The Varsity and University View sit barely a quarter mile apart on Baltimore Avenue, both aimed squarely at University of Maryland students, both furnished, both leased by the bedroom. On a leasing tour they can blur together. But they are not the same product, and the difference shows up in three places: how far you actually walk to class, what a shared unit costs once fees land, and how much of the building is designed around studying versus living.
Here is the honest side-by-side, sourced from each property's own published materials and the University of Maryland's off-campus housing resources.
Quick Answer
Choose University View if the walk to class is your top priority and you want the most conventional student-housing setup — footbridge access to campus, roommate matching, and studio through four-bedroom options.
Choose The Varsity if you want private bedroom and bathroom layouts, larger square footage, and a building that leans hard into study space — including a 24-hour Academic Success Center.
Everything below is the reasoning behind those two sentences.
The Comparison at a Glance
| The Varsity | University View | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 8150 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD 20740 | 8204 Baltimore Ave, College Park, MD 20740 |
| Floor plans | 1, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom | Studio, 2 and 4 bedroom |
| Unit size | Roughly 876–1,584 sq ft | Roughly 509–1,352 sq ft |
| Furnished | Yes — bedrooms and living spaces, full XL bed | Yes — all apartments |
| Laundry | Washer & dryer in every unit | Washer & dryer in every unit |
| Lease structure | By-the-bedroom; ~11–12 month terms | Individual contract, one person per bedroom |
| Roommate matching | Available through leasing office | Yes — lifestyle questionnaire based |
| Campus access | Walk up Route 1; Shuttle-UM service | Footbridge to campus; Shuttle-UM at the door |
| Signature amenity | 24-hour Academic Success Center with iMacs & free printing | Two 24/7 fitness centers plus barre/yoga studio |
| Advertised starting rent | From about $1,140/bedroom | From about $1,099/bedroom, plus $95 amenity fee per installment |
Sources are linked in each section below. Rents and floor plan availability change every lease year — treat these as a starting frame, not a quote.
Location & Walk to Campus
Fifty-four street numbers apart sounds like nothing. In practice it is the single biggest functional difference between these two buildings.
University View is connected directly to the University of Maryland campus by a footbridge, and markets itself as a short walk to the Engineering, Computer Science and Environmental Science buildings. If your schedule is concentrated in the north end of campus, you are walking to class in under ten minutes without crossing Route 1 traffic. The property also states that Shuttle-UM buses stop right outside the front door seven days a week during the fall and spring semesters, running roughly every ten minutes on weekdays.
The Varsity sits at 8150 Baltimore Avenue, a few blocks further north along Route 1. It is still a walkable distance and still on Shuttle-UM routes — the University of Maryland's Department of Transportation Services publishes current routes and live tracking each semester — but you are adding real minutes, and in February those minutes matter.
Floor Plans & Furnishings
The Varsity advertises one, two, three and four bedroom apartments, with fully furnished bedrooms and living spaces, a full XL bed, granite countertops, floor-to-ceiling windows, and washer and dryer in all units. Listings on Apartments.com have shown units in the 876 to 1,584 square foot range. The property's own marketing emphasizes private bedroom and private bathroom floor plans — a real differentiator if sharing a bathroom with three roommates is a dealbreaker.
University View runs a tighter set: studio, two-bedroom and four-bedroom apartments, with listings showing roughly 509 to 1,352 square feet. Every apartment is furnished, every unit has in-unit laundry, and high-speed internet is included in every apartment.
The practical read: if you're a solo renter or a couple, University View's studio is the cleanest option on this block. If you're assembling a four-person group and want everyone to have their own bathroom, The Varsity's larger footprints do more for you.
Square footage is the number students under-weight and regret. A 1,400-square-foot four-bedroom and a 1,100-square-foot four-bedroom rent for similar money and feel nothing alike in November.
Leases, Roommates & Fees
Both buildings lease by the bedroom, which is the standard purpose-built student housing model and a genuine protection: you are on the hook for your installment, not your roommate's.
University View is explicit about it — each person signs an individual contract with one person per bedroom, and applicants who don't have a group answer a short set of lifestyle questions for roommate matching. The Varsity offers the same by-the-bedroom structure with roommate matching through its leasing office; the University of Maryland Off-Campus Housing Database is a useful neutral place to confirm current terms for both properties before you tour.
Fees are where the advertised numbers stop being comparable. University View discloses a $95 amenity fee charged with each installment. That's roughly $1,140 over a twelve-installment year — enough to erase a $40/month rent advantage. Ask both offices for the same three numbers in writing:
- The full installment schedule — how many installments, on what dates, and whether the first and last are prorated.
