<p>The Housing lottery has been a disaster for us. A bad lottery number means you are stuck paying high rental fees in the neighborhood. If your lottery time was during an exam, you had to submit a proxy with little controls over what you pick and a $500. penalty if you don’t like what you are given. This puts a student who actually wants to attend class at a disadvantage.We are paying for the kids to attend classes and not to skip for the lottery. Students’ welfare not being considered at all. This is an expensive school in expensive Northwest D.C. with little housing for juniors and seniors. Also, We got different answers everyday from the housing office with misinformation about rates and procedures. Untrained student staff. Terrible!</p>
<p>Welcome back, ■■■■■. We’ve missed you and the rats.</p>
<p>Mini, Id rather have the rats rather than no housing at this point!</p>
<p>Plus, I don’t want my child travelling late at night on subways to an apt. Next year, she is compelled to take classes at night for her major!!! Why aren’t they on top of this housing dilemma??? Why if you can’t get housing junior year, they don’t allow you back in the lottery the following year. Not right!!! Any suggestions, and please don’t suggest the housing and dining website. Nothing helpful and a lot of contradictory info there.</p>
<p>Can’t help you. My d. has a wonderful apartment on K Street, and commutes back and forth all the time, day or night, without any problem. (Since I use to commute day or night on the NYC subway to and from high school, decades ago when it was much less safe, I don’t see the big deal.) </p>
<p>“Mini, Id rather have the rats rather than no housing at this point!”</p>
<p>It can probably be arranged…</p>
<p>D is thrilled with the lottery this year–for her junior year she and her friend will have singles in a lovely suite, so no complaints here. If she had been in class during the selection process, she would have given her proxy a clear list of her preferences for housing–first, second, third, etc. choices. Not rocket science. Nobody has to miss class to participate in the housing selection process. </p>
<p>There are several nice apartment complexes within walking distance of AU, and they are full of students–no need to travel via public transportation if you don’t want to.</p>
<p>The fact that there is limited housing for upperclassmen at AU (as at many colleges) is not a secret. If cadred or her daughter found it so unacceptable to take the chance that she would have to live off-campus as a junior and/or senior, she should have transferred after her freshman or sophomore year.</p>
<p>Mommaj:</p>
<p>They or one of them probably had low lottery numbers.</p>
<p>Yes–but the nature of a lottery is that some will do better and some will do worse. Again, no surprise to anyone, all the students understand the process and the risk that they will have to live off-campus–which, of course, many choose to do anyway. The “Berks” apartment complex has so many AU students as residents that it might as well be a dorm. The rental cost can be controlled by sharing apartments. Last year D considered sharing a studio apartment–more space and amenities than a dorm double, and at no higher cost. It’s disappointing that your D got a bad lottery number, but not a “disaster”.</p>
<p>The university is working on building many new residence halls above the parking lot on the south side of the campus. However, it is not a simple process to gain approval in DC.</p>
<p>As far as the danger of riding the Metro in the evening, its the western part of the Red line, not Anacostia. Watch out for the mean streets of Friendship Heights.</p>
<p>Besides, with a technically “dry” campus, even for students over 21, I imagine there are many students who would like to live off campus.</p>
<p>I’m a current upperclass student living in an apartment building within walking distance of AU. It’s very convenient, and while it’s a little expensive, I work a few part time jobs and am able to afford it without any assistance from my parents. I see no reason the OP’s daughter wouldn’t be able to find a very comfortable, reasonable place in a convenient distance to campus. AU is in a great location.</p>
<p>I was surprised at how much the dorms cost, so I tried to get a sense of how that compared to local rental prices. Can you give us a sense of what nearby apartments rent for? Do you find any cost savings from not being on a meal plan?</p>
<p>My d’s shared apartment (on K Street) is slightly more than the dorms. Because of her particular eating patterns, she saves money in comparison with the meal plan - but of course that means she cooks for herself (labor costs money!)</p>
<p>AU dorms are higher in cost than most colleges, but they are average for DC. </p>
<p>With “all you can eat” meal plans, a person with a small appetite or who is away many weekends is getting ripped off, while gluttons are coming out very well.</p>
<p>The apartments are even more money, even not having the meal plan, some as high as 2595 per month! Not to mention the application fees, administration fees, move-in fees! How can this school expect kids to pay this in the neighborhood? When we went to admission day way back, no mention was made of a housing problem at all for juniors and seniors. We found out after she started attending. They should have taken more responsibility for this and provided housing in the neighbor as schools like Goucher did a few years ago when they suffered an unexpected houisng shortage. They didn’t think the solution was to abandon the kids!!! Why are sophomores and freshman given priority?? Ridiculous. We’ve been paying longer and are stuck with this mess.
