Everyone's a little different in what they want in an apartment. Carpet or wood floors, ground floor or no preference, and furnished or un-furnished are only a few of the choices you consider when trying to find the right place to live.

Personal style preferences aside, I have a few of my own tips for those moving to Concord for the first time this upcoming fall.

Live close to school. There will be times when you have an 8:30 A.M. class, and you wake up around the usual time to find out there's four feet of snow in front of your front door AND on your car. Living close to school will make your commute shorter as well as making your life easier. Most students at Pierce Law know this fact of life as the majority of the student body live within walking distance of the main building.

Get heating included. Of the utilities that you want to get included in your rent, heating is a must. Depending on the type of windows and insulation your building has, heating can add up to steep costs during the winter months. Unless your rent is dirt cheap without the heating as to even out to a median rent price for a comparable apartment relative to the number of bedrooms, size, location (etc), try to get heating included in your utilities.

Don't over-commit. Moving is a hassle, and it's ideal to live in the same apartment for the three years you're in Concord. Although there are advantages to signing a multi-year lease like locking in a current rate, you may decide later on the apartment that you signed up for wasn't all that it was cracked up to be, or that you may want to do an externship out-of-state for a semester. So, I suggest you sign a one-year lease, and then make a longer term decision afterwards.