Housing in Palo Alto is expensive and hard to find, especially at the end of the summer. You might well be better off living on campus for your first year. If you can get into Rains or a 2 or 3 bedroom low-rise in Escondido Village, they're a pretty good deal. Otherwise, you can do yourself a favor by finding a place off campus in subsequent years.
Other advantages of being on campus are that you need less furnishings, a car is perhaps a little less essential (but life is till less than rosy if you don't have access to one), and that it is a bit easier to make friends and take advantage of on-campus social activities.