<p>D is next to get off waitlist for housing next year (risong sophmore). She has a very low number (next two or three I believe on the list). Anyone have any feedback on the chances she will get off the list before the final selections are done? Web site for housing is not so good (in my opinion compared to other schools). </p>
<p>She also tells me that since her roommate (the one she wants to room with next year) is not waitlisted she can't even pick my D because she is waitlisted. Is that true? If that is the way W&M runs the waitlist can somebody explain why they intentionally split roommates up? So next year when her roommate gets waitlisted D (who will not be waitlisted again) will need to find another roommate since her current one will probably be waitlisted? Does this make any sense? If that is correct I don’t know any other school that does it that way. In most schools students declare a roommate before the lottery begins so they go together (either forced off campus or remain on campus).</p>
<p>We’d encourage you to call Residence Life regarding the housing waitlist and the situation with your D’s roommate. They can tell you historically how many students have gotten off the waitlist and what if any solutions exist to your D’s and her roommate’s situation.</p>
<p>If the process is the same as when I was there, your D and her roommate can grab a 3rd person and do an “overcrowd” room (this is what I did sophomore year - lived in Bryan Complex in a corner room and it was fine).</p>
<p>thanks soccerguy. We wondered if overcrowd rooms (rooms meant for two but can fit three or rooms meant for three that can fit four) were still in play. Again, we caution anyone to check with Residence Life just to ensure they’re getting the most accurate and up-to-date info from the source</p>
<p>Would you consider posting the response you get from Residence Life? One of the factors in choosing a school for us is the ability to be on campus beyond the first year. It’d be interesting to hear if this is an issue. Thanks and I hope it works out for your daughter and her roommate.</p>
<p>parentsupport, W&M guarantees housing 3 out of 4 years (the freshman year, the senior year, and one year in the middle). Unfortunately, some students who desire housing do not make it into the lottery immediately. Oftentimes, those students are eventually reinstated and able to live on campus but that simply depends on how many students wish to live on campus in any given year. We are opening a new residence hall next year that will accommodate an additional group of approximately 55 students but we are also growing the class by about 50 students.</p>
<p>Off-campus housing is certainly available and there are several options close by (many even within walking distance of campus).</p>
<p>Thanks, W&M Admissions. I am an alum who lived in and loved Ludwell Apts. an embarrassingly long time ago (As a “Morton Major” it was very convenient for me). My older children have had varying degrees of difficulty with on-campus housing at their schools and we’re hoping to avoid that issue as long as possible this time. I appreciate your quick response.</p>
<p>Contacted housing (per the W&M Admissions suggestion above) and they got back to me right away (hours!) via e-mail which was impressive given the fact that they are right in the middle of the selection process right now. It says a lot for the school that they would be so prompt regarding what must be one of a hundred questions they are getting right now.</p>
<p>D is already off the wait list because she had a low number. I still recommend a review of the way the school runs the wait list. I still think it would be better to group roommates together and give them the same wait list number that way the variable of what to do if your roommate is wait listed and has a high number does not result in a unnecessary stress or switching roommates. Just my opinion!</p>
<p>If the process is the same as when I was there, your D and her roommate can grab a 3rd person and do an “overcrowd” room (this is what I did sophomore year - lived in Bryan Complex in a corner room and it was fine). >></p>
<p>This is exactly what DD did her sophomore year.</p>
<p>parentsupport - roughly 75% of students live on campus. I also believe that they generally get all the students who want to live on campus a spot on campus, though sometimes the offer doesn’t come until over the summer when the student likely has already found other options.</p>
<p>I know one girl who had to take last spring off and was able to get on campus for the fall, even though she missed the deposit deadline completely last Feb. because she wasn’t sure if she could come back for the fall semester - family issues.</p>
<p>I didn’t realize they had already done the bumping; I assume DD2 didn’t get bumped since she didn’t mention it.</p>
<p>Gary, good news for sure. Res Life certainly works hard to accommodate those students who want on-campus housing but sometimes demand just does exceed supply.</p>
