<p>Yes, I am aware it is first-come-first-serve. I am also aware that housing fills up fast.</p>
<p>I just have a huge problem that is going to cause a critical decision.
In order to apply for housing, you must accept admittance. Now, I also applied to other schools (the UCs). Those darn UCs won’t tell me by the end of March!
I would like to wait to have an option but… what if the dorms get filled up by then?
This is making me very paranoid. :’(</p>
<p>One last question:
I have a friend going to Cal Poly next year. Her major is Architecture, and mine is in Engineering. We would choose Sierra Madre, since they do not room by major. What are the chances, if we requested each other, that we would end up together?</p>
<p>Don’t worry too much about not getting housing. All freshman are guaranteed housing on campus if they want it, though you may end up in a triple and/or not get into your preferred dorm. I don’t remember exactly when I applied for housing, but I waited till near the end of the deadline to accept, because I was also waiting on UC’s, and I got into my first choice housing.</p>
<p>None of the dorms actually room together. They are divided up into certain colleges (Santa Lucia/North Mountain = engineering; Trinity = liberal arts; Freemont = agriculture; Sequoia = architecture; muir = science & math; Tenaya = business; Sierra Madre/Yosemite = free for all?), and they encourage you to be in your own college, but you can just as easily get into one that’s not. I’m in Animal Science, which is agriculture, and I’m living in the engineering dorms, and almost all the other people on my side of the floor are not in engineering either. In theory if you request each other in the same dorms then you should always be placed together, though I’m not positive if this happens 100% of the time.</p>
<p>You should take a look at the other dorms, and don’t limit yourself to Sierra Madre just because they aren’t major specific! (unless you like those dorms, then that’s cool too) :]</p>
<p>And if for some reason you and your friend request each other but don’t get roomed together, you can always switch rooms, even at the beginning of the year.</p>
<p>My daughter accepted admission right away so she could be high on the list for housing. She also still needed to hear back from other schools. But, by accepting admission and putting a refundable deposit on housing, you are not bound by the school to attend. That’s why they have a waitlist—for those who choose to go elsewhere. If you *do *accept admission and your housing, but *later *decide to attend another school (decisions needs to be in by May 1), you simply ask for a refund on your housing and state that you are no longer going to attend Cal Poly. I know they realize that not all of the kids who accepted admission (mostly for housing choice) are going to attend. They know that the UCs and other schools have yet to send out their notices.</p>
<p>You’ll send in your initial housing deposit (easiest by CASHnet and an eCHECK online). They don’t take Visa and any other credit card transactions will have a fee tacked on. That includes if you decide to get a refund. The eCheck method is so easy. You just send in your check routing number and account number. It will always be there from now on. This is how we pay our daughter’s tuition, room and board, etc.</p>
<p>Then, after you put your THREE choices of dorms down, you go over to places like the Facebook page for Class of 2015 and start looking for a roommate. In the Class of 2014, there were a few pages set up with a questionnaire about your likes and dislikes regarding living in a dorm room. You can see if you find a good match that way. My daughter did! She’s a freshman in Yosemite and LOVES it! Initially she had put Sierra Vista down as a her first choice, but her prospective roommate wanted Yosemite because of the co-ed floors. You can change your preferences and order they’re in up to a certain date. And, to request a certain roommate, you get their student number and put that into your roommate preference are on your housing site. She will do the same. </p>
<p>Even though my daughter subsequently was accepted to other schools, she decided that Cal Poly is where she wanted to go. So, no need for any refunds! :)</p>
<p>Housing is not as difficult to get as it used to be because they now make you accept admission before you apply for housing. There is also more on campus housing available now than a few years ago. If worst comes to worst they will either put you in a triple, put you in a converted living space (a huge room that like 6-8 people share), or put you in poly canyon. When I was a freshman last year, they put about 80 freshmen in poly canyon.</p>
<p>I am in the similar situation for I am also waiting for other UCs and other colleges. @2Leashes, are you saying if I click “Accpet” link, I can still say I am not attending???</p>
