<p>And I say... There's no use in flipping out over this. What's done is done. There's a good chance that Michigan will supply housing, but if not, I'm sure they will help the freshmen find a place to stay. My first post in this thread still stands.</p>
<p>I eat alot of crow myself hoedown - my post was really for Matthew's benefit.</p>
<p>Be that as it may, I was the one who stomped into the thread saying it sounded like a load of crap. LOL. Gotta own up to that.</p>
<p>I have my own theory about this. Time will tell.</p>
<p>Hmm...isn't the housing department's position one taken just to protect themselves legally (or quasi-legally in terms of complaints to the administration) in case a few freshmen fall through the cracks (i.e., they send in their housing contract late) and don't get housing. Hoedown, is this supposition a reasonable one? I can't imagine that kids reasonably on the ball in terms of sending their forms in will not get housing.</p>
<p>I thought/assumed they'd always reserved the right to deny housing to someone who sent in the contract late (or not at all). I think the "guarantee" came with the caveat that the incoming freshmen in question would comply with the procedures.</p>
<p>mam1959, this is a definitely a newposition and not a rephrasing of an old position. By my way of thinking, it's really as simple as this. UM is going to be taking a number or rooms off-line for remodeling on a rotating basis. Until the new dorm is built - 2010-11-12 - this lowers the room inventory. Since they are tyring to keep the incoming freshman class at a constant level, this creates a housing crunch. Simple.</p>
<p>no doubt that there is a housing crunch. But it would seem not that wise to let the crunch fall on freshmen, the one group that needs to be on campus for reasons of maturity and integration. Again, whatever the change in language, I wonder as to the practical effect on freshmen. One of my own schools, Georgetown, has a housing problem that makes Michigan's look small in comparison, and they still look out for the freshmen.</p>
<p>SBDad, I don't know what you're talking about for my benefit. I merely quoted a website and let people find their own conclusions. I'm not even an incoming freshman.</p>
<p>Keep in mind, even once North Quad is complete, they're saying the number of people that can live in undergrad housing will still be about the same due to increasing the size in renovated dorms like Mosher Jordan and Stockwell.</p>
<p>There is absolutely NO shortage of housing this year - even with MoJo offline - and there is no anticipation of a housing shortage at any time during the period of renovation - unless the freshman class gets out of hand again. I know for a certain fact that there is plenty of room for freshmen. This year, because there was a concern about a possible shortage, there was discussion about not guaranteeing housing to freshmen who missed the housing application deadline - and, because there was a need to print the admissions materials many months in advance, this caveat was included in the materials. But, there has been no need to deny housing to anyone who has applied. The reason for this is that before taking MoJo offline, U-M coverted over 500 beds of apartment housing from grad to undergrad. This is more than the number of beds in MoJo. Carle Svitil is a low level employee in the Housing office and he is mistaken about the guarantee. In fact, Hoedown is right -- so he can spit out that crow.</p>
<p>So, Carle Svitil is wrong. The admissions rep at the Saturday Seminar is wrong...and snorky is right. Draw your own conclusions.</p>
<p>snorky, it's possible that both are true: there is adequate room in housing for all Fall 2006 freshman, and yet they are articulating this policy to all callers.</p>
<p>I didn't say this place was logical! :)</p>
<p>hoedown - now that's thinking like an educated individual. No wonder you're headed for Michigan.</p>
<p>lol. Hoedown isn't going to Michigan as a student. She doesn't have to do that. She works there! :) (That's why she was so surprised by the change in policy. She knows how Michigan runs probably better than everyone else on this board.)</p>
<p>Look guys -- I'm not trying to start a fight. The title of this thread is going to create the impression that prospective students should worry that they're not going to be able to live on campus. There is absolutely no reason to be concerned. Michigan is committed to housing freshmen. Even when the class was 500 students over target, we figured out how to get it done.</p>
<p>I agree with snorky (and Hoedown). I was a little irked by the title as well. If I was an incoming freshman this year, that information would have scared me (especially since I didn't know what building I was living in until June last year). </p>
<p>EDIT: Responding to snorky's last post just in case there is any question about my intentions... Just so everyone knows, I was NOT blasting Hoedown in that last post. I was actually trying to do the opposite, but maybe my ability to express myself on the Internet has declined. ;) (It's very rare when I get that highly strung around a comment to do that to anyone in the first place, and she would be one of the those least likely to get that treatment from me. I respect her comments, and I agree with her here.) I thought I was clear but maybe not now that I'm rereading my post.</p>
<p>I just don't know why you would be "a little irked by the title" of the thread. It is a policy of the University of Michigan Housing Department - period. Dismissing the email from the Housing Department personnel is almost comical - like they would intentional mistate the policy??? How that plays out in practice remains to be seen. I don't know why they would change the policy if they did not have a concern about the availability of housing relative to previous years.</p>
<p>I think it was important information to release and I would want someone returning from a University sponsored function to report this information to me on this forum. If it causes incoming freshman (class of 2012) to get their housing forms in expeditiously then I think that is a valuable service.</p>
<p>I'm puzzled that there is even a debate about this.</p>
<p>ps Sorry to Hoedown for thinking she was an incoming freshman - makes sense now.</p>
<p>I'm just curious, SBDad, what you would do if you had 10,000 beds, 4500 returning students and 6000 freshmen. And no ability to predict the size of the freshmen class. Would you guarantee housing for anyone? Would you build more and then the next year the freshmen class comes in under by 500 students and you've got 1000 empty beds and no way to pay for them? Google the University of New Hampshire if you want to see how one University is trying to cope with an unexpected surplus of students.</p>
<p>I would do just what UM is doing.</p>
<p>I paged through this thread and didn't notice the "back door" method of guaranteeing a room; and one that is highly likely to be better than your assigned room (if any). Go to the "room reassignment" posting on Michigan's website. Upperclassmen who have decided to live off campus put their rooms up for reassignment. I did not accept Michigan's offer until shortly before the deadline and, thus, missed the housing lottery by a day. So, I figured I would be in a crummy place on North Campus. Now, I have accepted a reassignment and will be living in a single room in the dorm of my choice.</p>