I’m an OOS student who recently decided to room with a friend from high school. He submitted the housing deposit a while ago, but I don’t think he did the rest of the steps to get a housing contract. (There were other steps right? I do remember there being other steps.) I submitted mine back at the end of December.
From what I’ve read, your spot in dorm priority is based on when you complete the housing application. He’s going to be pretty late in line. I’m afraid that all the room in the good dorms will be filled, and I’d rather not get stuck in an all male dorm or supplemental housing or any other less than desirable situation.
My first question is this: is dorm preference based on the later roommate’s application date or the earlier’s?
Second question: do you think there will be room in either Jester east or west? I’m fine with Jester and I know it’s a massive dorm so I’m hoping there will be room, but I also know it’s pretty popular so it could fill up. Does Jester ever fill up? Which side of Jester is bigger?
Third question: are there any other decent dorms that won’t be full?
Fourth question. Maybe College Confidential isn’t the best place to ask this because it’s more of a morality question, but would it be rude to set up my housing preferences so that if my roommate doesn’t get into Jester/ a good dorm I take the dorm without them? We’re not incredibly close but it’s still not something I’d rather do. On the other hand, I don’t want to risk ending up in a bad living situation.
Fifth question: This might be a long shot, but is there any way for me to establish more elaborate dorm preferences then the options that I’m given online? Right now I can select five dorms in order of preference and check either ‘being with my roommate is more important then being in the dorm of my choice’ or ‘being in the dorm of my choice is more important then being with my roommate.’ Is there any way for me to have an option of ‘If we get into these three dorms I’d like to be with my roommate, but if not then I’d rather be in dorm ____’? Could I call someone to set up these ‘advanced’ preferences?
Feel free to answer any of the questions independently.
Also is the spot in line determined by when you pay the fee or when you submit the housing application?
I don’t know the answer to most of your questions, but I do know that your place in line is determined by the roommate with the earlier date.
@lovingllama, sounds like you are going to be fine. Here is what I know as a parent of current dorm-residing LH.
- Your spot in line is determined by the date you submitted the $50 housing deposit. This does not change for the duration of you years living on campus. (So this priority holds even into Sophomore year and beyond).
1A. If you designate your roommate, they use the earlier $50 deposit date - yours in December, or your roommate’s - if it was earlier.
- Jester East and West are huge. If you put one first and the other second, I am pretty confident you will get one of them. "Decent dorm" is in the eye of the beholder. Some students are looking to avoid the monolithic Jester dorms, and have strong preferences for smaller dorms. Most popular and pricey are San Jac and Duren. The Honors quad likely has more demand than availability. So if none of these are in your preference, then you will likely be happy with your placement.
- Sort of answered already. The older dorms have more charm and sometimes more space and often a smaller, community atmosphere. Obviously, bathroom preference drives your placement as well - Community bath or suite style. Community baths are cleaned twice a day and are less costly. Jester East is fully renovated, Jester West has a few more floors (low numbers) that will be renovated this summer. Some students choose with some weight on their choice of major - Jester is very central. I think Whitis Court has some large rooms and larger closets as it use to be some kind of Co-op housing that was acquired by the University. Whitis and Littlefield (female) house some Engineering residential communities like Women in Engineering - so those are likely preference for Engineering majors.
- and 5. Yeah - don't do that. Best to follow the rules to the letter - for best results. But you have until July 1 to finalize your roommate and housing preferences. If you meet someone you click with at Orientation that better matches your preferences, then adjust before July 1. (this use to be the date anyway).