Fall 2020 Freshman Housing Application Opened

I saw today that the housing application for freshmen starting next fall opened. At Minnesota, the earlier the better when it comes to first choice dorm. Cost is $50 to hold a spot and get in line:
https://housing.umn.edu/housing-sign-applications

Wow. That was earlier than expected.

Can preferences be changed while keeping the same spot in line? DS is working tonight so I thought I’d just fill it out for him now but I only know his first choice.

Yes, unlimited changes can be made all the way until May.

Hi, I heard seniors could apply before they know if they’ve been admitted or not.
Has anyone been able to do this without a student ID?

How do you know what number you are in line for housing?

Any recommendations for a CSE student? Distance to classes, cafeteria choices, safety, etc? TIA.

My son wants the CSE LLC in Frontier. Not his first choice in dorms, but the LLC sounds appealing. From our tour and looking at the map, Centenial, Pioneer, Frontier and Territorial are all together in one area known as the Superblock and they are mostly freshman in them. Pioneer is brand new and super nice. It’s my son’s 2nd choice if he doesn’t get the LLC. Personally, I like Comstock. It’s closer and supposedly quieter as not all freshman, but DS wants to be in the thick of things.

@UWfanmom sign up now to save a spot in line because your student can change their mind about dorm preference later, but here’s my 2 cents (as an old alum who has been looking into it lately for their own kid).

A lot of freshmen live in Superblock, which as @cshell2 noted is four dorms all right by each other on one block. Of those, Pioneer is new (they just kept some outer walls from the old dorm IIRC) and is the one that has the cafeteria in it. Other Superblock residents will need to walk outside to get there. Frontier has CSE LLCs (including WISE, for women in engineering; BTW there’s also a women’s engineering sorority, ASK). Centennial has more single rooms. Territorial has a reputation as a “party” dorm.

Sanford and 17th are probably about an equal walking distance (compared to Superblock) from where a CSE freshman would have her classes, but from the other direction. I lived in Sanford for about two weeks a couple decades ago so I can’t really vouch for it, but I’ve heard the food is decent. Food at 17th is supposed to be really good too; it’s a newer building and it has a lot of Greek students and athletes.

Comstock is the most centrally located but I have heard the food isn’t as good as some of the other dorms. But it really is a great location if you want to be close to freshman classes and the student union. The Lavender House LLC (LGBT+) is in Comstock. There are sinks in the rooms, which is a plus.

Middlebrook is on the “West Bank” which is across the Washington Avenue Bridge. Definitely not as convenient for getting to East bank classes, although there is a shuttle bus so you don’t have to walk across the bridge in the winter at least. Dining is in the basement and food is decent. The Honors LLC is there, if your student gets into honors. It tends to be pretty quiet. The substance-free LLC is there too, I think. I believe most or all of the rooms have semi-private bathrooms (four people sharing one bathroom, instead of one big communal bathroom for the floor). Other than the location it’s great.

Bailey is over on the Saint Paul campus. Some people choose it and love it, and some learn to love it. But a lot of the students there will be the ones who signed up for housing late. Even the freshmen whose majors are on the St. Paul campus will take most of their first-year classes in Minneapolis, which means having to take the bus over every day. I wouldn’t recommend it for a CSE freshman.

There are also a lot of LLCs (Living Learning Communities) that I didn’t list, if your student is interested in looking into those.

I hope that helps, and I’m definitely willing to hear dissenting opinions, because we have a student trying to decide, too.

I was reading threads from last year and they said there was an application number on one of the emails, but I’m not seeing anything like that, so I’m not sure. I’d like to know too.

Also, does anyone know how many students are usually assigned to an LLC?

I did not see any application number on my emails either ;-(

I know Frontier Hall has the Nursing LLC, but is it the best dorm for nursing students in terms of the distance to classes?

The campus is so big it’s hard to be right by everything and you’re bound to have some classes that are a trek no matter where you are. Comstock is the most centrally located but the Superblock residence halls which includes Frontier are right next to the medical buildings and the nursing hall.

@caramelapple12 you need your internet ID set up (and you need your student ID# to do that) but you should get your student ID # within a few days of applying, in the email they send you about the application tracker. If you applied and didn’t get one within like a week, I’d call.

@cshell2 and @myrna97 …thank you both for taking time to provide your excellent , detailed feedbacks. It gave us a pretty decent idea on how to proceed. There’s a lot to consider , but getting in line is the first step. We will do that soon. Thanks again!

Thanks for the heads up on housing!! For what it is worth, we toured last fall and went through Middlebrook. My dorm in 1993 was more updated than Middlebrook. My son was not impressed.

Last month they were taking all the tours through Pioneer…of course…since it’s brand spanking new and super nice. I told DS not to expect the rest of them to look like that, but honestly, as long as it has AC, some level of heat, and WiFi he won’t care what his dorm is like. He’s in a basement bedroom and our house floods frequently, so his carpet is ripped up and there are tack strips on the floor you have to avoid stepping on and all his stuff has to be kept up. There is no real “decor”, just a bed in a room…he doesn’t care a bit.

His only criteria is East Bank.