I realize it’s pretty much a crapshoot, but what is the best way for my S to fill out the app for the sole purpose avoiding North campus, as much as possible? Is it putting community bath as a preference? Coed floor or room? He doesn’t mind any of these things - just wants to at least try to avoid North campus. What else? Any help appreciated. At least he can say he tried.
Apply for a living/learning community that isn’t housed on North Campus and hope he gets in (if an application is required).
Don’t request a particular roommate; that makes North Campus more likely.
That’s pretty much it.
My son is a Ross pre-admit and really doesn’t want to layer a MLC on top of that. (Or is this common?) From what we’ve heard, that can be complicated. Besides, none of them really appeal to him (which, frankly, I understand). Unless you can recommend one that will interfere the least with the fact that he’ll be leaving LSA and wants to focus on Ross?
There isn’t much interference from any of those MLC.
I don’t know much about any of the L/LCs outside of Honors and the Residential College. If none of them appeal to him, that’s fine, they’re not for everyone! They’re just the only way that a freshman can be guaranteed a certain dorm. Otherwise, there’s nothing much that can be done. A ton of freshman live on North. It’s really not the end of the world. My current roommates actually chose to live in Bursley last year, and they didn’t mind it. The Bursley-Baits bus line is constantly running, and it’s not even that long of a commute. Is it ideal for someone in LSA? No. But if he gets placed on North, he shouldn’t feel like he didn’t try enough or anything 
Also I just read your first post again and I’m 99.999% sure that coed rooms don’t exist at UM (i.e. a male and a female in the same room). Also I would say that easily 90% of dorm rooms have community bathrooms, so it wouldn’t really make a difference.
To be more specific, these are the categories we’re lost on. They need to be ranked. Which are preferable (not counting single). Elsewhere there is a place to say whether N campus is your second or first choice, but before that, these need to be ranked just with the Letters (A-D). They are very vague. Other than not wanting an apartment, my S has no clue. Any advice appreciated.
Group A Single $12,718
Group B $12,718
2-room triple with private bath
NW III single in 3-person apartment
2-room quad with private bath
Group C $10,656
Double
Baits 2-room double with shared bath
Baits double with shared bath
Oxford 2-room quad
NW III double in 3-person apartment
NW III 2 occupants share one bedroom apartment
Group D
$9,422
Triple
Quad
Fletcher 2-room triple
What’s confusing is that it seems there’s no way at all to put which actual dorm you prefer, even on North campus (unless you do MLC), only what room/config type. Later in the app it asks if you want private or community bathroom. It would seem putting “community” would give you a better chance at a more traditional dorm experience… but WHERE? very odd how they do it at UM.
Room type does not change your priority. When it is your turn, then they look up what kind of rooms left. They have pretty much all different room types in North and Central campus. The more expensive rooms have less in quantity even they are not as popular. There is no way to foresee a better chance for Central Campus one way or the other.
There are very few private bath scenarios on central campus. Stick with community baths to line up a little better with central campus dorms. Of course, that’s no guarantee either.
Exactly! Son doesn’t want a private bath; he wants greater odds of Central/Hill. So other than that, which of the room categories above are more likely NOT to be North campus, or at least not Baits? We will order them that way.
Pick the room type you want. You have no way to know if you have better chance for Central/Hill or not. Imagine if there are many students thinking the same way like you and picked all those rooms in Central/Hill first as they are more limited particularly for freshmen.
I realize there is no guarantee, just trying to up the odds. Even the housing website (and 96blue posting above) says there are very few private baths on Central campus, so it would seem that putting category B first (all apartments or private baths) gives one a far better chance of NOT being on Hill or Central. And category C only has one type (double) that would commonly be found in Central. And for as many students as try to “game” the odds, there are tons who don’t bother. Hence my question. So how would you advise him to rank the room types, @96blue?
I put C, A, D, B and North as my second preference.
What is your biggest concern/ worry if your S gets a North campus dorm assingment? With 60+ % freshman getting housed on North, and Michigan with a 97% freshman retention rate, it does not seem to be negatively impacting freshman students satisfaction with the school and school experience. I too have an incoming freshman S and while he prefers Central or Hill vs North, he is confident he will be happy and succuessful wherever he lives on campus.
I don’t understand your question halswag15. If he gets North, and he likely will, of course he’ll have a perfectly decent experience. He just wants to up his chances of NOT getting North, or more particularly, Baits. Nothing wrong with that. Thank you @96blue
@jazzshreddermom … I was simply trying to understand what your main concern was with North, thinking if shared, followers on this thread may have ways to alleviate that concern. Plus, if your S does get a North (worse case, Baits ^) dorm assignment, it might be helpful to get that input to offset or minimize the disappointment. I don’t have any issue with your attempts to work the system to your advantage. My take given the responses from other posters on this thread is your odds are not going to improve simply by the order preference of room categories. If there was a viable ‘system’, I suspect you would find a thread from past years detailing the methodology.
My concern is the countless posts I’ve seen here on cc in years past (and this year) advising students to avoid North at all costs, applying to Honors or MLC to avoid North, for all the reasons given in those threads. It’s mind boggling to me that a campus as popular as UM has most freshman living so far off campus in dorms that do not sound like they give a typical freshman experience (not your basic “hallway of open doors”), some that sound more like apartments (or ARE apartments), that require walking far to a dining hall in freezing weather, etc. Just my two cents. Which for the most part, I’m keeping from my son so as not to impact his experience. I do wish he’d apply to Honors (he was invited to), and he may yet.
I guess the way I try to look at things, and encourage my sons to do the same is to remember when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Unless your son pursues an MLC or Honors, he has a good chance of getting placed on North. So what. He got into one of the best universities in the country. He got into the Ros pre-admit program, one of the best BBA programs available. Getting placed on North should not overshadow those two accomplishments and the opportunities they represent. If anything, it will be his opporutnity to show how he handles circumstances when the hand he is dealt, on the surface, is not in his favor. My two cents.
I don’t disagree with any of that, halswag15. But I’m a problem solver as well. North isn’t a problem, but it’s not ideal, either. So we do what we can for ideal, and if we don’t achieve it, then we make lemonade. Just one extra step in my MO, I guess. I think some of that attitude (that he has as well) is what made my son the kid that got into MU and Ross!
At some point, North Campus was newer and the dorms were more popular. They are still on par with the dorms I have visited at other schools a couple years ago. Just the recent renovation of the dorms in Central and Hill area made them more appealing. The only thing in North Campus housing that is not ideal for freshmen is the Northwood III apartments. Remember 70% of freshmen that are not part of the MLC in main campus are living in the North Campus. That is just the norm and nothing really not acceptable or totally bad.