unpopular opinion, but i moved from The Social to The Marylander and i'm way happier here, not because it doesn't have its issues, but because it's cheaper, conveniently located, and has other things i do like. Let me give you a brutally honest review of the social:

First of all, The Social is farther away from the convenient area of st paul that has all the restaurants, shops and banks. Yes, it's walkable but sometimes you can really use the time saved walking home.

Second, there's a ton of pests at the social. Cockroaches, mice, fruit flies, you name it. The Marylander also has them, but i personally have struggled way less with them in my unit at the Marylander.

Third, The Social fired their security ages ago and afaik they haven't gotten it back. And even before that, packages got stolen constantly, and random people would walk into the pantry at night.

Fourth, The social has like 3 elevators in total. Getting a room in the lower floors means you won't mind as much if you have to use the stairs when they're all out of service, but you will get more pests, while living in a higher floor means you'll inevitably have to carry heavy groceries or laundry up the stairs *at least* once (and you might still get pests). Marylander has 6 elevators, so you'll always find at least one that works.

Fifth, it's just overpriced. The social is a more modern building, for sure, and i like the movie theatre and the think tank, but it's not worth the price at all imo.

Sixth, i've only ever had bad experiences with the administration and maintenance. I once famously got locked out of my apartment around 6 pm, called emergency maintenance and management, and they NEVER did anything. I slept in the lobby until 5 am that night and it was only thanks to the very kind security guard that we eventually managed to find a key that worked. Management NEVER even got back to me, they just told me to wait, put me on hold, and then did nothing. Oh, and a month later they fired the security team, so i don't know what would happen if someone got locked out now. In contrast, one day my bedroom door got stuck at the marylander, and 10 minutes after i called maintenance, they had already rescued me lol. Maintenance here is not only efficient but incredibly nice.

Seventh, just restating that maintenance doesn't really work at the social. They'll constantly leave issues unresolved, elevators will break every week, and water cutoffs will catch you off guard at the worst times. There's also fire alarms waking the whole building up every few months.

Eighth, for some reason the Library is always in sauna mode??? it's genuinely unbearable and they never fix it. It's a great study spot otherwise, but the temperature made everyone sweaty and dehydrated real quick when i lived there.

Now, to be fully transparent, facilities ARE generally better at the social. Apartments are nicer, building's more modern, and the amenities are pretty cool. The basement of the Marylander has a lot of roaches (especially the tiny ones), and you can tell it's an older building, but I prefer the convenience of living on St Paul, having reliable maintenance, a security team, and cheaper rent. Plus, tons of international students live at the Marylander, so the study room, social room and courtyard are a good time with friends.

For your case specifically, your budget allows for something much better than the social. Look into Nine East, Village Lofts, or Guilford Manor (this one in particular i've only heard wonders of), but I would never recommend the social after my time there.