<p>I was surprised by the amount of the housing deposit required. Here’s the housing process: </p>
<ol>
<li>Accept your offer of Admission to Cal Poly (then it takes 1-2 days to process).</li>
<li>Complete the housing application </li>
<li>Pay the initial Housing and Dining payment of $2125 online or indicate “Financial Aid” </li>
<li>Submit the Housing License Agreement to the Cal Poly Cashier </li>
</ol>
<p>“Cal Poly’s receipt of your housing payment and the signed signature page of the Student Housing and Dining License Agreement is what reserves a housing space.” </p>
<p>So just filling out the housing application is only part of the process.</p>
<p>hey when we do the housing thing, when do we fill out stuff about what you want your random roommate to be like? and what floorplan you want? do we even get a choice?</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s a choice to say what you want your roommate to be like…which kinda sucks. I don’t wanna be with someone I don’t like! And you can’t choose a floor plan, you just choose the dorms you want.</p>
<p>That way you won’t be matched randomly. You’ll have a voice in who you want to live with for a year. I’m not saying that’s 100% perfect, either, but at least you’ll know a little a bit about them prior to moving day. If you decide on that person, you can chat or email back and forth. Or even meet in person. You have up until a certain time to alter your roommate preference, so it’s to your benefit to start looking the sooner, the better.:)</p>
<p>If you choose a particular dorm, they usually all have the same floorplan. So, just try to get a good look at the floorplans in each hall on the Housing page and choose accordingly. If you want to be guaranteed a double instead of a possible triple, don’t choose South Mountain (Red Bricks). If you like larger rooms without the traditional long hallways, then choose Yosemite or Sierra Madre. If you prefer co-ed floors, then pick Yosemite. Do you like a motel-like dorm that opens to the outside rather than to inside hallways? Then North Mountain is your place. Would you rather live in an apartment where you share common living space, but have your own room? Give Cerro Vista a try. But, remember, you won’t have quite the same social atmosphere that you will in a dorm situation.</p>
<p>You can request who you want to live with, but make sure they request you too. Unless you are a returning student living in poly canyon or cerro you do not get to choose your floorplan, but I’ve been in apartments with different floor plans and they really aren’t that different from each other.</p>
<p>oh i see. no floorplan choice to cerro. but i didn’t get the option of dorms since i’m a transfer. i guess i automatically assume i’m in cerro even though on the application it doesn’t really say it.</p>
<p>two years ago when my son started at SLO, you didn’t do any roommate matching stuff - other than to say if you were male or female, smoker or not. He figured it was a good time to meet new people. He accepted admission and put his housing app in mid-march or so. School sends you an email about who your roommates are and tell you to get in touch ahead of time so you can get to know them a little. Ended up in a triple in Muir, but it worked out great for him. He and his two roommates from Freshmen year, plus a fourth from next dorm room over, are now in Poly Canyon together. If you have someone you want to room with, you can put their code in the housing app. You can do this with different majors even if you want to stay in the “college” dorms. There were plenty of engineering students in the “math and science” college dorm.</p>
<p>If you apply for Cerro Vista, you will be in your own bedroom. But, remember, it’s an apartment with 4 bedrooms, as opposed to a dorm situation where you’ll have more students living around you in close proximity. Some kids enjoy being more secluded, away from the dorm-atmopshere. Others, like my current freshman daughter wanted the dorm experience her first year. </p>
<p>I’m not sure if they offer singles in the regular dormitories. You can check Housing on the Cal Poly website.</p>
<p>Do you get to choose whether you want a double or triple?
and if you do, what do you think would be the best, besides the $200 monthly cost difference?</p>
<p>^^ The triples in the Red Bricks (South Mountain) are pretty small. You’ll get to know your roommate very well! If the savings is important to you then I would say to go for it. Myself, if I were a student, I would choose a dorm hall with guaranteed doubles if it was affordable for me or my parents.</p>
If the savings is important to you then I would say to go for it. Myself, if I were a student, I would choose a dorm hall with guaranteed doubles if it was affordable for me or my parents.</p>