<p>My daughter was actually excited to dorm at Smith Hall. Being from California, she got excited about a converted old, I mean old, brownstone apartment building since we have nothing like that at home. I have to say, though, the floors are totally uneven to the point that dresser drawers are always opening themselves at random, the old heating radiators make a noise when they start up that makes you contemplate immediate evacuation, and the rooms are so tiny but almost spacious when compared to the tiny bathroom an entire floor of girls share. Why does she love it? The character, and a unique comradery that naturally develops with the comedies you at various times either become a part of or a witness to in such an old, dilapidated setting.</p>
<p>Last April we visited campus and met a freshman girl who was in a quad room in Light Hall. Although it was a tight fit (two bunks, 4 desks & dressers), the girls were happy and had developed the comraderie that calcaitsmom describes. On paper, we couldn't imagine a quad until we saw it (should have been a double at most!), but things seemed be working out fine. They said it was a good experience for their freshman year.</p>
<p>is it true that NU gives priority to EA admitted students?</p>
<p>and when you pick your housing assignments do you get to pick the halls? meaning being less likely to be stuck in the dreaded economy triple... and does anyone know anything about international hall or something like that i think it is 153 hemingway/loftman (for upperclassmen) and if it is good to live in a "suite style" dorm compared to the regular kind?</p>
<p>im thinking that its like not having a disgusting bathroom but having about 6 girls trying to get ready at the same time... which can be very difficult- and a cleaning service vs no cleaning service... i dont know! but bathrooms are an important topic that hardly anyone addresses. ps. about freshman dorms i have heard that the shared bathrooms are always gross- theres even some video on youtube that is listed under rooster .com -- incase you are interested its really gross though. anyways upperclassmen housing is supposed to be the polar opposite compared to freshman dorms (meaning they are really nice ;] )</p>
<p>My S is a freshman this year; he has already applied for housing for next year and his housing package just happened to arrive in the mail yesterday (they sent it here instead of school--go figure) so I have been looking over the upper class options this week. Although the brochure they sent does not include freshman options it does specifically state that "room assignments for freshmen and transfer students are based on the date the Housing Application (with any roommate preferences) is received, a signed License Agreement, and Housing Deposit" which matches up with how they did this last year. So since EA can accept and pay their deposits sooner than RD they obviously have priority in that sense, if they accept before the May 1 deadline. Also, other than getting Honors suite-style housing if in the Honors program, or selecting a live/learn community (many of which are in the all-freshman dorms), freshmen do not get to choose their halls. </p>
<p>Since a few of the smaller halls do include some suite-style housing it may be that EA students or those who apply for housing the earliest end up there. Some of those suites go to Honors freshmen who also house in Kennedy Hall, besides West Village F, and International housing is also suite style but there are still others available. One downside, of course, is that you are responsible for cleaning your own rooms (and bathrooms if in a suite) and in later years you can pick your roommates with this in mind, but as a freshman you do not know what kind of roommate you will get. So if you prefer a traditional room for that reason maybe that is one reason to hold off until closer to the deadline to pay your housing deposit? (note also however, that housing is guaranteed to freshman only if you apply before the deadline, and there is also are many freshman who end up at rooms the school leases at the nearby YMCA; I am not sure if these are students who applied for housing before or after the deadline…)</p>
<p>With respect to housing for upperclasses, all of the housing options are apartment or suite style (eg, they all include kitchens/kitchenettes and bathrooms within the apartment) and are priced based on whether the bedroom you are in is a studio, single, double (and a few triples) and whether they are economy, standard or enhanced. Economy is like a studio but for 2 or 3 people with no separate living room/common area, standard has separate bedrooms and a living room/common area, and enhanced also have A/C, dishwashers, garbage disposals etc in addition to the common area (eg West Village). There are many combinations of doubles and singles and they can house up to 5-6 students, and some even house 8 students.</p>
<p>Housing is guaranteed for sophomores and middlers who apply by early Jan. of freshman year, and then is opened up to jrs and srs if there is enough room for them; however, room assignments are done on a lottery system but then are also done by seniority (so jrs and srs who applied by their deadline will be called first, and sophomores will be last). You can sign up with roommate groups after you apply and pay your deposit and are assigned a lottery number, and then they assign your group a time to pick your building based on the lottery numbers (I understood that in previous years this generally meant you had to go with the number called last but they are completely redoing their system this year so not sure how it works). It looks like sophomores are only in roommate groups as high as 5 students so this also limits some of their building choices. Also, from what I can tell, many sophomores who want the enhanced suites may not get into the WV complex but will probably end up at Davenport Commons which is another enhanced complex where students must be under 21 (it looks like almost </p>
<p>I have been accepted into Northeastern's Honors program.. I am still waiting to hear decisions from other universities in March which is when I hope to make my final decision. If I put a housing deposit so that I can reserve my place in the WVF honors dorm, can this be refunded if I decide to not go to NEU? Even if it is not refunded, does putting a housing deposit in mean that I have to attend NEU? Is the housing deposit binding meaning that I cannot accept admission offers from other schools anymore?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I believe both tuition and housing deposits are refundable if you pay them before May 1st and it is not binding; according to the admitted students page:</p>
