You are going to study and you don’t feel like traveling for hours to and from college or university every day. However, the rooms in student cities are not up for grabs. So use these iOS apps to make the search easier.
Find dorm room with these iOS apps
Student life has many fun parts, but finding a room is certainly not part of it. Popular student cities have far more room seekers than providers, which is why finding accommodation is a chore. So let these apps help you out.
1. Facebook groups: act fast 
Almost every student city has one or more Facebook pages in which student rooms are offered. You can find these groups by searching for “rooms” followed by your student city. Most are public, but sometimes you need to request access from the administrator.
Providers will let you know where a spot becomes available and room seekers will try to respond as quickly as possible. The student house then checks whether there is a potential match and draws up a list. Therefore, make sure that your Facebook profile shows what kind of person you are and hopefully you will be invited to the hospital evening.
This way of searching for a room is free, but you have to be quick. It is not uncommon for dozens of people to respond to one available room. In addition, sometimes ten people are invited to the hospital evening, so you usually don’t get a bite at once.
2. Kamernet: popular, but expensive
Kamernet is one of the most popular ways to find a room. The idea is simple: you can search for available rooms for free, but have to pay to respond. Kamernet has a huge range and you can filter extensively on, among other things, location and facilities. You then respond to rooms that you like and hopefully you will be invited to the hospital evening. In addition, landlords are active on Kamernet, where you can immediately schedule a viewing.
So there is nothing to complain about the offer. However, Kamernet is quite expensive. In order to actually respond to housing, you must take out a paid subscription. For 21 euros you can respond for fifteen days and when you pay 34 euros you can contact us for a month. In short: Kamernet is a good option, but you do need to speed up your search.
3. RoomEasy: roommates are central
Where most apps revolve around offering living space, RoomEasy turns things around. This app, which was founded by students who thought that finding accommodation should be easier, revolves around the click with potential roommates.
The app uses Facebook to see if tenants and landlords have friends in common, and if the hobbies match. You can then swipe through potential matches à la Tinder. Is there a click? Then you can chat with each other and schedule a viewing. Tenants receive the first ten matches as a gift, after that you have to pay.
RoomEasy is available in almost all student cities, although the app is currently especially popular in the Randstad. However, the idea is nice and by looking for roommates you avoid the awkwardness that comes with a general hospital evening.
Tips for finding a room
You already notice: there is no straightforward solution for finding a room, especially not when you are going to study in a popular city such as Amsterdam or Utrecht. So make the most of your network. Place a call on Facebook and tell as many people as possible that you are looking. I know from my own experience that most rooms are divided among themselves and therefore never come online.
In addition, timing is crucial. Most houses start looking for new roommates around May because the academic year ends in July, and as a result some graduates leave the building. However, many new students do not know this, and therefore do not start searching until around August. This is a missed opportunity, because many rooms have already been filled for a long time.
Are you really having trouble finding a room? Then look for accommodation in the area and take the travel time for granted. In any case, you live a little closer to your goal and from there you can look for accommodation at your leisure. Moreover, you have the chance to network in your student city, which means you have a better chance of getting a good room. Good luck!
Back to School
The whole month of August is iPhoned to start the new school year. For example, we list the most useful student discount apps and give practical tips to start the school year well prepared. We also have a cool giveaway, where you can win a backpack filled with Apple stuff. This is what we wrote earlier about the Back to School theme:
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