So i’ll be attending San Francisco State University this august and i’ve applied for housing. the bad news is that im on the waiting list and #398 in line
i need housing on campus badly because i’ve never been to san fran, i know NO ONE there, i wont know how to use the transportation, i wont be able to meet anyone, living off campus is too hard for freshman, and i will probably get lost and dont know what to do. im from Los Angeles btw.
is there ANYTHING i could do or tell the housing admins to bump me up the list and give me priority house? could i say i broke my leg or something and need to live on campus cause i cant go far? or could i say that i have never been to san fran before and would not know what to do?
plz i really need help. i HAVE to have on campus housing
College administrators like it when you use capital letters. They also can’t see the point of typing a fairly long message, but writing “please” as “plz”.
I’m sure there are shared houses near the campus, or one-bedroom apartments if you’d prefer. What’s the big deal?
You seem to be unnecessarily pessimistic about the whole thing vold. As **friedo ** has said, there are lots of things that you can do to prepare. Get hold of a map of San Francisco and study the local geography. Check out where the university campus is; where the various suburbs are; which suburbs have bus, train routes. Then find a copy of the local San Francisco newspaper (the Chronicle?). It’s bound to be available on-line somewhere. Have a good read through the various listings for apartments and share accommodation. Perhaps the university’s own website has links to other accommodation sites e.g. housing co-operatives? I’m sure that there are other alternatives than waiting for the on-campus accommodation to become available.
I actually got accepted into the housing at SFSU last year and decided against it because it was just too expensive for what I was getting. Definately not worth it, in my opinion. There is tons of housing in the area and nearby the public transportation is really convenient and drops you right in front of the campus.
It may seem daunting at first but just move a couple weeks early and give yourself time to get to know the area and transportation. It really isn’t that complicated, I promise.
Here is a website that I found really helpful in finding housing; there are tons of students looking for roomates. Just type SFSU into the keywords box. Good luck.
You live in the same state. Take a road trip, check out the neighborhoods around campus. Find a room. Leave the I-need-priority-because-I-can’t-cope housing for people who are coming from different countries and whose english may not be so good (yes, I know it’s a state school, but I bet there will be some).
BTW, the above was not meant to imply that foreigners can’t cope, just that it can be much harder to find housing when you don’t understand the local cultural codes and/or have a strong accent.
You may be 398 on the list but you should call the office and find out exactly what that means. For instance, most freshmen may sign up for campus rooms (some universities don’t allow freshmen to live off campus) but the rooms aren’t made available until sophomores officially give them up (in order to move off-campus). Or, most freshmen sign up for campus housing but don’t take it because they find other accommodations.
In any case, although they won’t promise you anything, they may be able to tell you that you probably won’t have any real trouble getting a room on-campus unless you’re 600+ on the list. Of course, they may also tell you that you’d better find accommodations off-campus quickly!
If you are not financially self-sufficient, you probably should bring a parent with you to scout out a room as landlords may require that a parent guaranty the rent.
Do you have a legitimate medical condition that would make attending the school impossible if you lived off-campus? If not, you’re likely stuck that low on the list, since many of the students in front of you want to stay on campus just as much as you do.
When did you apply for on-campus housing? I don’t know anything about your school, but being 398 on the list indicates you must have put the paperwork in pretty late. You’re probably stuck w a place off-campus; from what I understand about San Fran, you should consider that a great opportunity.
A quick look at the sfsu website put me at this page, which looks to be a great resource for someone in your position, especially the part where you can find other students in a situation similar to yours. Give it a try.
btw: the CAPITAL LETTER-type letters usually illicit laughter and skepticism more than sympathy, but words like ‘please’ can go a long way. We also get threats like ‘if you can’t give us (pick one: more financial aid/the room we want/a place in that major), my child isn’t coming to school there.’ That rarely works, either.
Call them and ask them your chances of getting in, and if it’s not good if they can guide you to off campus housing.
Use an internet service to find an apartment or roommate with an apartment. In most college towns there are a lot of people desperate for roommates who have bailed out. Try Roommates.com, easyroomate.com, rent.com, apartments.com to start.
If you “HAVE” to get on campus housing, you can always make it on the school’s football team. Around here they get the first choice of the newest/best apartments on campus.
No offense but you don’t sound like you’re ready to go off to college.
I’m sure your school will be rather picky about medical conditions - before they give you priority due to one, they’ll require documentation. My school’s housing division is quite demanding in that area. Chances are you won’t find the BART all that hard anyway - I’ve never been to San Francisco but isn’t the BART supposed to be pretty efficient? Besides, on campus housing is usually pretty expensive compared to what you can get if you look around nearby. It’s easier to deal with, but you trade a lot of your freedom and self-sufficiency for that. You get treated as a semi-child in exchange for not having to buy your own toilet paper.
In case it’s not obvious to people on the east coast, or people who may have been misguided by the movie Orange County, California is a freaken long state. It’s about an 8 hour drive from LA to San Fran, give or take an hour depending on traffic. A road trip is possible, but not trivial.
vold, San Fran is a hell of a lot easier to get around than LA. Take deep breaths, calm down, and start looking at some of these roommate finding resources people are finding for you. You’ll be fine.
Yah, I used to live in Washington (state, not D.C.). Which is why I called the L.A. - S.F. trek a road trip. But it’s not impossible to do in a weekend, and well worth the time if vold can score an apartment, or at least figure out where to start looking.
This is very interesting. You see, virtually all Canadian Universities guarantee on-campus housing for first years.
Anyway, on-campus you’ll be stuck with roommates you don’t know…off-campus you’ll be stuck with roommates you don’t know…so what does it matter? :dubious:
I had a similar problem when I went to college, except they were going to stick the freshmen 8±deep into the lounges at the end of each floor. I called every single day and asked when I would have a room and asked how they intended to deal with my security in that situation.
Within a week, I had a room (and it was the nicest dorm room I’d ever seen, although I don’t think they consciously made a decision to give me a nice one). I also went through three roommates, the last of which was still living in the lounge at Thanksgiving! By that time, he probably had the lounge prettymuch to himself though, although there were still people there as I understand.
it’s not just about the housing, it’s also about meeting new people cause i wont know anyone there. it is much easier to meet new people living in the dorms than off campus.