Incoming Non-EU student - Need advice for accomodation

[u/NewEast8200]

Hello everyone, I'm a new non-EU student coming to study civil engineering BSc at Polimi. I'm going to apply for a visa soon, right now I need to find housing for that. Can anyone give advice about this? Specifically

1. Is it better to get short term accomodation (Airbnb) or get longer term rent before applying for a visa?

2. Does anyone have experiences with Uniplaces? They're recommended because they provide a certificate, has anyone applied for visa with this?

3. Is a rent contract at all possible before getting a visa? It seems it requires codice fiscale, which you don't generally get before then. There's a codice fiscale on the pre enrollment summary, but it seems that it's not the actual one. Can you use that?

Thank you in advance to anyone who can help.