<p>Res Life does survey students every year to try to get a sense if any improvements in the process are needed. In the end, when demand does exceed supply there’s likely no way to make everyone happy regardless of policy.</p>
<p>Sometimes? Demand nearly always exceeds supply, and the housing selection process has been the source of complaints for a long time. The only process you will find sillier is parking. But wherever you end up, you won’t be alone, and will still have a good time.</p>
<p>We should have been more clear. What we meant is that at the beginning of the lottery process demand certainly always exceeds supply but as lottery numbers are handed out, many will elect to withdraw from the lottery and live off campus so sometimes every student who wants housing can get it. Certainly the lottery process can be anxiety-ridden but students navigate it well and Res Life certainly is there to provide answers and guidance.</p>
<p>In many cases this is because of situations like the one described by the OP: where one person gets bumped but their intended roommate does not. This leaves a few choices:</p>
<ol>
<li>Sit tight and hope for reinstatement by the time housing lottery rolls around, and both roommates live on campus.</li>
<li>Person who wasn’t bumped chooses a different roommate so they can live on campus.</li>
<li>Person who wasn’t bumped chooses to voluntarily bump themself so they can live with their involuntarily bumped roommate off-campus.</li>
<li>Try for an overcrowd.</li>
</ol>
<p>The longer you wait to decide, the fewer off-campus options are available. Just because people who stick around eventually get housing doesn’t mean that demand meets supply. It reflects the difficulty of the position that many students find themselves in, and the fact that they choose to protect themselves by securing housing off campus instead of staying in the lottery.</p>
<p>Just one of the many reasons people love William & Mary is because it is a residential campus, not a commuter school. Students love living on campus and are not counting the days until they can move to an apartment. However, the flip side is that because so many students want dorm rooms, there are never enough. As a parent of a recent grad and a current student, we have been through the room selection trauma. A few years ago DD got bumped (now called euphemistically waitlisted) as a rising Sophomore when Sophomores were the LAST to be reinstated. About 200 girls were bumped, and she was about 3rd to the end. She never made it back on the list. Her roommate and 2 other friends were nice enough to go to a 4-person overcrowd, pulling her back on campus that way. Not ideal, but preferable to off-campus. Now, too late for her, Sophomores are the FIRST to be reinstated. If that had been the case when she was there she would have been reinstated. There were very few girls who were not reinstated—probably less than 10. I didnt follow the boys bump list. The website used to post the actual numbers. Unfortunately theres not much information on the website now.</p>
<p>Based on DDs past experience, DS and friends came up with contingency plans for every possible bumping scenario. Conventional wisdom is that with a group of friends, someone will get bumped. If two of a group are bumped, they cannot go into an overcrowd unless one gets reinstated, so shuffling roommates might be required. If all get reinstated, they cant go into an overcrowd until groups with bumped students are housed so dorm choice might have to be changed .much to consider. In fact, sons roommate did get bumped, so the planning was put into effect. But now, because Sophomores are being reinstated first, his roommate is already back on the list, so theyre back in normal mode. Too bad there has to be so much stress.</p>
<p>Opening Jamestown a few years ago was supposed to alleviate some of the problem, but the general feeling among DDs friends is that the benefits were muted due to the attraction of Jamestown. Seniors who in the past might have moved off campus now decide to stay on campus precisely because they want to live in Jamestown. It sounds like the new complex will end up the same way, especially with more students being admitted. It’s a difficult situation, but from what I hear, William & Mary’s guarantee of 3 years of on-campus housing is still one of the best in VA.</p>
<p>Very true bayberry. The residential campus is integral to the community that develops at W&M and certainly something the College is committed to. But, due to popularity and lack of physical rooms we cannot guarantee housing all four years. </p>
<p>Certainly as noted by the opening of two new residence facilities in under five years, housing remains a priority of the College</p>
<p>The Capital Outlay Plan has a new dorm listed on it under the “2010 - 2012” years. I don’t know if it is still on that schedule (obviously it is not going to be finished by 2012, but it could be started?)</p>
<p>soccerguy are you sure that new dorm isn’t Tribe Square? That will be open next fall hopefully. The liklihood of another new one being built soon given the current state of the economy is sadly unlikely</p>