Thrown in among the endless residence halls, apartments and off-campus residences, there exist a few alternative choices that a small percentage of students call home.
Co-ops, greek houses and the Evans Scholars house are just some ways students live a life a little less ordinary.
Robert Haag is the president at FarmHouse, a fraternity located at 151 Bogue St. He has lived in the house for more than a year and said it's been a great experience.
"The best thing is the relationship you build with the guys you live with," Haag said. "You find out really personal details about people and they trust you with that."
FarmHouse is one of 29 fraternity houses that make up the Interfraternity Council. In all, more than 40 sorority and fraternity houses dot the East Lansing community.
Aside from the occasional squabbles, Haag said life at FarmHouse is pretty much free of huge problems.
He said various stigmas about fraternity houses that fuel stereotypes are not the same for every house, including ones that say fraternities promote cliques.
"Sometimes I've heard in some frats that you don't really associate with other people," Haag said. "If you're in a frat that develops you as a person, you don't have to worry about that."
A housing option that doesn't require you to join a greek organization is living in a co-op, which centers around the idea of a group of people living and working together in cooperation.
The Student Housing Cooperative Inc. owns 12 co-ops, all of which embody different house "personalities."
The New Community Cooperative is themed towards Honors College students, while Bower Cooperative features only vegetarian and vegan meals.
The Raft Hill Cooperative, 420 Evergreen Ave., is a more liberal co-op, attracting musicians, activists and artists, said first-year resident Lukus Zuker.
"It's almost family-like and about camaraderie," the anthropology senior said. "It's not just a group of people that live together in a house."
Besides holding weekly meetings, members meet five nights a week for dinners prepared by different members of the co-op.
In addition, members are required to spend about six hours a week doing various chores, including cleaning and shopping, Zuker said.
"Part of the educational experience in college is expanding your personal horizon," earth science senior Chad Lesausky said. "I live with a diverse group of people with an array of experiences."
Lesausky is a third-year resident of the Miles Cooperative, 152 Collingwood Drive.
Miles is a quieter co-op, attracting a more conservative, yet diverse, group of people. The house has six residents, ranging in age from 18 to 35 years old, Lesausky said.
"We're together as a collective, to keep our costs down and to utilize everyone's resources," Lesausky said.
According to the Student Housing Cooperative Web site, co-op members pay up to 25 percent less than other renters in the East Lansing area, since co-ops only collect as much money from their members as it costs to run the house.
One group of students that doesn't have to worry about rent is MSU's Evans Scholars, who live rent-free at the Evans Scholars house, 831 E. Grand River Ave.
The free housing is part of a scholarship that also gives free tuition, said packaging senior and fifth-year recipient Desiree Dinga.
Dinga is one of 62 students who receive the scholarship to attend MSU, which is awarded to students that caddied for a private golf club for at least two years while in high school and finished in the top 25 percent of their graduating class academically, said Dinga.
"It's more like a frat than a dorm," Dinga said about the house, made up of multiple two-person suites. "We all know each other. It's like a big family."
Dinga, who said she gets confused reactions when she tries to explain her scholarship, said that she is happy that she has lived in the Evans Scholar house throughout her college experience.
"It's one of the best things to ever happen to me," Dinga said.
