<p>Hi - I just read somewhere that U of O does not guarantee housing for incoming Freshman. How bad is the housing shortage and does anyone have any guidance on this? D ws just accepted and is considering going....Thanks!</p>
<p>83% of first-year students live on campus. Of the remainder, you’d have to assume that many are locals who weren’t seeking housing, so it would seem that if not guaranteed, the odds of freshman housing are pretty good. Only 20% overall live on campus, so it would appear that frosh are about the only on-campus residents.</p>
<p>I assume that you and your D both live in Boston? What’s attracted you to Oregon? My 11th-grade S is interested in seeing a different part of the country, so I’d be interested in what you’ve found with UO.</p>
<p>The odds of getting housing as a freshman are 100% if you send in your housing reservation now. It’s the students that don’t get it in that are sometimes without a dorm room.</p>
<p>I think the deposit is something like $30 (at least it was a couple years ago when my daughter entered.) It’s well worth submitting the housing reservation and the reservation fee even if you’re not completely sure you’ll be going to UO.</p>
<p>You can send it in as soon as they acknowledge receipt of your application – you don’t even need to wait to see if you’re accepted. Housing is assigned first come, first served. For students who don’t reserve in the winter or early spring, then there will definitely be some freshmen who won’t get a dorm room.</p>
<p>My daughter lived in the dorms her first year and this year has moved into an apartment just across the street from the campus – no further from most of her classrooms than the dorm was. As gadad supposes, most student move off-campus after freshman year, but not all. There is so much apartment housing all around campus that the options are many. (And it can be less expensive, as well, depending on how nice, or how modest, an apartment the student is interested in.) My daughter actually shares an apartment with her dorm roommate from the first year. They were a very good match (good job housing people!), and became good friends.</p>
<p>UO is a really nice school, btw! Great environment, lots of interesting programs.</p>
<p>Gadad - My D is interested in their architecture program which is becoming one of the best in the country…like a hidden gem. She has a particular interest in sustainability and the Northwest/west coast is far ahead of the east coast programs in that regard. We have researched and visited many of the schools on the east coast that are considered to have the top design-based programs and have been not all that impressed…they seem to be sitting on past success and have not injected any innovation recently. For example, almost all arch programs require a semester abroad. Most of the traditional programs go to Florence or Rome which is wonderful from a vacation point of view. They are great historical sites but they are not examples of cities that are facing housing challenges or transitioning into contemprory cities…plus, for a student, it is hard to do a weekend trip to other parts of Europe from Rome. Some of the more progressive programs are moving their semester abroad programs to cities like Berlin, Prague, London and are offering shorter stints (4 weeks) to China. I am also not interested in a $50K+ price tag where the attitude is elitest and not all that practical. </p>
<p>Although Oregon is far away, and as a parent I will be heartbroken, the arch program is asking all the right questions of their prospective students. The program is up and coming and seems to be forward thinking, not stuck in what I would term artsy theorectical mode or so focused on technology that the art is lost. At the end of the day, she will learn how to design/build buildings that people can actually live and work in and not a just a castle.</p>
<p>In terms of quality of living, we are a sporty, outdoorsy family. The fact that good skiing is within 2 hours of the campus is a big plus for her.</p>
<p>And you?</p>
<p>Rentof2 - So, after Freshmam year most will live off campus? Are there alot of apartments and what does the cost of living look like?</p>
<p>Yes, most students do move off campus after the first year, but the area around the campus is like an extended college student housing zone 
full of apartments from deluxe to distressed. Something to suit everyone’s taste and budget.</p>
<p>There are students who elect to remain in college housing. There is a special sign-up time called “room race” for them to reserve dorm space in the spring, but most students move off campus. My daughter enjoyed the dorm experience in many ways, but she was ready for sharing a bathroom with just one person, having a kitchen, and a little more personal space. Because we’re on a budget she opted for an older apartment building where the rent was reasonable. It’s a perfectly fine place though and she loves it. All the tenants there are students. It, along with giving her a food allowance, is a bit less expensive for us than the room and board costs on campus. </p>
<p>There are also some apartment buildings that actually run in some ways like a dorm – furnished studio apartments where there is a common dining hall and meals are part of the rent. There are lots of options… including staying in on-campus housing.</p>
<p>I understand how you feel about the distance. We are in Oregon (about 3 hours away from UO), but my son is in college in Massachusetts. We do miss him, but he is so defnitely in the right place for him that we also are happy everyday that he’s having the experience he is. He files home twice a year for winter and summer breaks and we fly out to see him in the spring. It’s a fun trip to make for us, and we don’t feel like we’re at all out of touch with him between email and phone calls and skyping and periodic visits.</p>
<p>My daughter is in the honors college at UO and she has had a great experience there with her classes, with her music performance, her major department (English) and the creative writing department. She’s had great work experiences there as a research assistant to two professors, and she just loves Eugene. It is a wonderful college town.</p>
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<p>Wow - if there was ever a well-researched and well-reasoned rationale for being an OOS student on the opposite coast, that’s it!</p>
<p>rentof2 - We have spent some time in Oregon and love it. If D decides to go, it will be bittersweet. I likethe fact that freshmanlive on campus and then they move off campus. I remember being sick of the dorm life by sophmore year and moving off campus - so that is a check in the plus column. Where does your S go to school?</p>
<p>gadad - There are all kinds of arch programs, artsy, technical, 5 year, 4+2, 4+3, etc…but they all get to the same place - the professional exam. So, it took a lot of research just to figure out the various paths and then each of them have a different focus. I think that the thing that has surprised me is that the most prestigous programs have been the least impressive - so the decision comes down to classic education/training versus something that is more contemprory and progressive. Given the economy, we are looking at some of the hidden gems - Boston/Cambridge is a great college town…very diverse.</p>
<p>Momofboston, my son’s at Amherst College. He’s a junior. Of course there, virtually all the students live in the dorms all four years… which is fine by him. I think adding shopping, cooking, paying utility bills… and all of that sort of thing would be risky with him. That time will come soon enough. :eek:</p>