Yikes, this is so stressful. My D22’s school did the most in-depth matching questionnaire I’ve ever seen – not just sleep schedules and such, but stuff like, “What would you do in the following scenarios?” She got matched with a roommate who was absolutely perfect for her – they never became besties, but they roomed together for two years in the dorms, and now they still meet once a week for lunch to catch up.
I know the application timing for housing selection at Clemson is hardcore – our school sends a ton of kids to Clemson, and everyone that is applying submits their applications on August 1, preferably at 12:01 a.m. (School hasn’t even started then, so obviously transcripts and rec letters have to get sent a few weeks later, but I think it’s that initial application date that matters.) But I didn’t know that about the roommate thing.
This makes me think the school is either a) they are wildly disorganized b) they are just money grubbing trying to get housing deposits or c) playing some psych experiment on kids to encourage enrollment
All put them in a bad light (of note, lots of schools do things that bug me). I also don’t think they are only ones to do this. If there is a good reason for this, I can’t imagine it.
S25 is similar in that grouped roommates get assigned before individuals. At least they had a mini questionnaire about preferences (one being if you are ok living with a dog or cat in the dorm) and has until the end of May to choose. He did apply for one of the Learning Communities so it will narrow down available roommates and has a specific dorm.
@DivineMarshmallow some other nursing gift ideas may be good pens, small notebook that would fit in pocket, compression socks, stethoscope cover/charm, foldable clipboard
Yeah, we thought S25 would be “fine” if we waited until after our summer vacation - he submitted his application Aug 20. I’m now seeing that that isn’t early for housing, by any means.
The only “good” news in all of this is that I think he’d be happy with some of the less good housing. The dorm isn’t nice, but it’s well located. So hopefully he’ll be fine.
Regardless though, the stress of trying to find a roommate on your own, and having to do it while it’s the middle of senior finals and AP exams, is really annoying to me.
OctoberKate - Thank you! You brought up a lot of helpful points. We would go ahead and submit the accommodations form.
gardenstategal - Thank you! I did not think of the fact that there would be new allergens now. We are from Virginia and New Haven is going to be different.
2plustrio - Thanks! We never went to an allergist, just his regular doctor who used to give general suggestions and recommend over the counter medications.
Those do seem a bit unfair. At D19’s school, everyone within a given year was randomly assigned a sign up window, and grouped roommates (from sophomore year on) would just get to use whoever was first in the random assignment. Before Covid, they did not get to choose their own roommates in freshman year - they were assigned based on their response to the questionnaire, with the attempt being to match roommate habits etc but get diversity in terms of state of origin and so on. (Apart from diversity, they were also clear that they didn’t want things like bff since first grade shares your room and you never make other friends, etc.) they changed this during the first freshman year back after covid though and not sure if it ever reverted to what it was.
Could you ask your son if he is ok with you talking to parents on Instagram about matching with their sons and then having them “meet up “ and see how they feel about the match? Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match….
Nah, it’s fairly common (though much less so than it used to be) for large institutions to assign housing priority by time of application. That’s not a problem. The problem—and the money-grubbing—is those that assign housing priority by time of (housing) deposit.
(C19 had several of those, and so yeah, we lost close to $1k on multiple early housing deposits just to make sure the kid would have a room.)
This is my take, too. The housing priority by application date isn’t the worst, although it stinks for kids who don’t know about it.
But yes, we also put down a housing deposit at our state flagship the minute D22 got in EA – because it’s impossible to get good housing without doing so. It was D22’s backup option, so we expected to lose the deposit, and alas, we did.
Crazy the number of games we play in this process!
I am grateful none of the schools my kid applied to needed housing deposits for priority. I find this gross and a money grab. Taking advantage of families at an already stressful and expensive time! I am sorry to hear you and others lose so much in the process. And for those who wouldn’t be able to risk losing the money.
@OctoberKate —
Thank you for that suggestion on a pros/cons list. We have utilized the pros/cons approach throughout (list or spreadsheets with AI/ChatGPT comparisons thrown in too).
I hope S25 is feeling better and on the mend very soon!!
@Julmarmc —
Thank you for sharing that, glad to hear that regarding the Bates alumni and congratulations to them!!
@L_NewEngland —
Thank you for your perspective on HC and on Bates too. The schools both seem to be really focused on service and volunteering in their communities by students, which is great to see. Thanks again!!
At Clemson at least, it’s date of application to the school. So the kids who had their application ready when it opened on August 1st have the best housing slots.
Maybe it’s kind of funny, but I’ve been praying for signs that my daughter made the right choice. Lately I’ve seen such random things, but this is the most random of all.
Last summer (as she will be this summer) my daughter was working at a summer camp. There is no way in a million years she could have had her Clemson application ready to go just after midnight on August 1. This is just crazy to me. Why make our kids jump through such random hoops? Grades, test scores, academic rigor, extra curriculars, recommendations, finances…now it’s who submits their application the earliest?
Best wishes to your son with his housing and roommate selection, and I hope he feels better soon.
Re allergies and room accommodations my C21 has severe allergies and got an air conditioning unit so they didn’t have to leave the windows open when it was hot. They also got a room with wood flooring and no carpet. I sent them to school with an air purifier that runs 24/7, with plenty of replacement filters. I’d suggest talking with the accommodations people sooner rather than later and before the room draw as it’s much easier to set up ahead of time than switch after and the staff appreciated the heads up. They also usually know which rooms are best for which accommodations.
We’ve had the same problem, and are so glad that we’ve now done that for the last time. Both D25 and S22 had multiple housing deposits put down at schools, some as early as August of the year they applied. That was my task on April 30th both of those cycles – to go in and make sure that all of those housing contracts were cancelled.
I remember being so annoyed because UT Austin was particularly cut-throat as you had to both apply basically on August 1 and then do housing immediately after but also needed a complete application with transcripts and recommendations. Texas A&M (where S22 did end up), is actually rolling admissions and people start signing up for housing as soon as they are accepted (September). Our HS starts after Labor Day, and they will not start sending transcripts and recommendations until sometime in September. I was politely arguing with them that yes the Texas schools are like the Hunger Games and that it really did matter! And they thought I was some crazy and wrong helicopter mom when I would tell them that TAMU was actually rolling admissions!
Makes me really appreciate that at least back when S19 was committing to FAU that they didn’t permit ANYONE to select a roommate and they didn’t even make any attempts to match. It was totally random. You couldn’t have put a more unlikely and diverse group of boys in a room together if you had tried. So many completely different life experiences all grouped together with different interests, different majors, and even one athlete on the football team. All worked out fine - not counting early fall hurricane evacuations and never getting back to your dorm after Spring Break 2020 (sudden covid shutdown while everyone was gone).
Central Mich has a bit of an ugly logo as well that they call the “Action C”. And they do not have a mascot for the school in general (although the basketball team has a mascot named Rowdie that pops up). Not having a mascot was an agreement they continue to honor to show respect from the tribe that allows them to use their team name, the Chippewas. While the school cheer is “Fire Up Chips” which you see everywhere, they otherwise do not use any nicknames for their team names. Students learn about the Saginaw Chippewa tribe and are encouraged to honor the culture. Dressing like an “Indian” or using a “tomahawk chop” motion is not allowed. They have copyrighted the name so that it can’t be misused.
