At UC San Diego, like many other large, popular schools, there is a shortage of housing. My daughter, who is a freshman this year, wanted to live on campus for her sophomore year. She did not understand the process which required a deposit by May 1. There was no information on the website and nothing was sent to parents. She did receive one email in late April with what she needed to do. Unfortunately, she did not open it. On May 5, she receive a call that she missed the deadline and was ineligible for on campus housing. She had arranged with friends who planned to share but, since we didn’t know the process, that was no longer an option. The school was happy to call to tell her that she was out of luck after the fact but no such courtesy before she missed the deadline. Make sure that you are aware of housing deadlines sophomore year! Lots of info for parents for Freshmen, none for sophomore until it is too late. Still struggling to find off campus housing and roommates. A nightmare for her right now.
Parents usually aren’t send communications from the colleges because of FERPA laws. Some schools will allow your kid to request parent access or (in my case) we had my kids’ emails forwarded to me with the agreement that I would only open “business/bill related” kind of things…and they had their own separate personal email accts that they used for communications with friends anyway.
Looks like you’ll be searching for an apt for your DD. Does the school’s housing website have off-campus housing suggestions?
Good luck!!
She should contact the housing office for two purposes: (1) to find out about off-campus housing listings (there will be people who need one more roommate in an apartment), and (2) to get on the waiting list for on-campus housing (there will be people who will want to give up their places on campus because they are dropping out/studying abroad/moving in with their significant other/whatever).
And she should do it now. The sooner the better with these sorts of problems.
Good warning, but the housing procedure for the following year is usually a big topic of conversation among students during the spring, so it’s hard to imagine anyone being so oblivious of a deadline. Especially at a large school, there won’t be much hand holding by the administration–those purported “adults” we send off to college have to keep their wits about them.
At my school, the opening of housing applications is heavily advertised. If you were interested in housing for the next year, there’s no way you’d be able to miss the advertisement and reminders.
Housing is so tight right now. In less than three days, housing for upperclassmen closed out. Max capacity was reached. There was a massive uproar because in the past you’d have a month or two for space, but nope. It was gone in a blink of an eye. It’s not even upperclassmen entirely, even incoming freshmen are feeling the squeeze. Doubles are being made into triple and a freshman would be lucky to get a single and have it stay that way.
In regards to information being read only available, it really depends on your school. Some school whisper deadlines whole others make a campaign out of it.
My kids’ schools actually had much earlier deadlines like deposit sometime in Feb with housing selection March-April. One kid didn’t get it together two years straight resulting in horrible dorm assignment soph year and more horrible off campus apartment junior year. I didn’t consider it to be my problem.
Be sure your kid (and you, maybe, if you want to get involved) follow the college’s housing office on Twitter, and even Facebook. That seems to be where the repeated reminders come from these days.
Many of the larger state schools only have enough housing for freshmen and a few upper classmen. My nephew goes to CU-Boulder, and it’s been that way since I went there 35 years ago. He’s had a contract for an apartment since December, and his roommate has already decided not to return to school, but it hasn’t been a problem to find a replacement since housing is tight.
What do upper classmen do? Greek housing, apartments, shared houses. A few do stay on campus, but those are mostly RAs or married student housing. Even athletes no longer live in designated dorms.
A have a daughter who also doesn’t read her emails closely, and she has to pay the price of not getting the class she wants or paying a late fee if she misses a deadline. This isn’t the University’s fault. I’m only surprised they called her after the deadline, unless it was to tell her to move out.
Both of my kids had emails, RAs etc. who advised them of applicable deadlines. It is also a constant source of conversation among students. Anyway, hope she finds appropriate off-campus housing.
That is a bummer, farawaymom1.
It is, however, indicative of a much bigger issue with many students: they rarely read their email, and when they do it is not on a timely basis. Email is not how they communicate with their friends, and it is perceived as a hassle and for old folks. This is a generational difference not just with dorm assignments but with a lot of other aspects of life. A friend’s kid missed her flight home because she never opened the email a month ahead of time from the airline notifying her that the flight time had been advanced by 45 minutes. One of my students missed a major scholarship deadline because he failed to open the invitation.
It is a challenge.
I missed the housing deadline one year when I was in school and ended up living off campus. It was a good life lesson; now I make sure to put all important dates on my calendar. I never even mentioned it to my parents because their response would have been, “too bad, sucks to be you.”