Housing told me some sophomores were allowed to transfer into Nebraska Hall 2nd semester. Why are they letting juniors who are leaving to study abroad second semester take a single room in Nebraska Hall, when someone actually staying the whole year should have priority. Terrrible!</p>
<p>A bad lottery number means you are stuck paying high rental fees in the neighborhood. If your lottery time was during an exam, you had to submit a proxy with little controls over what you pick and a $500 penalty if you don’t like what you are given.</p>
<p>This does not put students who attend class at any disadvantage. I had many friends who had poor lottery numbers (well over 1000 students into the lottery number), and many friends who had classes. They revamped their expectations of housing, and decided on Anderson for sophomore year instead of Centennial or Nebraska. Then they had a friend serve as a proxy and go to room registration for you. This is how they handled it at my old school, and at AU, and it seems to work out everywhere.</p>
<p>The apartments are even more money, even not having the meal plan, some as high as 2595 per month! Not to mention the application fees, administration fees, move-in fees!</p>
<p>This is the biggest lie so far. There are an ABUNDANCE of houses in the immediate neighborhood (that don’t even require taking the incredibly safe metro) where students can live for $500-$700 a month in their own rooms. I have friends who are rising sophomores (19 years old) that have taken the initiative to look for the homes and apartments on the numerous online resources available, set up the walk throughs etc. This is not a “problem” for Juniors and Seniors since, by that time most people [including myself] did not WANT to live on campus – and it is something they are trying to address in their 10-year plan expansion of campus and zoning the dorms into yearly floor division. They did take the steps necessary by converting extra office space in Clark and Roper and over a summer converting them into dorms. </p>
<p>I do the less financially responsible option and it is STILL cheaper than living on campus. I live in a very nice apartment, in NW DC, and share my apartment with my roommate, but get my own room with hardwood floors and a spacious kitchen. My total for a 9 month stay at my apartment (including move in fees, amenity fees, rent and utilities) is $12,015 – this includes access to a business center, entertainment center, private pool, underground tunnel to metro, gym and sauna. I pay more than anyone I know. While staying in a double in Anderson with a 150 block meal plan is $13,468 – excluding Residence Hall Fees, Gym Fees, and any fees incurred if drunk students to damage on your floor and you have to share your room – Nebraska Hall would be $15,762.</p>
<p>Why are sophomores and freshman given priority?? Ridiculous. We’ve been paying longer and are stuck with this mess. Housing told me some sophomores were allowed to transfer into Nebraska Hall 2nd semester. Why are they letting juniors who are leaving to study abroad second semester take a single room in Nebraska Hall, when someone actually staying the whole year should have priority. Terrrible!</p>
<p>Because it is irresponsible to assume that kids straight out of high school could navigate the housing and apartment market in DC. Particularly without the friends in the area to bounce ideas off of, and doing it from a distance. They also haven’t lived in the environment that fosters wanting to live off campus after Freshman year, they haven’t navigated the metro yet, or learned which neighborhoods are safe. Furthermore, a lot of their socialization requires being on campus and near their classes. That would be abandoning the kids. </p>
<p>As for letting kids back from studying abroad get priority – it is because the vast majority of housing options in the area operate on 9 month or 12 month leases. Without being able to sign one of those leases (since they would only need 4 month leases) or finding someone to sublet and taking that risk, they would be denied housing or forced to pay ACTUAl exorbitant prices on a month to month lease.</p>
<p>Not so long ago cadmiumred was ranting about those bad,bad upperclassmen getting in the way of the oh-so-deserving new students…remember?</p>
<p>Actually, getting a bad number isn’t a big deal…odds are one of the intended roomies has a good number and can pull in the other roomies with his or her number.</p>
<p>Or a friend can do it by proxy…if the daughter has some good friends. If you can’t trust a friend with picking a good room for you…not such a good friendship.</p>
<p>My son claims that sharing a room at the Berks will cost him less than a dorm - I’ve asked him to back that up. But since he didn’t apply for housing, I guess I am stuck.</p>
<p>Cadred, I found the perfect apartment for your daughter!</p>
<p>“4200 Cathedral Ave. They have a secure lobby with front desk and an overall beautifully well-kept building with nice views…$1300 a month for big one bedroom-nice front desk.”</p>
<p>(P.S., I "found " it in YOUR posts of 11/11/09 and 1/6/10.)</p>
<p>My original thought after reading cadmiumred’s latest vitriol was that I should review all of the AU-related threads she’s started over the years and tally the number that were complaints vs. compliments vs. neutral. I was certain that complaints would outnumber the rest.</p>
<p>But then I realized that my time and brainpower are better spent on virtually anything other than thinking about/responding to cadmiumred. With the exception of cadmiumred herself, I hope you all agree.</p>
<p>Now I wish I could reclaim the last 30 seconds of my life…</p>
<p>Where is the best place to find a roommate, AU student only?</p>