How do I find a place to live?

I’m really sorry to bother all of you, but I’m freaking out because I missed the deadline to accept my housing offer because they sent the e-mail to an unexpected address (yay, turns out I got and lost my first choice by the way). I can’t live in the dorms, so what does a 17 year old do then?
Probably not the best question for this particular website, but that’s what I’m going with.

housing dot berkeley dot edu/undergraduate-students

“You may find housing on your own; however, especially for new students, we recommend you work with our off-campus housing services”

Check the link above (replace “dot” with dots). You could try getting a Cal Rental. Otherwise, you’d be best off searching for local apartments/flats close to Berkeley on local websites.

The contact information is listed at the web page - send an e-mail, explain the circumstance like you stated above and go from there. There are always some last-minute cancellations so I wouldn’t lose hope just yet.

It’s a great question for this particular website if I must add.

This sucks, but you are not the first person that has happened to. I’m sure you are making mental notes moving forward to check ALL of your known emails on a regular basis and to set up reminders in your calendar to check as deadlines approach if you haven’t heard from the school regarding stuff you should be hearing about.

I bet there are off-campus kids still looking for roommates. Cal’s Free & For Sale and Class of 2021 Facebook pages might be places to check as well.

Here is another website for off-campus housing:

http://www.housing.berkeley.edu/calrentals

I have found out that it is okay because I put any housing for my 5th option. All right.
Well, anyways, any advice for finding off campus housing?

That “any housing” option just gives them the leeway to offer you something if your first 4 choices aren’t available. You said they did offer your top choice. Because you didn’t accept the offer, they assume you do not want or need on-campus housing. I don’t think they then come back to you. You really need to contact Housing, explain what happened, and see what your options are. They may be able to put you on a waiting list. Yes, in the meantime, start trolling the relevant Cal Facebook pages and check out Cal Rentals.