<p>I have read some older threads that indicated that housing is not guaranteed for 4 years and that many sophomores get denied housing. Doe anyone have recent information on this? How common is it?</p>
<p>You are only guaranteed housing on campus for 3 years but I don’t think it is a real issue. My son is a freshman and he will be on campus next year for his sophomore year. Also, his roommate and another friend voluntarily gave up their rooms next year because they wanted to live off campus next year to see what it was like. Also, my son plans to graduate in 3 years so that would leave more space for someone else. He hasn’t said that the room draw was any issue at all. In fact he got to choose which room he wanted and what floor he wanted for next year.</p>
<p>The ability to stay on campus all four years depends to some extent upon the college–some have more room than others. In my son’s case, there was housing for only four male sophmore students available this year.</p>
<p>As IBWarrior said, you are only guaranteed 3 years of housing. The year which you are kicked off depends on the residential college. Some kick off sophomores and some kick off juniors. There is usually a “room draw” each year that people can enter to see who gets leftover rooms. At my college, about 25% of the girls and boys have been offered housing so far. Last year, they went through the whole list. Living off-campus really isn’t so bad though, and some people even prefer it to living on-campus.</p>
<p>^ does Rice have off campus housing to provide or is it “do it yourself”? Also, how is financial aid affected by living off campus? If off campus really isn’t a personal/financial option, then what options does the student have?</p>
<p>@crazymomster:
Rice provides a guide for off-campus living, but it’s mostly do it yourself. The good thing is that there will be people in your college who can advise you because they’ve lived off campus before. I know this year there was even like a talk or a panel or something to help the people who will be off campus next year. Not sure how financial aid is affected, but overall, living off-campus is a lot cheaper than living on campus. Rent is cheaper than paying to live on and paying for groceries is a lot less than the meal plan.</p>
<p>^ not cheaper when FA covers those things already… ! :-)</p>
<p>Aah I see, I didn’t get financial aid, but I feel like there must be something in place for this situation. Hopefully someone here has the answer but if not, I’m sure the financial aid office could answer!</p>
<p>@crazymomster My junior son lives off campus this year. Our FA wasn’t affected in any way. He actually received a check from Rice at the beginning of each semester for his FA that was left after tuition and fees were paid so that helped with his living expenses (actually covered all his rent). </p>
<p>As far as the do-it-yourself, most everyone has connections with older students. They are a great source of information for moving off campus. The house my son is in was previously rented out by Rice students. The previous renters even sold some of the furniture and all the appliances.</p>
<p>There is a lot of what BrooklyninOh says that goes on. DD also inherited apartment from other Rice students. She bought some of the furniture. Some other furniture came from other upperclassmen not needing it any more. When she moved she sold furniture to the new Rice students moving in. It works out. However, one of her friends never lived off campus. She worked it out so she always lived on campus. Something about rooming with upperclassmen and doing stuff to get higher in the draw. Each college does things a little differently. </p>
<p>DD never went back on campus. She loved the apartment. The great thing about Rice is that you are always part of your college, even when you live off campus. She stayed in touch and was active with her college. Ate lunch there often. The Masters stay in touch with their off campus kids, too.</p>
<p>Thanks Brooklyn and Singer… good information! At least right now, I think S really would not want to be forced off campus, but I guess if he doesn’t get a choice in the matter that he’ll have to deal with it. Let’s just really hope it isn’t his sophomore year! </p>
<p>More than likely, for S’s freshman year, will he be paired up with other freshmen? Would there be any chance of randomly getting someone older? Or would the chances increase if the upperclassman was requested (and vice versa)? This isn’t an issue of maintaining housing as much as it is about being with someone mature and responsible :-)</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I don’t know of any freshman that room with upperclassmen, but I can’t say it never happens. Most of the upperclassmen already have housing plans for next year already. The room draws and off campus decisions for 2012-13 took place earlier in the semester. It is common for mixed years rooming together after freshman year. </p>
<p>Singer mentioned a draw for rooms. To expand on that more, I know my son’s college gives points for participation, such as holding a leadership position in the college. Once upperclassmen (mainly seniors) declare off or on, the college can figure out how many extra beds. Those students with enough points might not be kicked off campus. So that is another good reason to get involved. 
My son will be a senior next year. Of the 5 guys living in the house, only one is returning to campus. That freed up 4 beds for next year’s junior with the most points and interest in staying on.</p>
<p>Ahh bribing :-)</p>
<p>A slightly unrelated question, but anyway… is the price for housing the same regardless of which college you are in, as you really don’t get any choice to where you live? Do all, none, or some of the colleges have AC?</p>
<p>Yes, all of the colleges cost the same. All of them have AC, all buildings on campus do or you would die in August. I also just want to point out that a lot of this stuff depends on your college. In mine, participation in the college doesn’t get you additional points. You get a set number of points depending on your year (4 for seniors, 3 for juniors, 2 for sophomores) and then the only other thing that you can get additional points for is if you have lived off campus before (then you are guaranteed a room, but you also get .5 extra points so you get to select your room before the people in your year). Also, about rooming with an upperclassman as a freshman, this happens very rarely at my college. I think my freshman year there was a situation where a bed opened up on campus so someone got back on but the other bed was filled with a freshman. I believe there is a question on the roommate survey asking whether you would be open to living with an upperclassman. Additionally, at my college there are some 8 man suites with 4 doubles and some of these are reserved as half-freshman/half-upperclassman so there are some opportunities for that at least here.</p>
<p>This sounds like the time to schedule that semester abroad.</p>
<p>^ but will you know you are getting kicked off in time to schedule the semester abroad? And then what happens when you come back?</p>
<p>It would be a little tight to apply for going abroad in the fall, the deadline for that is March 15th, which is right around when the housing process begins. You could definitely still study abroad in the spring. But you would likely still have to find somewhere to live off campus for the other semester. However, sometimes beds unexpectedly open up in the spring due to someone graduating a semester early or deciding to study abroad after the rooms were picked the year before. Then those beds might be available for someone who lived off campus or studied abroad in the fall.</p>
<p>To add to this, at my former college Wiess, the point system was 4 for seniors, 3 for juniors and 2 for sophomores. Freshmen are guaranteed rooms. There was no way to get additional points, not from participation nor living OC. Wiess kicks off sophomores. If you are lucky in the room draw, you can stay on as a sophomore. As more beds open up, they offer them to people further down the list. </p>
<p>Freshmen can end up rooming with upperclassmen occasionally. One example is where a 4 person suite of freshmen is set and one person is unable to make it or live on campus. In this case, they fill the open bed with someone who wants to live on.</p>