1-10, 30% i.e. score of 7 becomes 7*.3= 2.1 Distance to campus, 1-10, 20%, i.e. score of 9 becomes 9*.2= 1.8 Size, 1-10, 10%, i.e. score of 5 becomes 5*.1=.5 Once we rated each apartment in all categories we applied the weighted percentage to get a total score out of 10 for each apartment. I.e. with the above example the total score is 6.4 out of a maximum of 10 points.

Melrose apartments won cost with a price of $450/person. Hilltop apartments were a close second at $483/person. The Republic $610/person and Arbors $532/person are very expensive so they received low scores in this test. This

The Republic and The Arbors were close to a tie in this test but The Republic won in the end with extra amenities like tennis courts and covered parking. Hilltop and Melrose did not offer many amenities that set themselves apart from the other apartments we compared so they received low scores. This category was scored based on the number of amenities offered. One point was added to the score for each amenity offered with a maximum of ten. Since both The Republic and Arbors had more than ten, The Arbors lost the tiebreaker and received a score of nine.

The Hilltop Apartments are the closest to campus at.3 miles away. The other apartments are all at least a mile away but The Republic and Arbors include shuttle services to campus so their scores were improved. This study was scored based on distance from campus: 0-.5 miles received a score of miles receives a score of or more miles received a score of 0-3 *The shuttles would help an apartment receive a point higher in their category.

The Republic has smaller apartments than Melrose but each bedroom includes it’s own bathroom so it won because of the maximized use of space. All of the apartments were relatively close in size so they all had high scores in this test. This study was scored based on the overall size of the apartment: sq. ft. received a score of sq. ft. received a score of sq. ft. received a score of 7-10

Based in our research, The Arbors of Denton is the best choice for students. Even though Arbors did not win any of the categories, it offered enough in each category to help its score win in the end. The Arbors is relatively close to campus with an added shuttle service; many amenities including a pool, and workout facility; decently sized apartments with a reasonable monthly rent. We would recommend this location to any student looking for the best overall experience in an apartment.