If you’re heading to Mount Saint Mary’s University and starting to think about where you’ll actually live, here’s what you need to know before you start touring places.

The lay of the land

Mount Saint Mary’s University students living off campus mostly land in a handful of specific neighborhoods rather than spreading evenly across Los Angeles. The closer you get to campus, the more you’ll pay — that tradeoff holds everywhere, but how steep it is depends on the school.

Brentwood (Chalon campus area) — A hillside, upscale West LA neighborhood around the main undergraduate campus — one of the pricier areas in the city.

West LA (broader) — More apartment variety a short drive from campus, still on the expensive side for LA.

Who off-campus housing makes sense for

Freshmen are usually better off starting in on-campus or campus-affiliated housing if it’s available — it’s the easiest way to meet people and learn the area before signing anything. As a smaller university in an expensive part of LA, Mount Saint Mary’s houses a meaningful share of its students on campus throughout their time there. Once you know the campus and have a sense of who you’d want to live with, moving off campus for sophomore year or later tends to work out better than doing it cold as an incoming freshman.

Budgeting the move

Off-campus rent isn’t the only cost — factor in utilities, internet, a security deposit, and often first and last month’s rent up front. California law caps how much a landlord can charge for a security deposit, and recent state legislation has tightened that cap further for most landlords — the exact current figure is worth confirming directly against California Civil Code Section 1950.5 or a tenant-rights resource before you sign, since caps have changed in recent years.

Getting around once you’re off campus

LA Metro bus routes serve West LA, though the hillside Chalon campus is best reached by car or campus shuttle. a campus shuttle connects the Chalon and Doheny campuses and nearby transit.

Whichever neighborhood you land in, browse verified off-campus listings near Mount Saint Mary’s University on RentNova rather than relying on a random group chat or flyer — it’s a faster way to see what’s actually available and avoid the fakes mixed into every college housing search.