Since I’m going to be in Davis for orientation next week, I’ve been searching for rooms on various sites and sending out emails to make appointments since the first day of June. However, nobody has responded! And I’ve noticed that most of the posts are asking for housemates only for the summer. This led me to think that it was too early to be making appointments if I’m not going to be moving in until September.
Then, my friend that graduated from Davis told me that it’s already “too late in the game”, and that most students have already secured living arrangements for the upcoming year. He mentioned that it’s only going to get harder from here, and that there’s a chance I’ll have to end up settling for a place.
Is this true? Or have I not been getting any responses because I’m asking for an appointment so far ahead of time? (I started sending out emails since the first day of June to make appointments for the 24th through 28th)
Also, if anyone could give me some advice on the best way to find a room it would be greatly appreciated. If I do end up finding a room that I want to move into, in most cases would it be expected of me to pay first month’s rent + deposit while I’m there, or only the deposit?
You are definitely late now and probably aren’t in a position to be picky. To find your own place, use the HotPads website or craigslist. They both have map based search capabilities. To find a roommate, try the facebook page or the university housing office.
UCD has a housing Facebook page which might have some room postings. Most continuing students have their rooms/apartments secured by February. Are you a Freshman or transfer? West village rents apartments by the bed. It is expensive but they also have roommate matching services and all apartments have single bedrooms.
People generally get their housing for the next year in the previous winter quarter – approximately January through March. Me and my roommates renewed our lease for next year at the beginning of February. We were basically told that we’d need to make our decision on whether to renew or not quickly, because several groups were interested in any apartments that would become available.
So yes, you are late to the game. It’s definitely not impossible to find something though – think of all the transfers that go through this process every year because they didn’t know they’d be coming to Davis and couldn’t get housing situated early. As NCalRent said, your best bets for finding people looking for roommates are Craigslist and the housing page on Facebook. Absolute worst case, go through student housing and they’ll assign you a student housing apartment. Try to exhaust all other options first (student housing apartments are pricey), but there’s at least a backup option available through the university.