Housing Worries

<p>^oops you pretty much implied that. Disregard my previous comment.</p>

<p>I’m currently a freshman I only know 1 freshman who did not get chosen in the housing lottery. I believe it’s 17% of ALL lottery applicants, including upperclassmen (A lot of them didn’t get chosen this year and they’ve been griping about it).</p>

<p>On the off chance he doesn’t get chosen, there are a lot of apartments in the area that really boil down to being about the same price as the on-campus housing. But really, it’s pretty rare for a freshman not to be chosen.</p>

<p>@VHFather: Actually it’s by how many credits you have. I believe it’s 60. I’m a freshman and I was just short of it (transfer credits count, I believe) but my roommate came in with a lot more credits and was eligible this time around.</p>

<p>Yes - they are one in the same. 60 hours = Junior status.</p>

<p>^Yeah, I heard about the 60 credits requirement also. Kinda sucks but I’m so eager that I may start taking extra classes during the winter and summer breaks to achieve this requirement if I get in.</p>

<p>For the incoming freshmen/newly admitted students: when and how do we apply for the housing? Can the newly admitted students apply now or wait for an invitation or can only apply after accepting the admissions (&paid the deposit)? Is there a number like the FSU’s priority # assigned that stays with you all four years? or is that a completely lottery system every year that depends only on the seniority/# of credits taken at the time of lottery? Thanks.</p>

<p>

You can apply on myUM as soon as you’re admitted and pay your enrollment deposit. After you pay the $250 housing deposit you submit your preferences (literally takes less than five minutes) and can then set up your “roommate search” profile and find roommates based on common preferences. </p>

<p>For freshmen, I think it’s pretty much first-come first served since there are only two residential colleges that are pretty much equivalent in most aspects (identical in terms of the room you actually live in).</p>

<p>I did read on here in the past that the date you apply for housing your freshman year creates your priority that sticks with you in future years for the lottery, but I’m not sure how that works, and it really doesn’t make sense because then the future years aren’t really true “lotteries.”</p>

<p>Not completely sure how the lottery works for sophomores, but for those that are lottery “winners”, the students with the highest number of credits (incoming AP + freshman year credits), get first pick of the specific rooms they want within the upperclassmen dorms like Mahoney Pearson.</p>

<p>What is Red Road Commons referred to above for sophs? I thought it was an apartment complex. It was my understanding that rising sophomores can only choose on-campus housing in Mahoney, Pearson or Eaton.</p>

<p>Zinc, I don’t believe that is correct. As I understand it (excluding incoming freshman, who are guaranteed housing), all students who opted in for the housing lottery get a decision as to if they are included in housing sign up, or if not, they can go on a wait list (and every year all those on the wait list have been accomodated). However, for those chosen in the housing lottery, how many credits you have, etc has absolutely nothing to do with your housing number. Your housing number is determined by when you initially applied for housing and paid the deposit. This number stays with you for all your years at Miami, and a good number puts you at the head of your class for choosing from the available housing. So, ED students probably have the best numbers, then those that commited early to Miami next. In our case, D was deciding between several merit scholarships and higher ranked schools, and she didn’t decide until the end of April, so regardless that she came in with lot of credits from AP classes, is a Foote Fellow, P100, etc, it all means nothing. The only thing that matters is the date she actually applied for housing. Now, I could be wrong, but I think this is the way it works, as housing explained it to me. I really dislike the way Miami does this (in fact, this is probably the only thing I have disliked about Miami). At my older D’s school, each year students get a new lottery number. Seniors go first, then juniors, etc. But within your class (and credits have nothing to do with it), a new lottery number is given every year, and is not at all dependent on when you initially applied for housing. That seems much fairer to me. I think Miami does a disservice to high achieving kids. Most of these kids have a lot of strong options to decide from, and with accepted students weekends falling in April, most of these kids don’t commit until late in the month. It seems from the facebook group that they are open to ideas, so maybe they would consider changing this for future years.</p>

<p>UMMom, Red Road Commons is an off campus apartment complex, but it is very close to campus and many kids choose to live there. Regarding dorms, sophomores can choose University Village if they have the required credits needed by the time you opt in for housing (junior status). I’m not exactly sure of the credits required, but it is stated on Miami’s website under housing.</p>