Hi. I’m currently enrolled at a British university and I’m thinking of applying for an exchange program in the US for next year.
Many of the partner universities guarantee on-campus accommodation for exchange students. In the UK, though, it’s very common to move out of dorms after the first year and look for private housing with a bunch of other people. As I’m gonna be 21 by the time I start my second year, I wouldn’t really fancy living with all 17-18 year olds.
So, do upperclassmen live on-campus too? Or is it like in the UK, where it’s 95% first years?
It really depends on the college. At a number of schools students do stay on campus for 3 or 4 years. IMO for a short-term exchange program (1 or even 2 semesters) that a dorm would likely be the easiest and safest way to go.
Some colleges and universities require virtually all students to live on campus all four years. For most, virtually all freshmen and most sophomores live on campus while maybe half the juniors and seniors live on campus.
It depends on the school. At one of the schools I’ve attended, almost no one lives on campus because there’s no reason to go there if you’re not from the area. At the other, most freshmen and sophomores are required to live on campus. A lot of people move out of the dorms in their junior or senior years, but the housing they typically get is so close it might as well be on campus. They still think they’re way cooler than the freshmen, of course.
@halcyonheather Oh, I thought it was like in the UK regarding the freshmen age. So what you’re saying is that it’s gonna be people born in '98 who start university 2017/2018, not those born in '99?
@TomSrOfBoston As I said in the original post, 20 now, will be 21 when I start second year at university (that’s the year I’m planning to do the exchange on). Here in the UK I am two years older than most of the freshers, or freshmen as you call them, though many do take gap years. Two is not too bad, but if it had to be living with first years with three years less than me, then it would be quite annoying haha.
Mostly 99 -but some 98. My D will be a 19 y.o. freshman. Those born late in the year (Oct, Nov, Dec) often wait a year before starting Kindergarten or 1st grade.
It is also not unheard of to delay starting first grade or Kindergarten for maturity.
As to the living on or off campus. It really does depend on the school. It seems more common at the big state schools to move off campus after the first year or two. My daughter is living on campus the whole 4 years -but usually upperclassmen are in different dorms than freshman. Is there a particular school you are thinking about?
There are several universities I could choose… My first choice would be the University of Pennsylvania, most likely, and I know that they require all their undergraduate to live on-campus, which I like. Then I can pick others between Rutgers, Minnesota, Rochester… and a bunch of canadian universities too.
@intparent Well I’d be staying for a full year :). But I wouldn’t really fancy living off-campus - that’s one of the things I really like about american universities: the community spirit that revolves around the campus. Coming from Italy, you don’t really get anything slightly close to that.
Depends on the school. UC Berkeley has a very tight on-campus housing situation, so I would say a vast majority of students beyond their first year are off campus. Many schools have housing for upperclassmen (dorms, suites, apartments), so that is another option to consider.
Penn does not require all undergraduates to live on campus. However, they do have nice apartment/suite set-ups that house many upperclassmen. Again for a short term stay, dorms are the way to go – it would be incredibly difficult to find a short term lease, furniture, roommates etc. that are guaranteed to be safe and close to campus in a cost efficient manner.
Upper class students (non freshmen) will have specific housing at Penn and other residential colleges. Large flagships will have ‘off campus student housing’, where 3+4th year students live together in private student apartment complexes. Exchange students are typically housed in upperclass student housing (1997,1996,1995 DOB).
If you can list your exact choices we can help.
(for example, 'Rochester ’ doesn’t tell us what you mean: Rochester-minnesota= primarily commuter; u Rochester NY, primarily residential; Rochester institute of technology, apartment complexes and on campus housing. )
You’re right, my bad. It’s the University of Rochester, and University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (I think?) and Rutgers University. There’s also the Uni of Denver but they don’t guarantee housing for exchange students, and from the looks of it on my current uni’s brochure, it’s competitive to get accepted for it too.
p.s. sorry but what do you mean by ‘large flagships’?
Most students(90%) live on campus at URochester. Most upperclassmen live off campus at U Minnesota twin cities (check out ‘dinkytown’) but for 2nd/3rd years there’s special interest housing (‘Leaders in transition’ upper level llc, 'crossing borders ') plus on campus residences with suites and apartments.