<p>My daughter is a freshmen at Simmons college in Boston. She is finishing up her 1st semester and has bin placed in very small dorm with 2 other girls. I have been told that I may be able to negotiate the residence fees (Room & Board) with the school. I called the school this morning and talked to someone in the residence office, she put me on hold for a while, came back and told me it was a flat fee. Her superviser was out, but i got her name and will call back.</p>
<p>I feel they are charging the same for students with 2 to a room, shouldn't I get some cosideration on cost for 3 to a room ?</p>
<p>Has anyone ever tried to negotiate this type of cost ?</p>
<p>My room and board is $4910.00 a semester ! ! !</p>
<p>Doesn't happen. You're paying for room and board, not specific accommodations.
<em>Lots</em> of colleges wind up having to triple-up or do things like converting lounges to living quarters when fluctuations in acceptances leave them short of space. File it under "Stuff Happens." $5K/semester isn't unusual for R/B either.</p>
<p>I know some schools do charge differently for different accomodations. Our experience is state schools more often do. I don't know if they ever reduce costs, say for someone who has what was a double last year, but is now a triple.
My daughters school the rooms are all the same price , whether they are a triple, a single or a divided double. The apartments are the only thing that is slightly different and board is not required for apartments. All other housing does require that you be on board and that is where the only variablity lies, in how many board points you buy. D always have points left over, even with smallest plan, and it does seem that with room and board it is about $8,000-$9,000.
They can reduce fees by becoming an dorm advisor. Living off campus also can save money but then your financial aid is also adjusted, if that is a concern.</p>
<p>You can ask your daughter if she has heard of anyone doing this and if so get some details. But my experience has been that Room charges are as published and there is little or no negotiation on the amounts. My good friend's son was stuck in a barracks with about 15 other guys for 3 weeks at his college freshman year until a real room opened up and she was charged a standard cost that in no way reflected the situation. I know CMU often places students in hotels and nice apartments when they run out of official university housing, and the costs there do not reflect the difference in quality between such rooms and a standard dorm. Also your cost does not increase when you lose a roommate in university housing. My D lost her roomate a few weeks into her freshman year and ended up with a spacious room to herself that year at the same price as a double.</p>
<p>thats a good thing to ask about when you are looking at colleges, as some schools have repuation for admitting more students than they really have room for and you have to wait a few months for some students to drop out/move off campus and for more space to open up.
My nephew at Boulder stayed with a prof for a few months until he found a house, I have heard of others staying in rooms that used to be broom closets or in a room that is about the size of a train sleeper compartment. I don't know of anyone who has a lot of luck negotiating after you have already moved in, I think you would have a better luck remembering to weigh housing just as you would any other criteria in picking schools.</p>
<p>Room and board are normally non-negotiable flat rates. However, some schools charge less for occupancy of a triple than for a double - but not a lot less, certainly not one-third less. If the housing office tells you that the rate is the same whether for a triple or a double, that will unfortunately have to be that.</p>
<p>At my college if you are stuck in a triple, you each get something like 40 dollars per week back. (it may be different than that, i'm not entirely sure as i'venever been in a triple). maybe they do something like that.</p>
<p>I can see it if the room usually holds two students and three are crammed in but at my daughters school the rooms fit the number of students that are in it. Right now and last quarter also, she's in a quad but it's a huge room. Each student has room an unbunked bed, dresser, desk and even a guest chair. She could have been in a double but chose a quad. When we visited her last Spring for parents weekend we stopped in her room one night. At the same time one of her roommates was taking a nap and another had two friends over on her side. I hardly noticed them while we talked and hung out. I guess I would raise a fuss if I was sure that this was not the norm but you might want to check it out - maybe they just have small rooms. Room and board at my daughters school is $6,500.</p>
<p>There are different prices for singles, doubles and triples at son's school, plus each dorm has a different rate as some are ancient and some are new. Here are some examples:</p>
<p>daughters school is $8070 for rm and bd.
Next year she is planning on living off campus beginning summer so she is supposedly saving money now towards that expense. She will be living on campus in her office and lab anyway, so I suppose it will be nice to have someplace to go that isn't the "bubble".</p>
<p>I posted this elsewhere for you...but...the price you are quoting at Simmons is about the going rate for room and board in Boston. At Boston University, the same price is charged for a double and triple room. No negotiation is possible. Those are the least expensive options. Everything else is MORE expensive. DS pays $10000 per year on Room and Board. It's a LOT cheaper than an apartment in Boston for 12 months.</p>
<p>Some outfits (universityhousing.com and campusapts.com, eg) are creating nice off-campus housing that is very near the campus and has lots of amenities (unlike a regular apt). And the cost is great. My friend's daughter is staying in one as a freshman at Colorado State. Unfortunately, the websites I gave above are terrible. First question to ask is where these apartment/suite buildings are, and the websites don't answer that.</p>