<p>My d. has been looking for housing for a semester study abroad in Copenhagen, with no luck. She leaves in 3 weeks and has still not found anything! I asked her if she wanted me to post on CC, and she gladly agreed.</p>
<p>There were several possibilities, but all fell through. I’m a little surprised the U. does not help coordinate, but it is a graduate program, so they are more on their own to find housing.</p>
<p>If anyone knows anyone in Copenhagen, or suggestions of other places she can search, please PM!</p>
<p>(I’m also posting on the study abroad thread).</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t have any information for you but am trying to keep your thread active. My son will be spending a semester in Copenhagen through DIS so his housing is arranged. I did receive an email from a CC reader who lives in Denmark that saw my comments about my son going there in January. The student is a senior at a university there and offered to answer any questions that we might have. She was not able to PM me because of low post count but sent an email. I can send her an email telling her about your situation. Maybe she will have some suggestions.</p>
<p>Hi kjofkw,
I am the above mentioned senior. Just emailed you with a couple of questions and links - in case you haven’t received it, please let me know.</p>
<p>DD also went to DIS. They have a US office and might be willing to share their list of kollegium (student housing). The “dorms” are open to anyone there, not just affiliated with one university. Is she going to KU or CBS? If she is going to KU DD recommends Oeresund Kollegium. She said it was fun and close to KU. She lived in Keops, so if you have questions about that one, ask away. Here is a link to the one she recommends for you. Studies.KU.DK/housing/exchange_students/OERESUND/</p>
<p>We had a terrible time finding housing for D1 in Helsinki when she studied abroad there as an undergrad. The University was no help at all. There was an online board that the Unversity Housing website linked to where students posted sublets, need roommates, etc. D and I both watched that site constantly for weeks, and she pounced on and replied within an hour any time something came up. It still took her almost 100 attempts to get a room. I think it is just so much easier for people looking for a roommate or to sublet to deal with someone from Sweden who speaks the language, doesn’t have to wire a deposit, etc. Eventually my D found a sublet (studio a couple of subway blocks from campus, girl was coming to the US to study). Unfortunately, it was not in a neighborhood with any students in it at all. And with no roommates, she had a hard time linking up with people and making friends (normally a super friendly kid, and she even spoke Finnish).</p>
<p>Looks like parentofpeople has some possible suggestions, so I hope those work out for your D.</p>
<p>The dorm system in Denmark is very different from the US. The dorms are not on campus and neither administered by the universities. Instead they are located different places throughout the city and suburbs – and administered by “cooperative housing societies”. It is quite normal for Danish students to stay in the same dorm room/apartment during all of their college years.</p>
<p>Our experience - DS recently returned from a work internship in Copenhagen. He had previously co-oped and interned in 5 different US cities and 2 other international cities. By far, Copenhagen was the most challenging city in which to find housing. After his return from Copenhagen, DS told me that arrival in Copenhagen was the most stressful, since he had not been able to find housing before he left home. So he not only arrived in a city where he didn’t speak the language, he had to spend his first days desperately seeking housing. For two previous co-ops/internships, DS secured housing literally hours before he departed, (stressful for me, but apparently not for him!) For over a month before leaving for Copenhagen, DS had responded to many, many Craig’s List listings with no success. You need to respond within MINUTES, as each listing may have over 100 responses in the first hour. </p>
<p>DS spent his first few nights as a couch surfer, and then took the first place he found that would take him. He was afraid to pass up a viable option, because he knew that others were ‘waiting in line’ if he turned it down. This situation was renting a bedroom from a woman with 2 young children. He shared the kitchen and bathroom with the family. DS later moved into his own 1-BR apartment that he sublet from a co-worker. Until he found housing, another intern spent the first few weeks sleeping in the storage room at the office where they worked!</p>
<p>OP, I wish your D the best of luck. Stick with the search. If she can’t locate housing before she leaves for Copenhagen, maybe have your D stay in a hostel or hotel for the first few days until she finds a place. I’ll also check with DS to see if he has any other suggestions.</p>
<p>OP - I just spoke to DS. His initial response was a sarcastic ‘good luck’, followed by the suggestion of using boligportal.dk for housing search (you can select English in the upper right corner). There is a monthly fee (~$15?) to be able to respond to a posting, but this can be money well spent. DS said this was a better option than Craig’s List, especially with all the scammers on Craig’s List.</p>
<p>In reality, DS said it will be next to impossible to secure housing prior to your D’s arrival, since they will want to meet her. There can be a lengthy vetting process if your D would be a roommate in a joint housing situation. Why? - because they can. The housing market is so tight that they can be very selective about who they rent to and who they room with. </p>
<p>DS’s suggestion - get a cheap hostel room for your D for a week or be a couch surfer (more easily done if you are already in the couch surfing network). Spend that week aggressively searching for housing using the above website. Too bad DS isn’t still in Copenhagen, or he would host your D as a couch surfer.</p>
<p>I am unable to PM you due to my low post count. However, I just received your message and replied to the email CC mentioned in the message (it’s a juno email-account, if that helps?). If you haven’t received it, email me your email-address (or even try to PM it to me) and I’ll re-send it.</p>