<p>My kid and I were in the Marist admissions office last week when we heard an admissions officer say the scary words "housing is not guaranteed" to another parent and child. We didn't hear the preceding question and had to leave then to catch a train. My perception is that there's not enough room for freshman, but can anyone clarify this please?</p>
<p>Housing is guaranteed for freshmen and sophomores. The housing at Marist is based on priority points: meaning, you must EARN your housing. You earn priority points by your GPA and your involvement in clubs on campus. Priority points can be taken away as a result of housing infractions (underage drinking, room damage, etc.). The more priority points you earn, the earlier you get to choose your housing and the better chance you have of getting the housing that you want. </p>
<p>At first, I thought this was a really bad idea. In actuality, it worked out well for our son. It “forced” him to join clubs and participate. It “forced” him to be aware of the fact that he needs to maintain a good gpa not only to keep his merit scholarship but also to insure his housing. When the kids begin the housing process for the upcoming year, they have to do it as a group—meaning, 6-8 kids join together as a group to live together in one of the townhouses. Their priority points are pooled together so if they’re smart about choosing their friends, they choose friends who like them, are active in clubs and do not have a history of losing points due to infractions.</p>
<p>They seem to consider on campus housing as a privilege. As long as the students earn their priority points, they shouldn’t have any problems getting housing for the next year.</p>
<p>You may want to call the housing department and have them explain the process directly to you.</p>
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<p>[Priority</a> Points: Marist College](<a href=“http://www.marist.edu/housing/priority.html]Priority”>http://www.marist.edu/housing/priority.html)</p>
<p>^link explains priority points and housing</p>
<p>Thanks, nysmile, that clarified it for me!</p>
<p>The system may work out just fine, but the non-guaranteed housing (do you want to have to live in an apartment in Poughkeepsie?) and priority point system led us away from Marist for my son. We liked many things about the school, but our particular tour guide must have mentioned “priority points” over twenty times so it seemed that the system kind really influenced the kids college lives (people did things just to get points, kids may decide to choose friends/roommates based on how many points they have). I’m guessing the tour guide exagerated things, but it was a real turn off.</p>
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<p>I agree and we had a very long talk about “priority points” before son chose to attend Marist. We also talked with a girl from our town who attended Marist and she put our concerns to rest. Priority points are easy to earn–get good grades, participate in a few activities (clubs, intramurals, etc.), and don’t drink like a fool in the freshman dorms. It’s not difficult. Honestly, I wish more schools had this type of arrangement. What’s so terrible about rewarding kids for responsible behavior and actions? IMO–it’s a nice change.</p>
<p>You are lucky that you knew someone going to Marist who could allay your concerns. I do think that the college needs to do a better job of explaining the priority point system and how it works. In addition, nobody I spoke to at Marist (in both Admissions and Res. Life) could provide me with any statistics as to how many students were denied housing due to low priority points. I could not find out if it was closer to 5% or 50% of juniors who did not get to retain on-campus housing which would have swayed our opinion. We didn’t mind schools where housing was guaranteed but a system similar to priority points determined the order kids chose dorms but the idea of getting kicked off campus in Poughkeepsie was concerning. If only a small number of students are denied housing, Marist should make that clear. Too bad, because we liked the school.</p>
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<p>I agree they should do a better job, we will be visiting and hopefully will ask more pointed questions on that. I’m not sure I understand the “group” housing either, what if you don’t have 8 people, do they just group you with others? It seems they make it more complicated than it should be.</p>
<p>If you want to live in the townhouses for your sophomore year, you find a group of kids that you want to live with and form a group for housing. By midyear of your freshman year, you’ll probably have a close circle of 6-8 friends so that can be your group. If you want to remain in a standard type dorm for your sophomore year, then you pick a kid to be your roommate and try for that type of housing. </p>
<p>Ask all of your questions when you go for your visit. Write them down so you don’t forget. They were very good about answering all of our questions clearly.</p>
<p>If you decide that you want to live in a townhouse, but you only have a group of 2 or 4, then they will place you in a townhouse with another small group in order to fill the house. It really isn’t much different than at any other college. You pick your roommate, pick your residence, and randomly get assigned to that residence to fill up the space. If you have a full group for a townhouse, then everyone from that group fills up the house. If you only have one roommate (no group) but still want to live in a townhouse, then they’ll place you and your roommate in a house that needs 2 more kids to fill it.</p>
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<p>What is so abhorrent about the idea of having to live in an apartment in Poughkeepsie? S and I visited Marist a couple weeks ago and I think it would be a good match for him, but I know nothing about Poughkeepsie. Is it unsafe? </p>
<p>Also, our tour guide told us that 90% of students live on campus.</p>
<p>Going through the process myself housing is not something to worry about. Yes, housing is not guaranteed after your sophomore year but that shouldn’t scare anyone away. The majority of juniors and seniors do stay on campus and most people that go off campus do it because they want to. Personally, I like the priority point system a lot better than the other popular ways of choosing housing by credits or a lottery system. At Marist you earn where you live. It encourages students to get involved while maintaining your grades and behavior. As long as you’re doing that the housing process at Marist is not something to be concerned about. </p>
<p>Off campus housing is not just in Poughkeepsie, it is also Hyde Park, New Paltz, and other little towns. These towns house a good amount of students from all different schools! It’s not that Poughkeepsie is unsafe, because it is safe, it is just personal opinion!</p>
All freshman and sophomores are guaranteed housing. Many students utilize Marist housing throughout their Marist career, and some students do choose to live off campus. Housing is based off a priority point system focused on academics, discipline, room condition, and involvement!
The point system sounds juvenile to me, like something for high school or lower. We used to give my kids stickers for good behavior when they were 5, but we don’t do it any more at 20.
There is enough room for the students that want to remain on campus. Also if you have good points you should not stress or have a problem getting on campus housing. Currently we are building more residence halls to have more students in them and accommodate more students to live on campus.
I had the impression when we visited that priority points increase your priority number, not prevent you from getting housing. I see how it could be viewed negatively, but I think it encourages early involvement, which is a positive thing when you are joining a new environment.
The point system is juvenile. They have a very expensive housing and meal plan, on top,of that they have the point system. I agree that stickers or a bragging bumper sticker would be better.
Most students move off campus after sophomore year. The school is too expensive.
it is a shitty system, only the administration likes it. Instead of treating them like adults they treat them like kindergartners earning brownie points.
Most other colleges have much better systems. Marist is living in the past.
I don’t see why people have a negative opinion of the priority points system. What a concept! You want
something better, you work to earn it. That’s life kids. No entitlement.
My son is a freshman there and I have not heard any complaint from current students regarding housing. They are also building new dorms - at least some are specifically for sophomores that should be ready for next fall semester. I know two people who graduated from there and both had housing on campus for all four years.