Housing selection period. It’s the three little words that drive every student who relies on on-campus housing crazy. Never mind that you’re only two months into the semester; if you’re not on it, you miss out.
And boy, did I miss out.
Yes, I am one of those few that will be transitioning from the beautiful, brand new Palm Apartments to…wait for it… the Barrymore Hotel.
So, what do you do if you’re in the same boat as me?
Breathe. No, seriously.
The important thing is that in some shape or form, you have housing. It may mean not having a kitchen, or yeah, you have to take a shuttle to and from campus…But you have a bed at the end of the day! You would be surprised how many people don’t have that luxury.
Get on the Waitlist.
This is something I did last summer. Sometimes, people get rooms, but end up transferring or living off campus. Around the end of the spring semester, Residence Life opens up a list that lets you choose where you would want to live from the available empty rooms on campus.
Or do Room Swap!
Now, let’s say you decide to ride it out and for some reason fall semester comes and you change your mind. There is still a small window of time about four weeks into the semester that you can try to swap out of your room and into another. Usually, they also give the option to be ‘pulled’ into a room, which means your friends can request to get you put into their spot.
There’s always off-campus living!
Yes, it means paying a monthly rent, but living off campus has its perks. First, it technically is cheaper to live off campus than to live on campus. The rent you pay if you find affordable housing will be less than your annual housing cost here at UT. Plus with paying your own rent, you usually get some cool amenities that come with the apartment. And most importantly, you don’t need to worry about the problems that come with on-campus housing (2AM fire drills, anyone?)
Or Just ride it out.
Your housing situation, much like your overall college experience, is what you make out of it. Yeah, maybe you got an old dorm and you find it unfair. It’s going to be fine though! At the end of the day, all you need is a roof over your head and a bed to get back to. No matter where you end up staying at, it won’t define your college experience.
I could complain some more about ending up in the Barrymore Hotel, but I won’t. I, for one, am looking forward to having a free big screen TV in my room.