<p>Anyone know insider information on housing? I read the info on AU’s site but I would like to know the student’s perspective</p>
<p>My son was also accepted to AU with honors. We are also curious about the housing? You are right, the website just gives generic details, we want the good stuff. Come on curent students, help us out. My son is really excited to attend. He can't go to accepted students day so we neeed all the scope we can get.</p>
<p>Ok so for hokiefan, if you look under the post Dorms I give a description of honors dorms. I completely love it and haven't met anyone who doesn't. For honors and non-honors alike, the reputation is true that there seems to be a lot more happening on South Side (Letts and Anderson) than the North Side (Huges, McDowell, and Leonard). I know many parents may worry that South side is too rowdy and students won't be able to study but this isn't my experience at all. A lot of my friends who live on North side tend to come over to South side because it has more going on and more freshman tend to live in Anderson and Letts. Anderson is bigger than Letts and seems to have less of a community feel. Letts has smaller floors which yes, means smaller bathrooms but there never seems to be a problem. Letts has a fitness room which is nice especially for cardio. Letts also has the Garc which can be fun when you don't feel like going out on a weekend night: it has ping pong, pool, board games, etc. Letts finally also has 24 hour package pick up while Anderson has specific hours and it gets VERY crowded. Hughes makes it really easy to get to your classes because it is so close to the academic quad and theyre less people per floor.McDowell has a really nice formal lounge that has events always going on and small halls like Hughes. Leonard is the international hall and was just re-done so its really nice. Obviously I'm biased towards South side since I live here, but it really has been a great experience. For honors, once again, I can't explain how important it is to live on an honors floor. It's a perfect mix of different types of people and honors students who dont live on it tend to feel kind of left out. In addition, theres no need to worry that you wont make friends outside of the honors program. The group is so small its impossible to not make some friends outside of it. Hope this helps! </p>
<p>PS there was a rumour when I went to college that south side has fire-drills like once a week. This is not true. Has probably happened 4 times, twice being a real fire.</p>
<p>Thanks for the reminder about your post. I guess I'm so wrapped up in being excited for my S I forgot about it and justed typed away. I really appreciate the update. My S is very outgoing and is looking forward to meeting tons of new people. From what you describe, he probably would be happier on the south side. Thanks again. Go Hokies (sorry - I'm Biased)</p>
<p>How easy is it to stay on campus after freshman year? I've been told about squatters rights, but I wasn't sure if AU using a lottery system after freshman year to get rooms. If people do want to move off campus, how affordable and available is it? I've called housing on these issues and gotten mixed messages. All current students, please help me out. Thanks.</p>
<p>I started off living on a UC floor in McDowell, then moved to Centennial my sophomore year, and now I live off campus. Good experiences in the dorms (never felt left out on N Side, and Centennial was great because our rooms were huge), but I am so happy to finally be off campus.</p>
<p>AU guarantees housing all four years, so staying on campus isn't a problem. Getting a room in Centennial is dependent on number of credits between the four people in the suite, and is done by order of largest number of credits. The rest of housing is requested towards the end of Spring semester, and generally people end up where they want. </p>
<p>Housing off campus can go a variety of different directions. Most people choose to move off campus after their sophomore year, just to get away from cramped/loud dorm life and actually have a kitchen, bathroom, etc. There are a number of apartment buildings on Mass avenue near campus that are largely filled with AU students. I rent a house with five of my girlfriends in Tenleytown. Many people choose to rent houses for the extra space, but finding subletters during the summer or when people go abroad is sometimes a pain.</p>
<p>One thing to be aware of with off campus housing is you will be paying a pretty good price to remain near campus. AU is in a very nice residential area of DC, so expect prices to be higher. A one bedroom apartment will most likely set you back about 1,250 a month. However, if you do receive financial aid that covers some of the cost of housing, you can often use this money towards your off campus rent. </p>