<p>Enrollment deposits are due by May 1 for fall 2007 enrollment.</p>
<p>Deposits are nonrefundable after deposit due date:</p>
<pre><code>* Tuition $200
* Housing Deposit $400
</code></pre>
<p>Last year my S paid the housing deposit at another college immediately when he was accepted while waiting to hear from NEU and was fully refunded when he decided not to attend there (they encouraged early housing deposits if you wanted a live/learn). I think this is pretty standard at many schools as long as you follow all their deadlines (I think there was a deadline to request refunds at S's other choice last year so that might be something to check with NEU about if you choose not to attend).</p>
<p>D was also accepted EA into Honors and we submitted the housing deposit and application in December. Scansmom, what is the license agreement you refer to? Does that come after you are notified of housing? I didn't see anything about it on myNEU.</p>
<p>D hasn't definitely decided on NEU as we still have some RD schools she has not heard from. But if she does attend NEU, she wanted to be sure to get WVF housing for honors.</p>
<p>I just realized my post about housing for upper classes was cut off, I think the only other point I was making was that Davenport Commons, the under 21 enhanced suites that is very similar to the West Village suites, houses about 600 students which is almost 1/4 of the enhanced beds available so that was why I thought many sophomores end up there - which again means you would be with many of your age peers during your second year.</p>
<p>Sorry that was such a long post...probably more info that you need as incoming freshmen!</p>
<p>The License Agreement should be available through myNEU;you can complete the agreement, the roommate questionaire and make your deposits all online. It may be that it is not available just at the moment because they are redoing their system from 2/16-2/20 and deposits cannot be done online at that time (they are in the process of changing their student #s, they used to be SS#s) but I assume it will be back on the 2oth. On the admitted student page (see link above) there is also a one-page pdf that you can use if you just want to mail in the deposit(s) but I believe you must also submit the Agreement before your receipt date would be in effect.</p>
<p>There is also a link to the actual License Agreement on the Campus Life page but it is only for the current year - if you want to just see what it looks like. Again it just may be that next year's has not been made available yet to EA students due to the system changes they are doing, because it all should be available through the myNEU portal. </p>
<p><a href="http://www.neu.edu/housing/license.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.neu.edu/housing/license.html</a></p>
<p>Wow! I did not know that! Is it too late to reserve a spot at WVF? You guys think they are already taken or is it still not too late?</p>
<p>Sansmom,
I don't think the license agreement being available has anything to do with the current system changes. We submitted in December and the only form we were asked to fill out was the roommate questionnaire, as well as submitting the deposit, both done on line.</p>
<p>jai6638
Here's what I think. Based on Honors program information we received, they expect about 280 freshmen to be in the program next year. WVF has room for 220 students. So chances are very good there are openings, as the regular decisions have not gone out yet.</p>
<p>We called NEU in January to verify if housing deposits were refundable. It specifically says they are not refundable on one of their websites, and it is ambiguous on others. We were told they were NOT refundable -- even if notified before the May 1 deadline. We were also told that our request would be "considered" by an appeals board, but that no guarantees would be made regarding a refund. </p>
<p>If anyone knows otherwise from experience or a phone call, please post or PM. Thanks!</p>
<p>My d. also liked the idea of WV for honors students-- but also bear in mind that these rooms are significantly more expensive than the traditional Freshman doubles.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses.. I placed the $400 housing deposit last night.! </p>
<p>I hope that they really are refundable! $400 is a big amount. Do let us know kjofkw if they actually refund it for you or not :(</p>
<p>They also told me on the phone that it's not refundable.</p>
<p>Damn! I should have called before making the deposit.. Oh well, Lesson Learnt! :(</p>
<p>jai...
We didn't ask NEU for a refund since we have not yet made the deposit. In fact currently NEU is high on my daughter's list. But we didn't want to make a non-refundable deposit before we know the full financial picture -- which includes responses from other schools. Unfortunately that means we'll have to wait until April, and she'll be low on the list once we can finally make an informed decision. At least NEU guarantees freshman housing.</p>
<p>I really don't like the "first-come first-served" policies for housing. It hurts those who must wait for the full financial picture. Those who can afford (or are willing) to lose the deposit of course fare better. The same dilemma occurred for my son at another school. He could not make his decision until late in April -- not because of indecision, but because finances play a huge part in his final choice, and again he did not know the full financial picture until that late. He did get housing, but nothing on his preference list.</p>
<p>Actually the "first-come first-served" policy serves those who are committed to the university as their first choice very well. Of all the schools our S considered, this was the policy. Although finances play a huge part in many students' decisions, colleges may feel that those who have made the decision to attend their institution early should have some benefits from doing so. I would hazard to guess that the bulk of the students who place non-refundable deposits have the university as their first choice. That's probably why the university makes it non-refundable -- so those who are just trying to hold spots at their institution as a "safety" school will not make random deposits.</p>
<p>"My d. also liked the idea of WV for honors students-- but also bear in mind that these rooms are significantly more expensive than the traditional Freshman doubles"</p>
<p>I believe the difference is $260 per semester.</p>