U Michigan and housing

[Anonymous]

Just a reminder, we know kids at Boston College, Boulder and a few schools in FL who take a bus as part of their regular schedule.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid chose not to ED to Michigan bc didn’t want to live in a north campus. Make sure your kid is okay with that option of having to take a bus to central campus every day.

Do most freshmen get assigned to North Campus?

No, but it is a real possibility. We don't have the numbers that reflect sophomores removed from the equation, but for total rooms, the breakdown is appx:

North - 20%
Hill - 33%
Central - 42% (This does include one dorm that is primarily sophomores, so the number is actually lower)
Other - 5% (these are two random dorm options which are listed as central, but really are not)

Presumably some engineering school students want to be on North Campus, right? And with the new self-selection process for dorm rooms, I’m guessing only a small subset end up there involuntarily, and I bet many/most of them are late committers or admitted off the waitlist.

No. That is not how it played out. By the end of day 2, females only had the option of North Campus. The challenge with living on N, just like at many other schools who do this, is that you have to take a bus for 10-15 minutes to get to the action. Yes, they have a union, gym and cafeteria on North, but the main activities are on Central. If they want to explore Ann Arbor - bus first. If they want to go to the frats or other night lide venue - bus first. If they want to spend their time in the law quad or hang on the diag - bus first. It's not the end of the world, obviously, but a lot of engineering students also chose to live on central and take the bus for classes b/c you spend more time outside class than in.

That will change somewhat next year with the new dorm complex opening near central. 2300 new beds dedicated to freshmen.

[Anonymous]

Correction to the above statement. New dorms will be both for freshmen and sophomores.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi. There are many things to love about UMich and it’s one of two schools my DS is considering for for ED (yes, I know it’s decision time week). One thing that worries me is that UMich does not guarantee housing after freshman year. Are there any parents with students at UMich who can comment on how hard finding housing is off campus, what it’s like for a sophomore to live not in a dorm (which Resident assistants to help if needed, dorm activities for social bonding etc).

OP this is true for just about every state school. And yes it’s a problem.

Keep in mind that your kid is going to have to start thinking about off campus housing and all that entails in about October of freshman year.

Haven’t found your friend group yet? Too bad. You”ll need to add this major worry to the list just as DC is (hopefully) getting acclimated to classes and college life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi. There are many things to love about UMich and it’s one of two schools my DS is considering for for ED (yes, I know it’s decision time week). One thing that worries me is that UMich does not guarantee housing after freshman year. Are there any parents with students at UMich who can comment on how hard finding housing is off campus, what it’s like for a sophomore to live not in a dorm (which Resident assistants to help if needed, dorm activities for social bonding etc).

OP this is true for just about every state school. And yes it’s a problem.

Keep in mind that your kid is going to have to start thinking about off campus housing and all that entails in about October of freshman year.

Haven’t found your friend group yet? Too bad. You”ll need to add this major worry to the list just as DC is (hopefully) getting acclimated to classes and college life.

No friend group yet? Major worry? Melodramatic? No, no, and yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi. There are many things to love about UMich and it’s one of two schools my DS is considering for for ED (yes, I know it’s decision time week). One thing that worries me is that UMich does not guarantee housing after freshman year. Are there any parents with students at UMich who can comment on how hard finding housing is off campus, what it’s like for a sophomore to live not in a dorm (which Resident assistants to help if needed, dorm activities for social bonding etc).

OP this is true for just about every state school. And yes it’s a problem.

Keep in mind that your kid is going to have to start thinking about off campus housing and all that entails in about October of freshman year.

Haven’t found your friend group yet? Too bad. You”ll need to add this major worry to the list just as DC is (hopefully) getting acclimated to classes and college life.

No friend group yet? Major worry? Melodramatic? No, no, and yes.

Finding housing and signing a lease with people you may not know 6 weeks into school in a new city is a major worry for many out of state freshmen, yes. Sorry you lack the empathy to understand that.

[Anonymous]

The housing at UMich is a real disaster. Prepare to sign year long leases without anyone living in the space during the spring. Super shady landlords should not be taking reservations now—leases can’t be signed until spring.

Housing is very expensive.

[Anonymous]

When we visited UMich, just the drive from the hotel to actual campus (took 10min through the town) you could see all of the houses with placards on the doors for rentals; assumed because they were for UMich students/housing. DC is applying there, I'd love for them to have dorm housing all four years of any school they attend but we'll take it as it comes case by case.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we visited UMich, just the drive from the hotel to actual campus (took 10min through the town) you could see all of the houses with placards on the doors for rentals; assumed because they were for UMich students/housing. DC is applying there, I'd love for them to have dorm housing all four years of any school they attend but we'll take it as it comes case by case.

A lot of the stuff like that close to campus is really, really nasty. But pricey due to location.

[Anonymous]

Neither of my kids wanted to live in dorms after freshmen year. They hated the food, they prefer having their own rooms vs sharing. They didn’t love communal bathrooms either.

Both DCs are at OOS public schools, one at UMich. Ann Arbor is a large college town, in my mind very similar to Charlottesville and UVA. There are all type of housing there - group houses, nicer apartment complexes with the rooftop amenities, etc.

DC at the other large OOS public had more of the rush and pressure freshmen year to find a group and find housing first semester.

The child in Ann Arbor had a group but dragged on finding something until March. Based on other DC I was probably more nervous for them finding something. They actually found something really easily in March last year. DC life’s a 7bed/3 bath group home.

Is it posh living like my other DC with the high rise student apartment that has roof top pools (in climiate where it makes sense), yoga studios, and coffee bars? no. Those places have problems too. Maintenance is slow at repairing things, things out of order for months. Ann Arbor DC landlord fixed their dryer in less than 4 days.

DC at UMich is loving it. He has really come out of his shell and is so happy. Classes are collaborative and challenging at the same time. There is no intense competitive pressure amongst peers and they don’t study all the time. It’s such a different vibe than other schools we looked at.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid chose not to ED to Michigan bc didn’t want to live in a north campus. Make sure your kid is okay with that option of having to take a bus to central campus every day.

Do most freshmen get assigned to North Campus?

OOS DC was assigned to one of the dorms on the hill (not on North campus) last year.

Within the extended family, we’ve had 7 family members go to Michigan and not one was assigned a dorm on north campus. Did have at least 2 family members get assigned to Markley. And three of the family members were Engineering students.

[Anonymous]

Housing is an issue at all state schools

[Anonymous]

“Neither of my kids wanted to live in dorms after freshmen year. They hated the food, they prefer having their own rooms vs sharing. They didn’t love communal bathrooms either.”

This attitude is very common. It’s mostly overprotective parents who want their kids to be in dorms all four years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Neither of my kids wanted to live in dorms after freshmen year. They hated the food, they prefer having their own rooms vs sharing. They didn’t love communal bathrooms either.”

This attitude is very common. It’s mostly overprotective parents who want their kids to be in dorms all four years.

Huh? My kid is at UMich but didn't want to fuss with rent and cleaning a house. He still had to move off campus when he couldn’t get a sophomore dorm room. He’s just not into home upkeep. He’s having a good time there and seems to be learning a lot.

[Anonymous]

The word is there should be a lot more dorm availability for sophomores who actually want to live on campus next year.