<p>PM me if you want more info...</p>
<p>we figured out the room and board costs vs a nice, near-by apartment, and guess what ? it was a wash! the food cost is exhorbitant at AU( one of my few criticisms ;) ) so having an apt. where you can cook your own meals actually saves money, even if the housing is similar. also, in terms of VALUE, having a whole apt, and your own bedroom beats the 2-bed dorm. just some info for when one is ready to move off campus.</p>
<p>orrrr... if you're lucky enough to have your family near by... do what i'll do next year and live at home :D haha</p>
<p>so ckingston9~ what'll you be doing with all that money you'll be saving?????</p>
<p>haha, i'll be paying for the school itself! haha,</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the update. I'm not sure why but I thought housing was only guaranteed for freshman. You all are so helpful. After a second visit to the school, my S may be ready to send in his deposit. I guess us parents have more questions than the kids.</p>
<p>I am very confused by the post about housing being guaranteed all four years. We just returned from visiting AU on Friday (3/21) with our son who is looking at AU for Fall 2009. We were told at the 10 am campus information session AND on the tour that housing is ONLY guaranteed freshman year.</p>
<p>outofstate~ i'd call admissions to clarify. this may have something to do with increased applications?? i don't know. but i'd always thought that IF you wanted to stay on campus all 4 years( and most don't) that you can. they've recently built a new dorm for upperclassmen, as well. good luck!</p>
<p>Like HCM mentioned, my understanding, as a parent of a current AU student, was that the housing guarantee extended to all four years, as long as the student chose to remain on campus. Perhaps, in addition to checking with admissions, it might be a good idea to get some clarification from the Housing office. This is a bit worrisome.</p>
<p>One big suggestion for any incoming students and/or their parents(Congratulations, btw! :) ) regarding first-year housing: Once you decide that you're going to <em>definitely</em> attend AU you should submit your housing/enrollment deposit ASAP! There's no guarantees, of course, but the sooner you submit your deposit, the better your chances are of not being placed in a forced triple.</p>
<p>I am somewhat concerned about the housing thing and the fact that American has indeed accepted a higher number of students each year. I asked at the info session if they were going to cap that. I thought it was an obvious question considering the fact that they did not offer 4 years of housing - despite the new upperclassmen dorm - but I got a very odd answer that seemed to refer to when applications would decrease, not what they would do to keep enrollment down. We all know that there is a demographic bump right now but other schools are addressing this by hiring more staff. They talked about the 13:1 faculty/student ratio so you would think this would be on their minds when telling us how they keep taking in a higher number of students every year. I tried to get that clarified at the end but the admission's officer was mobbed and we had to leave for a tour. I also don't like the idea of forced triples. I did not get to see the dorms because my son had appointments with faculty advisors and we had to break off from the tour. But I would have left him to find his own way and checked out the dorms if I realized that triples were common.</p>
<p>i think AU is no different from any other institution i'm aware of...unfortunately this is the reality of these particular years of the "bubble" of huge numbers of admissions! triples have been around a very long time, at all levels. another thing to remember, although this too is probably changing, AU has to attempt to consider admits vs actual acceptances, hence the TEMPORARY triples and now the new Washington Mentorship Program for Spring admits.</p>
<p>I fully intend on attending American, but my parents won't send in the deposit until we visit for the accepted students day on April 18th. Will I have a problem getting the dorm I want and avoiding a triple sending my housing app in so late? (btw, now I'm thinking honors Letts, honors Anderson, and Leonard for my choices)</p>
<p>I DON'T KNOW IF YOUR HONORS DESIGNATION ( CONGRATS, BY THE WAY) MAKES A DIFFERENCE, BUT by past years, yes, that's in the range of getting a temporary triple. but who knows?
since you know you'll be attending, can you help change your parents' minds? many deposits/choices will be in by then.</p>
<p>Thanks for the quick reply! :)</p>
<p>I might can change their mind with the news of the potential triple. I think their problem is that it's $600 and I've never set foot on the campus, so I haven't really argued. I'll tell them what you told me and we'll see!</p>