Housing Worries

<p>My son was accepted EA and loved Miami when he visited recently. My concern is the possibility that he would not be able to continue to live on campus when he is a sophomore. I can not imagine that as a sophomore he would want to move off campus. I read that 17% of the students did not receive housing in the recent lottery. Does anyone know how many current freshman did not receive on campus housing for next year? Since I read that priority is given to the students that have lived on campus the longest...I would think that current freshman would have a problem for their sophomore year since they have the shortest residency.</p>

<p>Don’t let sophomore housing drive the decision about whether he should attend UM. I was also surprised to hear that only 83% of the freshmen in the lottery for soph housing got a guaranteed spot. I know from reading other threads here and on UM’s own website that they will do everything they can to get the other 17% located somewhere on campus. Remember that some who signed up will decided to live off campus, not return, transfer out, etc - so as time goes on between now and August, many of that 17% will actually be able to get into the soph residences. </p>

<p>Perhaps some current students who may have faced this issue could chime in?</p>

<p>My son is currently a junior who moved off campus after his freshman year when he did not receive on campus housing in the lottery. We were initially concerned but it has actually turned out to be a great situation for him. He lives in a nearby three bedroom with two roommates. Costs are about the same. My point is that it really is not anything to be concerned about, there are many off site accomodations to choose from.</p>

<p>Of that 17% of students who did not receive housing, most of them were current sophomores applying for the University Village. Freshmen applying were mostly guaranteed housing (~95% of them) with more being given rooms as kids move off campus, etc.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for the information!!</p>

<p>Do you guys think a freshman who is a Singer or Stamps scholar and Foote Fellow would be likely to be given priority for sophomore housing, regardless of the lottery? Or is there no pull there?</p>

<p>The University of Miami gives guaranteed housing to students with disabilities and scholarship athletes only. No priority is given to scholars, nor do campus leaders get any consideration. It appears that the University has yet to understand the correlation between campus housing and admission statistics. Moreover, the process by which housing is assigned is unnecessarily stressful and time-consuming for students, some of whom end up reworking their housing groups and locations multiple times. The housing policies not put enough emphasis on keeping friends and support groups together. When more than one in six students (17%) is denied housing, and there is no ability to “block” with friends, the typical four person housing group gets split up more often than not, with three students receiving housing and one poor orphan left to, not only find off-campus housing, but also and entirely new set of roommates. Meanwhile, the on-campus roommates often get a stray placed with them. It gets even more complicated for students denied housing who decide to waitlist themselves. Many students reported to “choose” off-campus housing do so only because they care more about whom they live with than where they live. The bottom line is that the University of Miami supplies beds to less than one third of their upperclassman and many of those students end up with less than ideal roommate situations. The housing shortage severely challenges the University’s ability to provide a safe, supportive, culturally, intellectually, and socially enriching residential community for most of its students.</p>

<p>Wow, that’s really scary, actually. The first downside I’ve heard about UM thus far, and I’ve already made my decision. :eek:</p>

<p>I feel like that is a huge dramatization…</p>

<p>More than a little dramatization… is this Gerald? If so, seriously, get over it. You got denied housing, if you applied to be on the waitlist you’ll probably get it. Instead of complaining, work with housing towards a better future.</p>

<p>In any case, in past years everyone has gotten housing. Don’t listen to the above poster. There is no dangerous situation, except for those who are afraid to branch out a little bit and try no things and not be 100% certain about their future.</p>

<p>You can choose who you want your roommates to be, alongside suite mates as well. It’s all online. So I definitely concur that the post above is extremely dramatized on more then just one level.</p>

<p>My son is graduating in May and never had an issue. You have to be smart about working the system. We are from the west coast so we didnt have the time or ease of access to deal with outside housing. Thus, we stayed on top of by being prompt with all the housing dates. You can also hook up with people that may be without a roommate. My kid was in a double dorm room as a single and one of his friends approached him about moving in mid-semester as he hated his roommate. This filled a room that was vacant one slot and opened one up. This probably happens regularly. Overall, this does seem to be making something out of nothing.</p>

<p>To be honest, I don’t know why anyone would want to stay in the dorms. I know many of you haven’t seen the off campus housing, but it is incredible! The rooms are better than hotel rooms in red road commons. The off campus housing is not far from UM and it has the same community feel as the dorms. My sister lives in an off campus housing room with a friend and each have their own rooms with a door, their own bathrooms, and a refrigerator, kitchen, living room area. If you haven’t had a chance to check them out, I’d definitely recommend you to!</p>

<p>Point is, yes you are going to get housing sophomore year if you want it, but once you see red road commons, you might not want to stay on campus anyway.</p>

<p>^R u talking about University Village? I plan on applying for residency there if I get into UM as a transfer student. I heard the apartments are really nice and I’m already sooooo over dorm life one year in…</p>

<p>oh, you meant red road apts. nevermind</p>

<p>My mother said that university village is also very nice. It is new and suite style living so its like a 3 or 4 bedroom apartment.</p>

<p>^Do you know if the students are required to pay rent monthy?</p>

<p>No it is in your tuition for room and board as if you were living in a dorm. Many students prefer to go to university village over red road commons because university village is cheaper.</p>

<p>One other difference - you need to be a junior to live in UV.</p>

<p>Yes you do. But you can go to red road commons when you’re a sophomore</p>