<p>So, DS didn't do what he needed to do to request a room for next year until too late and now is on the 8th waiting list for on-campus housing. :( ResLife says that they sometimes offer rooms off waiting list over the summer, but normally not until after the school year has started. So, anyone have any advice for what we should do now? Go ahead and find a place to rent for the full year? Have him stay with relatives (up near Jessup/Columbia) and commute until they offer him housing? Other options? Thanks... /sigh</p>
<p>They rarely, if ever, offer housing to people on the 8th commitment group. there is a 99.9% chance he won’t get housing. He should definitely start finding a place off campus ASAP, cause they are going fast too.</p>
<p>Sounds like he has a problem 
I agree, I’m guessing that he’s likely not going to get offered housing. It seems like there’s always a last minute scramble when classes start. If he’s willing to chance it, maybe the backup relative plan will work…there are ads at the beginning of the semester when an expected apt roommate fails to show up or plans fall through at the last minute. I’m not that spontaneous of a person, I’d go crazy until I knew where I was going to live. But I agree, he’d better start looking off campus now.
(Did you bite your parental tongue or did you kindly inquire how in the heck he missed signing up for it!!!) I know…he was “busy”. I get that one.</p>
<p>I read that first as “8th on the waitlist” and I thought, oh, that’s not so bad. But on the 8th waitlist overall??? So like, potentially 100s of people down on the waitlist??? I admit I do not really know what it means to be “on the 8th waitlist.” Can you explain that to us a bit more? </p>
<p>The good news is it’s fairly easy to find a single room off campus in a nearby house or apartment. Would call off campus housing office ASAP to ask about OCH101 and housing options.</p>
<p>Honestly you’re better off not living on campus and subjecting yourself to the robbery they call a “meal plan.” I’m sure the View still has vacancies in its newly constructed building.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, everyone. I am not sure what the 8th waiting list means. I will check into that. I did something between a full chastisement and biting my tongue…not a stern lecture but more of a “well, now you have a problem, how are you going to solve it” teaching point. So far it’s been “I’ll worry about it after finals.” Of course, like you, Astro, I’m not spontaneous at all (off the scale “J” on the Myers-Briggs) so I have to start the research right away. Glad I did, given what you have told me about availability.</p>
<p>…or just let him do the research next week. A few days until finals is over won’t make that much difference… He’ll come out fine, and I’m sure there’s a wonderful learning opportunity here somewhere!!!</p>
<p>Are you saying he’s in the 8th commitment group? If he is then he most likely (if not certainly) won’t get on campus housing.</p>
<p>" I’m sure the View still has vacancies in its newly constructed building."</p>
<p>The View is not a better deal…a full year least at $900 per month per person+the costs of food per month is no different really than a school year lease at $625 per month per person+meal plan. Both are ripoffs in their own way.</p>
<p>I think the best deal in housing is probably Parkside or that apartment complex near Parkside, University Club. Rooms in Parkside go for $800 each and you can share a room for $400 per person. Students seem to like University Club more, quieter and more secure they say, but I’m not sure if the price is the same.</p>
<p>Or, a room in an off campus house that’s walking distance to campus, or a room in a frat or sorority house that didn’t fill up (actually very good deals, comparable or better than dorms, and the upside of frats and sororities is you can usually get in on their meal plans).</p>
<p>Okay, I’m starting to relax a bit more about this…thanks again for all the help and advice. Especially the OCH 101 tip, UCMP, that’s a great feature. I’m very thankful to all of you for giving us a starting point for this new adventure! :p</p>
<p>DS is in the opposite situation. He signed up for housing (got Queen Anne again) and has just signed a lease agreement for a Knox Box across the street from campus! Deposit is paid and all. Now, he has to cancel the dorm commitment (after finals I was informed). I agree about the meal plan deal. He is very excited to be able to prepare his own meals and to know what goes into them. The rent was very reasonable and included all utilities including electric. His scholarship should cover the entire year’s lease. Let’s see how he does on food :)</p>
<p>Should incoming freshmen already know their dorm assignments? (Deposit sent end of April.)
How/when do they find out?</p>
<p>You won’t find out your dorm assignment until probably August (don’t know if they’ve said a date yet)…it’s usually only 2-3 weeks before you get on campus before you know your room or roommate (if you didn’t request a specific roommate). There are usually “back door” ways that people find out a bit earlier…starting in July, you’ll find out about them here on CC! (Last year there were a couple of ways to do it, online, which quickly got “fixed” after people realized it!)</p>
<p>Off topic, but: He gave up Queen Anne’s for a KNOX BOX?! </p>
<p>I mean, I /guess/ there are upsides…if he likes to cook I suppose that’s much more convenient anywhere off campus. And maybe he’s living with a group of really good friends. Still, Queen Anne’s > Knox Box. </p>
<p>Ultimately if his scholarship pays for it I suppose it doesn’t matter ^^.</p>
<p>Hey, maybe we can convince him to stay in Queen Anne’s and give Centh’s S the Knox Box spot!!!</p>
<p>He will have only one roommate in the Knox Box. Queen Anne’s has been great and he had no roommate this semester, but there is no privacy he says. Everyone knows what he’s doing all the time and depending on the RA, it could be heaven or hell. He doesn’t like it. He thinks the grass will be greener, so we shall see. He knows he can’t go back if it’s not :)</p>
<p>I think this will mean the end of having him home for summer though. The lease is year round, so he will probably stay next summer and either work doing research/internship, etc. This does make me a little sad :(</p>
<p>I really had no idea what a Knox Box was, but from what I can tell, it’s a tri-level cookie cutter type house with three different sets of people living on each level??? It doesn’t sound like something I would like AND it is NOT cheap, but okay.</p>
<p>Any opinions on what life in a Knox Box is like across the street from the university by the frat houses?? His little sister is sure she remembers the term Knox Box from a Dr. Seuss book when she was little :)</p>
<p>Jewels</p>
<p>the rhyme knox box was in the Dr. Seuss story “Fox in Socks.”</p>
<p>God I want to be a kid again.</p>
<p>Jewels do you happen to know if they allow pets in Knox? One of the potential roommates we found on the Roommate Finder has a dog he wants to bring (upperclass transfer student). DS would be fine with a dog, he’d probably love it because he misses ours so much. But I’m concerned it would be difficult for them to find a place that takes large pets (golden retriever).</p>
<p>Centh,</p>
<p>I depends on the lease. The Knox Box DS leased is privately owned and the gentleman has his own lease terms. I believe he owns a couple of Knox Box’s only. The rest are either owned or managed by an agency. So, I would say it would depend on the leasing agent. They may accept with a non-refundable pet deposit. Offer that option if possible.</p>
<p>shayman,
So DD was right??? There was a Knox Box in a Dr. Seuss book?? How did you remember that??? She will be thrilled to know she was right. She is 14.</p>
<p>CENTH: In order to make YOUR life easier and less stressful, unfortunately you need to take the bull by the horns, make a check list and either stand over your son while he does what he needs to do or do it youself. My advice having finished with my second going to UMD is to remind, hound, annoy, and remind again until the forms are filled out, the emails sent, the meal plan discussion is finished, etc etc. You should also look at the course list and help him work out a tentative schedule which works for you…meaning something to put him on the beginning path to whatever major he is thinking about.</p>