Why is housing so complicated?

<p>D called last night and they are still not through with their housing selection, even though I think they have been at it for about three weeks now. At her sister's school (which has 2 times as many students), the whole thing takes 5 days (M to F), start to finish, except for incoming freshmen who are sorted over the summer. D1's school does it all online, while Pitt seems to use an unnecessarily (imo) complicated paper/lottery system.</p>

<p>Can anyone explain why Pitt drags housing selection out for almost two months?</p>

<p>Can't explain it, but I'll add to your opinion. </p>

<p>My daughter's a freshman, trying to get housing for her soph year, with some friends. First they tried for a three person suite. They were turned down for that. Then she was given some choices in Sutherland and another dorm in that area. . . quite a walk from most of her classes. But I think the worst part is that she still doesn't have anything FINALIZED yet. </p>

<p>Another odd thing--she paid the housing deposit check as soon as the bill came due. . in late January I believe. As of March 23, the check still hadn't made it to her bank! But, according to Panther Central, her Pitt account has been credited. </p>

<p>She and her friends have considered moving off campus. I don't think that's a good idea for them. And, if they do, then they're pretty much out of the the university housing loop for any other year. </p>

<p>End of rant! :)</p>

<p>Just in case anyone up the food chain at Pitt ever reads this forum, here's how D1's school does it. First, it's all online, no paper. Monday, only students who want their same room apply. A couple mouse clicks and you're in the same room next year. Tuesday, it's people who want the same bldg, different room. The computer will tell you what rooms in your bldg are available and you select the room by room number. You can "select" a roomate by you and the roomie both picking the same room number (this is how D1 and her frosh roomie moved to a different room together as sophs).</p>

<p>Wednesday starts people who want a different bldg. Rising Seniors go first, Thursday it's juniors, Friday it's sophomores. Campus apartments are done separately so it gets a little hairy there, but basically the whole deal takes a week and it's over.</p>

<p>I know D2's deposit check cleared 'cause we got the "i need money" phone call as soon as the balance dropped (lol)!</p>

<p>Pitt does seem slow to step into the 21st century as far as online activites.</p>

<p>The one thing I like about Penn State is they have online class registration. Look up a class, click on it to register for it, and you're done. Pitt has all the same class information online, I don't know how much harder it could be to allow registration online. </p>

<p>As far as housing, I know other students at other schools who have the same exact complaints. I just don't understand why Pitt is not making online registration (for classes and housing) a priority. This is the only thing at Pitt that I truly have a complaint about.</p>

<p>I agree about Pitt's slow steps into online services</p>

<p>I asked Panther Central why the housing deposit bill isn't handled on-line, like tuition is. They replied that that is happening now, for incoming freshmen and will be done for all students sometime after that. So that's good.</p>

<p>And, too, I've had kids at other state universities and they ALL have more efficient class registration online. </p>

<p>But, my daughter really likes Pitt.</p>

<p>I agree that the whole housing thing seems too complicated. I know that the first thing that takes place is suite retention. Then is new suite selection by seniority of the group and randomly assigned lottery number. For example, sophomores get two point and juniors get 3 points. They add up the total for the suite, so four sophs would have 8 points. They then take all of the folks with 8 points and prioritize them by lottery number and the group of course uses the lowest number the group has. Each group then gets a time to log on and choose a suite. I think you can change it anytime afterwards if you want something else that is not yet chosen. Later, they have room retention and room selection. If you don't get your suite, you can still participate in room selection. Whew. It is hard to do it right even when you try. But I guess it is their system to be fair to everybody.</p>

<p>What about seniors? I wonder if with the addition of all the new housing there is any plan to offer on campus housing to seniors?</p>

<p>Just so the prospective students know, these problems are not in any way limited to Pitt. I only have direct experience with one other school (PSU) and their problems were far worse. (i.e.- study lounges converted into supplemental rooms for five, and single-person rooms being used as doubles.)</p>

<p>I think really the problem we've been talking about is the process of housing assignment, not the housing itself. So far, I haven't heard of situations like single-person rooms used as doubles, etc, at Pitt.</p>

<p>Yes, Pat, it's the process. They've been at it now for at least 4 weeks and it's still not over. D and her friends still don't know where they're living next year. That's a little ridiculous imho.</p>

<p>Ditto, chrisd, no students sleeping in lounges at Pitt or any other undesirable living situations, just an interminably long drawn out upperclassmen housing selection (I mean look at the housing calendar - I think this goes on for 2 months!)</p>

<p>I understand it's a different problem, I'm just saying everyone has their problems.</p>

<p>FYI, I never had any serious problems with my off-campus apartments. Just food for thought.</p>

<p>Upon further reflection, her sister's school hasn't built a new dorm in 30 years, which is probably why they can do housing selection so quickly (plus it's computerized). Pitt has three huge brand new dorms that have been built in the last three (?) years and thus added a huge number of rooms to their inventory. That probably contributes to the complexity of the process.</p>

<p>Hey, we're trying to avoid off campus apts (the parents that is). I don't want this coming back to haunt me next spring (altho it's nice to know you didn't have any problems - or did you mean Pitt apts?).</p>

<p>Well my first year at Pitt I stayed on-campus, the next year I lived in a non-university apartment, and my last year several of my friends and I rented a house in Shadyside. I was happy everywhere I stayed, so I guess it just depends what you want and how much of a nuisance the selection process is to you.</p>

<p>Well, my daughter's quest for next year's housing seems to be complete! </p>

<p>One of her friends was offered a 5 person suite in Sutherland, and signed their group up. My daughter's happy with the overall setup, but she feels Sutherland is kind of out of the area where most of her classes are. </p>

<p>Any comments on suites in Sutherland?</p>

<p>I hear from students that they are pretty nice. Many people take the Pitt shuttle back and forth. I see it in the Cathedral area just about every time I'm in Oakland.</p>

<p>So I thought my daughter was set for housing next year. . . . </p>

<p>Today she told me that on Easter, one of her roommates was at church w/ someone from the housing office. He told her that some upperclassmen take suites, keeping them as back-ups while they look for off campus apartments. Those suites can become available as the upperclassmen sign apartment leases. So. . . her group has now signed up for a suite in Pennsylvania Hall. It's two bedrooms/two baths, and they seem happier with this one than with the Sutherland one they had. </p>

<p>I guess I shouldn't be surprised if there's another change before August! :)</p>

<p>That sounds like a nice arrangement, and it must have been a pretty nice suite if it was originally taken by upperclassmen who moved off campus.</p>