This stuff is going to happen to college-age kids because they’re not used to the responsibility and they don’t have the experience. Missing a couple deadlines and suffering the consequences will provide that needed experience. In the scheme of things it’s a fairly painless introduction to responsibility compared to what will happen later in the business world when you miss important deadlines due to your own fault. In that case the response from your boss and co-workers will also be, “too bad, sucks to be you.”
@arabrab - You are so right. The schools need to snapchat these kids! I had such a difficult time getting my D to check her email during the application process. I remind her constantly to check to be sure she isn’t missing any deadlines coming up for Freshman year. Thankfully, the school my D is going to in the Fall houses 92% of their students - lower and upperclassmen. So, it should be pretty obvious when housing selection / process begins. They’ll all be doing it. 
Since the application process began, we have been hammering our S that he just needs to learn to check his email. Once they graduate, it will be the primary form of communication they will experience in most careers (as far as I know today, until google invents telepathy…)
My very bright high school senior is also very spacy and has his head in the clouds a lot of the time. He could easily miss a deadline like that, even if there are advertisements and a lot of chatter among students. We are sending him off to college in August with some trepidation. On the one hand, I do recognize that he needs to learn the life lessons that come with being on one’s own without parental oversight and reminders. On the other hand, I sure as heck hope that the life lessons are nothing worse than the occasional missed flight or less desirable housing…
Should there be a waiting list? I can’t imagine they have a very firm deadline of May 1 unless they do not admit any student from the waitlist. Nevertheless, it seems the problem is on both side. The school should make the information more available while the student also need to keep track on things. My D’s school actually sent out a couple e-mails when the housing application is open and when is near the deadline. There is no deposit required though.
@farawaymom1 - My thoughts are with you! Trying to find housing in La Jolla or the surrounding areas for next quarter isn’t going to be easy. There is an online dorm/housing waitlist form. I don’t know if it is still being accepted. If incoming UCSD parents are reading this thread, register for the UCSD Housing Parent Portal asap, and you should receive information about all things housing. A registration button can be found somewhere on the UCSD Housing Dining Hospitality website. Don’t count on their social media accounts to keep you updated on deadlines. UCSD is an absolutely amazing university, but communicating with their students is not their greatest strength.
I’m sorry she missed the deadlines although they are well advertised. UCSD guarantees housing for all 4 years as long as students meet the housing deadlines. My S is finishing his 2nd year there- UCSD sent several e-mails to all students via the school e-mail system prior to the registration deadline this year and then several more before the deposit was due. I also received reminders because I signed up for the parent housing portal as advised. In addition, reminders were posted in each dorm and it was a hot topic of conversation among students. It would have been pretty hard to miss.
I don’t know how a UCSD student could get by without checking emails. All teacher/TA communication is thru the email system including schedule changes, test info, etc. FA reminders, all dining and housing info, on-campus job info and pretty much everything you can think of is all done via email.
It’s too bad she missed the deadline as I believe she is no longer guaranteed housing on-campus in future years. Have her check the housing website as it does include resources for off-campus housing. Also have her get on the waiting list for on-campus housing although she may not get to choose roommates if she is selected.
This isn’t just a warning to be aware of housing deadlines. It’s a warning to actually read your email. I went to UCSD and always received notifications via email about housing (as well as other deadlines, like enrolling for classes or paying fees). I’m actually surprised she got a call saying that she missed the deadline–was it an automated call? That actually seems rather consider, so that she can get a heads-up that she needs to find other arrangements, rather than realizing she missed the deadline much later or during the summer.
She can get on the waitlist for on campus housing, if she would like as well. Living off campus really isn’t that bad though and a majority of upperclassmen do so.
But yes, it’s good for any person to be aware of deadlines.
OP - I know this won’t help you now but it might in the future. My son’s school has a Parent news email that they send out every month. I looked and your Daughters school has one too. I am assuming you don’t currently get it. The link is below. BTW the housing info was in the March letter although you would have had to click on a link to get all the info on the deposit. Maybe I’m the only parent that does this but since I have to pay the deposit for housing I budget and know when I am going to need to pay. When it’s time to register if he weren’t to text me and ask me to pay the deposit I would txt him and ask him about it.
No, they don’t. By this time students should be learning that email is not a generational thing, it is the default mode of business communication. The boss isn’t going to snapchat you or post on Tumblr when she needs you to do something.