TIA, Incoming Fall CS Freshman questions from the newbie mom:
- DS put in his housing deposit and preferences but since learned a buddy is going so they want to request each other as roommates. Is this possible if DS is EXCEL or BHC and friend isn’t? Can DS opt not to live in LLC dorm?
- EXCEL seems like a good support system for the first 2 years. Is this a wiser choice than BHC? Or participate in both?
- are BHC more rigorous? I love all the benefits (advisors/registration/etc).
Any words of wisdom? Accepted to EXCEL and waiting on update on BHC deferred status. Provost scholarship.
@Kristinesonja – Congratulations, and good luck on BHC!!! I can’t speak authoritatively about UCF (and you should probably call UCF directly for an authoritative answer), but, in general, LLCs do not allow kids to pull in roommates who are not in the program, since that would defeat the purpose of the exclusive community they are trying to foster. How would your kid feel about it if he chose to live in such a community, and instead of being surrounded by all BHC or EXCEL kids, there were a bunch of non-BHC and EXCEL kids who happened to be high school friends of such kids?
My suggestion would be for your DS to expand his horizons and avail himself of the advantages of one of the LLCs as an alternative to the comfort of rooming with a high school buddy.
Good luck!!!
I understand completely. I was asking if a student could take part in Excel or BHC while not living in the designated dorm. I thought I read that some had.
Still applying for BHC to see what the response is. Just undecided if the benefits are worth the additional stress of maintaining grades and community service hours, etc.
TIA
@kristinesonja yes you can live elsewhere and not in the LLC. There’s quite a few honors students who do not live in tower 3
@Kristinesonja – Sorry, I misunderstood the question!!! Yes, to my knowledge, no school makes you live in a particular LLC in order to participate in a special program. Lots of kids want a more diverse experience than just living with a certain subset of the student body, and @Danif99 is right about Towers 3, particularly because the Towers require a year-long lease, and lots of kids (and parents) don’t want to pay for it if the kid does not plan on staying on campus over the summer.
That said, please don’t make a decision solely based on the comfort of living with a HS friend. In my experience, kids grow A LOT once they get out of the house, and a month or two in your DS might regret making the decision to stick with the tried and true, and forgo the benefits of an LLC, once he makes all the new friends he will not be able to help but make once he becomes immersed in class and campus activities.
The best thing about an LLC, particularly at a school as big as UCF, is that it helps break down a huge population into a more intimate one that really helps enrich the experience. Just living on campus provides some of this benefit, since so many students commute at a place like UCF. Being part of an LLC, if the exclusivity is not a turn-off to your DS, takes it to the next level.
Again, good luck. The good news is that you really can’t make a bad decision here!! 
The best thing about an LLC, particularly at a school as big as UCF, is that it helps break down a huge population into a more intimate one that really helps enrich the experience. Just living on campus provides some of this benefit, since so many students commute at a place like UCF. Being part of an LLC, if the exclusivity is not a turn-off to your DS, takes it to the next level…EXACTLY!
I do agree that these programs help to make the campus ‘smaller’.
I wonder if there’s such an option as NOT living in the LLC freshman year but deciding to live in the LLC sophomore year?
Thank you for your reply.
@Kristinesonja – You’re very welcome! You asked an interesting question that I never considered before.
I am pretty sure there would be no policy against joining an LLC after freshman year, assuming your DS is still in the relevant program. My guess, though, is that it would provide much less value, since friendships and groups would have already formed in the LLC. Very few kids stay in the LLCs all 4 years, and the first year is by far the most pivotal and most valuable. In later years, most kids move off campus with their groups.
So sure, if your kid is in EXCEL or BHC and wants to live with friends in the LLC sophomore year, nothing would prevent it, other than maybe the housing lottery (which is why tons of kids move off campus after the first year). However, there is a pretty good chance your kid will lose interest by next year, particularly if he is not that interested now.
Keep in mind, the LLCs are really to help get the kids oriented and established right off the bat. They are not meant to be a 4-year cohort, hence the diminished value after the first year. I know for a fact some kids stay on, definitely through at least the second year, and I think at least a few stay for all 4 years, especially in BHC because the Towers are pretty popular. I’m less sure about how many kids join after the first year, due to the factors mentioned above.
You don’t have to live in Towers 3 to be in BHC. My daughter got accepted into BHC and would prefer to live in Hercules or Nike which are next to the Rec and Wellness Center since she loves to be at the gym. We were also wondering about EXCEL and BHC at the same time. We visited BHC last week they told us that EXCEL was initially modeled after BHC with the intent of creating a smaller community with more academic support. A student was in the room and she told my daughter that she felt EXCEL was beneficial for freshman year but did not really offer much benefit beyond that while BHC was relevant throughout undergrad. Based on this my daughter who plans to major is biology with pre-med advising decided to stick with BHC and not join EXCEL.
GWColonials, I have heard that too.