Has anyone else run into the problem of the dorms and Greek houses closing for all breaks? We ran into the problem our daughter’s freshman year with the dorms and now, again, with her sorority house. This time around she has a job for the break but no housing. Any ideas?? Thanks.
I think this is pretty common to colleges. The same is true for both of my kids’ colleges.
Friend in the area? Airbnb or Couchsurfing? Does she have a close relationship with a prof or another student who lives off campus? She might want to live off campus herself in the future if this is something she wants to do more than once.
My son’s college usually had some small number of dorms open, but people had to go through a special process to use them. I don’t know what that process was.
My sons school also had a small amount of dorms open during the holidays. You had to make arrangements to live in them during the breaks. He is sophomore now and lives in a apartment.
I’m sure there are some sublets available as many living in apt are gone for the 4-5 weeks of holiday break. She might even find a house sitting opportunity, and make money on the deal (not from students, but from residents in the area). She should ask the sorority advisers who live in the area and they may have ideas.
The sorority housemother might also have some ideas. They used to rent out our sorority house over Christmas to a big family who always wanted to have a reunion, but there was the housemother’s room and a guest room, and I think they could have made an exception for one person to just sleep there (no using the kitchen, TV room, etc.)
Sounds like it’s a common problem. She is just really stressed. She had to “couch surf” last summer due to sorority requiring her to be back at school two weeks before she could get into her apartment. This time around she is stressed about losing her job since she has no housing. She has a friend or two whose families are close but not in Davis. Three weeks is a long time to sleep on someone’s sofa! But thanks for your feedback.
If it is a school-based job, can she talk to the head of the dept. she works for and see if he/she can help find housing arrangements?
Our kids college dorms closed for thanksgiving, Christmas and spring breaks. Dorms were not open…at all. This is not unusual.
Some colleges have a limited amount of dorm space open during these breaks…but our kids would,have had to pay extra to stay there.
Is there anywhere you can post you would be able to house sit over the holidays? Perhaps some school staff would be looking for a student to do this?
Can you tell us which school? One of my son’s schools kept one dorm open (small LAC with lots of internationals) but you would end up sleeping in someone else’s room/bed? Have you spoken to the housing office?
Most dorms are closed for Christmas and spring break. Many stay open for Thanksgiving due to out of state and international students. Most colleges leave at one dorm open for this reason. It would be best to call the housing office for recommendations.
It is UC Davis. Yes, one dorm is usually available for the foreign students but her freshman year we ended up bringing her home. This time around it is the sorority house that closes and since UC Davis isn’t keen on living in the dorms past the first year (and she lives in the sorority house now - Junior year) it’s a bit different.
Is she planning on being there the whole Thanksgiving, and Christmas breaks?
Most college students are in the same boat. Their colleges close the housing during these holidays. Some…not all…do have one dorm open which is usually reserved for international students.
Does she have any friends who live local to Davis who might have an extra bed?