<p>My son attends SUNY Albany. Due to a low number in a lottery system, next year he must live at the "downtown campus." This is located over three miles from the main campus. There is alot of crime there and my son received numerous emails last year about break-ins, kids accosted in the street and robbed, etc. There is NO parking lot. The kids must park on the street. No spots means walking, possibly for blocks, back to the dorm. There is no shuttle bus to the school. The kids must use the regular city Albany bus (for free.)</p>
<p>I was stunned that they would do this to a sophomore (he just turned 18 at the end of December) and yet allow juniors and seniors to reside on campus just because they got a lucky lottery number.</p>
<p>I wrote to Housing and asked that they please reconsider this decision. They basically ignored me and told me he was on a waiting list and they would let me know sometime in the summer whether they got to his number.</p>
<p>Is there anything that I can do about this or do I just have to accept it?</p>
<p>Start calling. Don't stop until you get the Director of Residence Life or Student Life. </p>
<p>A letter is going to get "processed". Meaning, someone will see it and send a standard reply. If you start calling and working your way up the chain, you might get a faster response.</p>
<p>I spent a few years in Res Life before going into admission (someone talked me into Res Life in grad school) and the squeaky wheel really did get the grease in many cases.</p>
<p>You can rent an apartment closer to campus NOW. You could look into changing schools. I think that if you knew it was a lottery then this likely outcome must have occurred to you. </p>
<p>I should think you can remain on the waitlist but once you have secured other housing it is unlikely that you will take them up on the offer of a closer dorm room much later in the season. Good Luck</p>
<p>Sophomores are not allowed to live off campus. Freshman and sophomores are REQUIRED to have housing. The 3-mile-away dorm is part of the campus.</p>
<p>At many universities, the worst housing goes to sophomores. Albany is not atypical in this respect (although the lack of campus buses is really obnoxious).</p>
<p>I recommend that your son apply for a transfer to another dorm and call Residence Life at least once every couple of weeks over the summer to remind them of his existence. My son (at a different university) was a loser in his dorm lottery and received a terrible housing assignment for his sophomore year. He applied for a transfer and kept calling. One day, he was suddenly offered a large single in a conveniently located building. Just like that. You never know.</p>
<p>I didn't realize that sophomores get the worst housing. And of course, nothing like this is told to you at Orientation. You find out all these things after they get in.</p>
<p>I have never had the problem but kids who take leadership roles or jobs in housing units can at many schools get preference. Perhaps your son was unaware. Did your son look for opportunities before he got trapped in the lottery? Many kids Junior year are off campus studying abroad just to give you a heads up for next year.</p>
<p>In the past, freshmen got the worst housing at most colleges. But recently, there has been a push toward providing a better first-year experience for students. Upperclassman (seniors and juniors) still have priority for the really nice housing at many schools, so sophomores are now the ones who fill the remote buildings and one-room triples.</p>
<p>This isn't universal, but it seems to be the pattern at many colleges.</p>
<p>Though it is a bit late, he may want to consider an apartment. Most student union bulletin boards are chock full of notices requesting roommates. And since he is 3 miles from the main campus he is essentially living off campus. And he may save significant $'s. Does he know any other classmates who are looking for apt mates?</p>
<p>Our son attends RPI in Troy and decided to move into a rowhouse a few blocks from campus after frosh year with 10(yikes) other students. He paid $400/mo(12 mos) for rent, all utilities, cable tv, internet, telephone AND food! Saved more than $4000. Everyone has their own bedroom and considering that 10 of the 11 are returning next year, it seems that all liked living on their own. Our son loved it and his gpa went from a 3.5 frosh year to a 3.75 soph year.</p>
<p>Most folks who sign up for schools that require "on campus" housing....at all much less for three years......get what they bought into. I think that many parents when considering frosh don't look beyond and are thus stuck in a campus housing/meal plan situation that they didn't ever need to begin with. If housing at Albany is this tight then I would guess they may gladly issue an exemption.......I'd be asking and looking for off campus myself.</p>
<p>
[quote]
B. University Apartments</p>
<p>Only University at Albany students who are juniors, seniors, graduate students, or are 21 years of age may apply to reside in University Apartments. Class status is determined based on the 2006 2007 academic year. The University is not required to house all students.** Special exceptions may be made under certain circumstances, and must be approved by the Department of Residential Life**.
<p>Your story is one of the reasons that when friends ask me about the college search I tell them to put housing on their check list. A particular school might end up looking wonderful until you realize that the school is in an iffy neighborhood and A. housing isn't guaranteed for four years or B. sophomores get hammered when it comes to housing. I suspect that B. would not be a deal breaker but it would be good to know up front.</p>
<p>pisces,
Does your son know anyone who lived on the downtown campus last year? Perhaps they could share their experiences. Many students discover that they actually prefer downtown living. City buses are used for the campus shuttle (and non-students may ride for the standard fee), but the cost to students is covered by tuition/fees.
Let me give you a link to the UAlbany parent liaison who may be able to respond directly to your concerns about transportation and safety as well as assist you in figuring out your/your son's next steps insecuring an uptown residence assignment.
<a href="http://www.albany.edu/parents/meettheliaison.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.albany.edu/parents/meettheliaison.html</a></p>
<p>Thank you. I spoke with the parent liason a few days ago. She's very, very nice. She told me, and then later, Residential Life told me, that as kids start cancelling their housing contracts, they would start the transfer process for students who are on the waiting list. My son is # 157. It's a longshot.</p>
<p>I'm an Albany alum and I understand your concern because I remember how some students felt about being placed in the downtown dorms when I was there so many years ago. As it turned out, most were really happy down there, despite the inconvenience. Downtown students enjoyed having their own identity ("cooler" than those of us who lived on campus) and there seemed to be a strong community-feel with friendships forming and lasting through the years. There were SUNY buses at that time but when I moved off campus in my junior year, our house was further than the downtown dorms and it was still relatively easy to go back and forth to the main campus. I don't know if the area has become more dangerous now but I never felt unsafe walking around any of the primarily student neighborhoods when I was a student there many years ago.</p>