- Every recurring fee — amenity, technology, trash, pest, valet, parking, and any pet rent.
- One-time costs — application, administrative, and security deposit or deposit alternative.
The building with the lower advertised rent frequently loses once those three lists are on the same page. This is the same discipline we apply to buyers evaluating condo fees in our analysis of Purple Line corridor condos in Maryland — the sticker number is never the number.
Amenities That Actually Matter
Both properties list the expected package. The question is which amenities you'll use twice a week versus once a year.
The Varsity leans academic. Its amenity list includes a 24-hour fitness center, conference and study rooms, a multimedia rec room, a green space courtyard, and a 24-hour Academic Success Center with iMacs and free printing. Free printing sounds trivial until you price a semester of it at the student union.
University View leans fitness and community. The property advertises 24/7 access to two fitness centers including a barre and yoga studio, alongside study spaces, in-unit laundry, and included internet.
Neither list is a reason to sign by itself. Walk the actual rooms during a tour at 9pm on a weeknight — that's when you learn whether the "study lounge" is a study lounge or a social overflow room.
What You'll Really Pay
Aggregator listings have shown The Varsity starting around $1,140 per bedroom and University View starting around $1,099 per bedroom. Those are floor numbers — the cheapest bedroom in the cheapest floor plan, usually a four-bedroom share on a low floor.
Build your own comparison instead:
- Rent for the specific floor plan you'd take, not the "starting at" figure.
- Plus recurring fees — including that $95 amenity fee at University View.
- Plus parking, if you're bringing a car. College Park street parking is permit-restricted in most residential zones, so garage parking is usually not optional.
- Plus utilities not included — ask specifically about electricity caps and what happens when a four-bedroom exceeds the allowance.
- Divided by the months you're actually in the unit, if you're leaving for a summer internship. An eleven-month lease you occupy for nine costs more per usable month than the headline implies.
Do that arithmetic for both buildings and the winner is usually obvious — and it is not always the one with the lower advertised rent.
Best Choice by Need
| Your Priority | Better Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Shortest walk to class | University View | Footbridge connection to campus and shuttle stop at the door |
| Private bedroom and bathroom | The Varsity | Markets private bed/bath floor plans across its layouts |
| Living alone | University View | Offers a studio; The Varsity's smallest is a one-bedroom |
| Most space per dollar | The Varsity | Listed unit sizes run larger at the top end |
| Study environment | The Varsity | 24-hour Academic Success Center with iMacs and free printing |
| Fitness routine | University View | Two 24/7 fitness centers plus a barre/yoga studio |
| Simplest roommate setup | University View | Individual contracts with questionnaire-based matching |
| Lowest all-in monthly cost | Run the numbers yourself | University View's $95 per-installment amenity fee often closes the gap |
Final Pick
For the median UMD undergraduate — sharing with three friends, walking to class, no car — University View is the safer default. The footbridge is a durable advantage that no amenity package can offset, and the individual-contract structure is clean.
For students who need quiet and space to work — graduate students, engineering and computer science majors carrying heavy lab schedules, anyone who has already lived through a bad four-person bathroom rotation — The Varsity earns its extra walk. Private bathrooms and a 24-hour academic center are the two things you cannot retrofit into a lease you regret.
Whichever way you lean, tour both, ask for the same fee disclosures from each, and get the total in writing before the September rush compresses your options.
If you're weighing more than these two buildings, our broader comparison of Union on Knox, University View and The Alloy covers the rest of the College Park field. And if you're a parent thinking about buying rather than renting in this corridor, start with our Purple Line corridor condo analysis — the transit build-out is reshaping the investment case along this exact stretch of Route 1.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is The Varsity or University View closer to campus?
University View. It connects to the University of Maryland campus by footbridge and is a short walk to the Engineering, Computer Science and Environmental Science buildings. The Varsity is a few blocks further north on Baltimore Avenue.
Do both buildings offer individual leases?
Yes. University View states that each resident signs an individual contract with one person per bedroom. The Varsity uses the same by-the-bedroom model, so you are not liable for a roommate's missed installment.
Are the apartments furnished?
Both are. The Varsity advertises fully furnished bedrooms and living spaces with a full XL bed; University View states all apartments come fully furnished. Both include in-unit washers and dryers.
What does each one cost?
Listings have shown The Varsity from about $1,140 per bedroom and University View from about $1,099 per bedroom, plus a $95 amenity fee per installment at University View. Confirm current pricing with each leasing office — student housing rates reset every lease year.
Which is better for graduate students?
Usually the smaller floor plans. University View's studio and two-bedroom layouts and The Varsity's one- and two-bedroom units both work; the deciding factors are typically noise and whether you want a private bathroom.