<p>Only on CC have I ever heard people express preferences for four year on-campus living. All the kids I know IRL can’t wait to get out of the dorms and into apartments.</p>
<p>Don’t worry. Your college student child will learn the ropes early on next fall. Where there is not much on campus housing there will be off campus housing and the mechanisms to obtain it. With most students living off campus there will be systems in place to deal with every aspect, likely from the school, city and private enterprise.</p>
<p>With a culture of living off campus after freshman year there will be plenty of support and info sharing. Do be aware she may be wanting to line up her second year housing asap in the fall- make her wait a bit so she knows people better etc. This is the warning given by UW- just because apts for the next fall become listed in Nov doesn’t mean they will be gone soon…</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the apt situation either. Many come furnished and there is a ready market of used furnishings from graduating seniors, et al. In a way it is better to learn apt living in a familiar setting instead of when moving to a strange city for that first job. 12 month leases also mean a place to stay when the child cum adult gets on your nerves (trust me, you won’t mind that when the time comes).</p>
<p>Talk to upper classmen ASAP and find out when one must secure off campus housing.</p>
<p>Penn State is widely known that second year housing should be found by the October prior. Otherwise you are squashed into a place with many other students or you are paying lots of money.</p>
<p>dbwes – Even back when I was a student I preferred on-campus housing. I was lazy & didn’t want to think about rent, cleaning, cooking. Needless to say, I opted for a small LAC with cleaning service provided in all dorms.</p>
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<p>I don’t think my PSU student has ever nailed down his housing before spring semester. This year he signed a lease and paid the deposit in May. His house is a few blocks from campus and the rent is reasonable. (While he was rather blas</p>
<p>Sorry, I have to laugh at this one - “It’s my impression (perhaps wrong) that it’s mostly urban campuses that do not guarantee 4-year housing.”</p>
<p>I find it highly ironic that urban Pitt guarantees housing for three years while Penn State with its broad, expansive, whole-lot-of-available-real-estate campus, only guarantees freshman housing on campus. (Thank God for the honors college - Schreyer students are guaranteed on-campus housing for all four years! My wife would be going nuts if our architecture major D2 was walking home to a distant off-campus apartment at four in the morning every other night.)</p>