Residential Commons Assignments

SetSail12345
Tue, 07 Jul 2015 18:10:32 +0000

SMU informed S2 last week that they were behind but he would receive his RC assignment yesterday. Yesterday he received an email notifying him that his status for RC is pending. We met the deposit and application deadlines (was even early). S2 is a high-caliber NHS minority student and leader that chose SMU over 10 other high-level universities. (As a side note, I also recall reading on SMU’s website that there was no tie to submitting applications early and getting housing.)

Additional tidbits from yesterday’s email include that they know it may be unsettling to learn that S2 is not yet assigned to a RC……asking us to keep in mind that they typically have over a hundred students unassigned, in July they receive cancellations and they make assignments based on the cancellations, that S2 will be notified no later than August 5th of his RC assignment. They further advised that they will not be processing S2’s assignment until the end of July, and on August 5th S2 will be able to log into housing to determine his RC assignment and roommate contact information.

So according to this unexpected email, now they won’t even start processing S2’s RC assignment until the end of July and we won’t find out until August 5th if and where he will be assigned. Really?! This is not even mentioning the roommate questionnaire only asked about if S2 was a smoker - how are they going to match roommates up based on that one question??? No questions about anything else such as things that mean a lot to these students – level of study seriousness, S2 has no interest in partying and is very religious, music preference, organizations, athletics, and more…

I must say that this leaves a very bad first impression of this university for us - coming from so far, we have already booked three more flights/trips to Dallas, come to find out they do not have enough housing and now are waiting on cancellations to assign S2 to a place to live. His potential assignment is based on cancellations?! How is that right? My fear of how he would be treated has now been fueled. Not to mention the fact of some college housing horror stories I have heard about schools making make-shift dorms and crowding 3-4 students in very small rooms (feedback from S1 who graduated in four years at another college where he was informed by June of his dorm and roommate)…and at the very high price tag for housing. We are scheduled to fly to SMU soon for AARO, and now this really puts a dark shadow of what our image was of what this college represented and presented to us. I am really disappointed in this to say the least. Anyone else in the same boat or is S2 in the minority???