<p>Now that I know I'll be at Pomona, I can finally let myself get excited about next year! Soooo I was wondering what any current students/parents can tell me and other '13ers about housing, namely:</p>
<p>What exactly is on the infamous housing form that is used to assign us to sponsor groups, roommates, etc?</p>
<p>Do we get to choose if we want a single or double?</p>
<p>I know they try to sort people out by "substance" level, but do they flat out ask or what?</p>
<p>When exactly will we get the forms and all that good stuff? I guess this isn't exactly housing, but I really want to choose a seminar, outdoor trip, etc!</p>
<p>..and anything else you think might be of interest :)</p>
<p>Good question. I think our son’s form came in May. Son said it was quite extensive and had very specific questions about habits, likes and dislikes, music, activities and preferences regarding substance level. On top of all that I think you rate the importance of each question or issue on a scale as to how important it is to you. </p>
<p>We never saw the completed form. Our son feels that he has not met anyone on campus with whom he would have been a better fit than his assigned roommate. He feels his sub-free sponsor group gets along great. We had dinner with he and two of his friends from other groups and they had a similar feeling about their placements. (There were not all sub-free)</p>
<p>My recommendation is to be completely honest and specific about how you want to live. This is one form your parents should not need to see. </p>
<p>Yes, some freshman can be placed in singles. However, there is no guarantee that all who request a single will be placed in one.</p>
<p>In addition to determining your roommate, your housing form helps to place you in your sponsor group - groups of about ten students with two sophomore (usually) sponsors who live adjacent to one another for the year.</p>
<p>I second pianomom’s recommendation about being honest and not to share it with your parents. If you’re messy and a night owl, definitely state that up front. D’s freshman roommate was also one of her suitemates junior and senior years.</p>
<p>Singles are hard to come by for freshmen, but you can always request one.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Be incredibly honest on your housing form! They will ask you all sorts of questions. Most of these are about habits: how messy are you, when do you go to bed, do you listen to music when you study, etc. other questions are about interests and personal values. The housing committee does a pretty good job at matching people, but not always. I personally had big roommate issues this year and part of me thinks that it was because my roommate was not completely honest on her housing form. she just assumed that in college she would make herself be neater and go to bed earlier than she did in high school. same with substances. specify if you’re planning on a big partier or if you are uncomfortable with substances. this will make it more likely you’ll be placed on a hall and in a sponsor group that will fit your comfort zone.</p>
<p>Wow Class of 2013. That sounds so…far in the future! (kind of dates me, huh?)</p>
<p>Be honest on the housing form. My forms came in the summer and I did a very simple thing. “I want a single.” and underlined it three times. No guarantee to be placed in singles, but there are quite a few. So fret not!</p>
<p>I filled out the rest of the form honestly and my freshman year sponsor group turned out to be a bunch of athletes, like me. We got along fine. </p>
<p>Don’t share such information with your parents. Don’t let them fill out the form either. Ever year there’s someone who does and it just results in a less than ideal housing situation.</p>
<p>Seminar/outdoor trip? Are you talking about OA? Go with Sea Kayaking; it’s one of the best.</p>
<p>Actually, the housing form is pretty short and doesn’t have much on it. Most roommate pairs I know get along pretty well, though, and there are an odd amount of singles, too!
As for substance, aside from choosing a “substance-free hall” (where each students designates this option in advance on the form and pledges not to use any substances in the hall, though you can definitely imbibe elsewhere), each hall usually has a pretty diverse mix of drinkers/non-drinkers.</p>
<p>is there a housing guarantee for transfer students?</p>
<p>yeah there definitely is. they put all the transfer students in a hall together on north campus, which is a really good location.</p>