<p>I believe that housing is tight on campus for juniors - if not impossible if you have a bad lottery number. My D has plan A,B,C and D in place and school hasn’t even started. </p>
<p>Thanks for all of the advice so far. My D has terrible allergies/asthma and this is going to be a real problem!</p>
<p>You can still get a decent apartment after “losing” the housing lottery; the main issue is that the location might not be the best, but it should still be acceptable. Most students do not do dorms all 4 years and while your son may love the dorms his freshman year, there is a good chance his attitude will change over time, especially if his friends want to go off-campus.</p>
<p>Yeah, he’s kind of a path of least resistance guy, so I could see him sticking with the dorms just by default, but you’re right of course that if his friends want to move off campus next year, I’m sure he’ll go along with them.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the info so far about off campus housing. Some of my Son’s friends moved off campus for the sophomore year. He did ask us about moving with them, but we were not sure at that point as we felt it was too early to move off campus.</p>
<p>I think it is possible to stay in the dorms for all four years, as west campus dorms have in house lottery where residents can stay back if they choose to. Am I correct in that assumption?</p>
<p>My understanding of the in-house lottery is that it gives the students a <em>chance</em> to return to the same dorm. And if they are not selected in the in-house lottery, they can enter the general lottery, but priority is given to sophomores, and housing is not guaranteed for juniors or seniors.</p>
<p>And sophomores can end up in program houses on north, etc. if their lottery time slot is bad. There is really no advantage to living in the dorms after your freshman year, and in all likelihood, it will be cheaper too.</p>
<p>Banker^^^^^^^^^^^^
“Also over the door hanger from BB&B didn’t fit in.”
We had the same problem; the dorms doors are ~1.75" thick, much too thick for the hooks we brought with us from our local BBB. So we took a ruler with us to the BBB in Ithaca and found some that DID work --single hooks and multiples. Eureka! Seems like a small issue but having hooks over all the doors really goes a LONG way to keeping the smaller rooms organized. There were many to chose from at BBB last Saturday --perhaps your S can get a lift there and check it out.</p>
<p>Last year S used some command strip hooks on his closet door – in addition to fit issues, we were concerned that over-the-door hooks might damage the closet door. You can’t use a command strip hook for a backpack or anything, but for towels/jackets/etc. it seemed to work fine. I don’t know if he saved them with the extra adhesive for this year or not (if not, he’s on his own to buy some new ones, most likely via amazon prime).</p>
<p>Thanks mathmomvt for that info about in-house lottery. Anyways Son wants to go off campus next year. He will figure it out something about that. But I am concerned about will it be close, clean, spacious and with enough places to eat near by.</p>
<p>Fourtops… That was frustrating about the hooks not fitting on the door. We had a over the door hanger from BB&B last year, we didn’t take that since he is in a double. Since that fitted perfectly, we assumed the hooks are going to fit too. So he will have to grab some there in Ithaca. But instead If there is floor standing rack with hooks and minimal foot print to hang a robe, towel etc., would be nice. We saw one in BB&B furniture section, but the hooks are not deep enough to hold a towel. I think it’s more hygienic that way instead of a damp robe hanging on dirty door.</p>
<p>I worry a bit about the quality/safety of the available off-campus housing. The housing in the collegetown area, which would be very convenient for an engineer especially, seems to often be quite “slummy” though I am sure there are exceptions. Also, it seems that that is where the main binge drinking party scene is these days, which is not my kid’s thing, thankfully.</p>
<p>[Collegetown:</a> 'A Really Disgusting and Uninviting Scene? | The Cornell Daily Sun](<a href=“http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2012/08/21/collegetown-really-disgusting-and-uninviting-scene’]Collegetown:”>http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2012/08/21/collegetown-really-disgusting-and-uninviting-scene’)</p>
<p>Wow! That is really looking bad in college town. My kid is not in to that kind of parties either. So are there any areas in college town that are not like that?</p>
<p>We are keeping open the option of 4 years in the dorms, as my freshman is living in Risley program house. We shall see.</p>
<p>Live off campus for few years is a nice transition to the real world, in a control way. Students learn to negotiate a housing contract and managing a budget while still have parents as the safety net.</p>
<p>D2 has been to few parties in Collegetown already (Greek annex). She didn’t say anything about beer pong or drinking. 
We just moved back from a country where drinking age was 18, so I don’t think it is as much of novelty to her.</p>
<p>you could live off-campus but off the west or north sides of campus. there’s greek life in those areas, but at least in my opinion it’s not as loud and intense as collegetown.</p>
<p>Hope everyone is settling in well this year. My D is already talking about off campus housing for next year and I am getting a little nervous about it. I would appreciate any input that I can get so that she can make a good decision. She wants to be close to campus due to lack of transportation which undoubtedly means higher cost.</p>
<p>I would love it if she would stay in the dorms for 1 more year - there is an in-house lottery system that may allow her to stay but her friends all want to move off campus.</p>
<p>Again, thanks for any advice…</p>
<p>Does anyone know what the chances of being able to stay in one’s west campus house through in-house lottery are?</p>
<p>My D & three friends have already signed a lease for next year. On College Ave. Approx. $725 per month. Looked at a couple more “luxurious” places but they were over $1,000 per month.</p>
<p>Your daughter is lucky to have found a place she likes at a decent price. Is it in a house? My D looked at a few and they weren’t so great in terms of landlord reputation and apartment condition. How did your D find the apartment? My D is not sure what to do. There are tradeoffs to living in Collegetown. Even the “luxury” places aren’t really that nice, you re just paying for a prime location. Now, my D is rethinking the need to live in Collegetown.</p>
<p>@mathmomvt - I think chances are pretty good for the in-house lottery.</p>
<p>One of her most ambitious friends spearheaded the search. I know they looked at several places. The one they decided on is half-a-house. Very bright group of girls, I’m going to have to just trust their judgement.</p>
<p>Wait, wait, your kids are FRESHMEN and have already signed a lease?</p>
<p>I mean, I was looking at apartments and stuff online for fun… Seems kind of early to sign a lease for next year when school has just started. That said, I think I like a place called “The Eddysgate,” but it seems rather expensive.</p>