Making a Second-Year Housing Decision
It is likely that your student is starting to think about where to live next year.
While it may seem like you just dropped your student off on campus, soon he or she will start to think about their living arrangements for next year.
At one time, if a lease wasn’t signed as soon as possible — as early as nine months before the next academic year — a student could end up living on a friend’s couch, far away from campus, or in less-than-desirable living arrangement. But those days are over.
Today, it is a renter’s market, with more quality housing options available than there are students to live in them. Despite this change, the stampede to sign leases each fall continues ... often, to the detriment of the student.
Many new students, pressured into signing a lease early, end up paying high rent, living with people they barely know, and opting out of what could be a better fit for living arrangements.
First-year students should first consider the benefits of continuing to live in University Housing residence halls. This year, approximately 22 percent of University Residence Hall residents are returning students. Everything a student needs is provided, which allows them to focus on academics, campus involvement, and activities. Living off campus brings independence, but — for some — also the loss of a safety net. Look carefully at what will suit your student best at this point in his or her life and help your student make a thoughtful decision about where to live.
Students living in University Residence Halls should check their wisc.edu e-mail accounts on Jan. 26, 2011 for an important survey about Rooms Online, the second-year room assignment system. The survey needs to be complete by Feb. 3, 2011. If students choose to return to the residence halls, they are given a date and time to select their 2011–2012 room assignments. Contracts and deposits are due March 1, 2011 for the 2011–2012 academic year, and can be made online or in person at the Cashier’s Office in the lower level of Slichter Hall.
If your student chooses to live in one of the neighboring campus communities, and wants a quality place that is convenient to campus, he or she should resist the commercial messages to “sign now before they’re all gone,” and wait until after winter break to begin a serious housing search. That’s when the broadest options will be available and rent prices often start to fall.
During winter break, talk with your student about the type of living arrangements being explored.
When your student is ready to sign a lease agreement, the property owner may require parents or guardians to co-sign. A co-signer is someone who contractually accepts financial responsibility for payment if the student fails to pay the monthly rent. Most landlords allow each student on the lease to be responsible for only his or her portion of the total monthly rent. That way, if a roommate fails to pay, the burden isn’t put on everyone else. However, you or your student will want to ask specific questions about this to be sure. Regardless, it is always a good idea to make sure your student knows and trusts the people with whom he or she will be living.
Let your student know how you feel about co-signing a lease. Some parents choose not to. If that’s the case, tell your student so that he or she can look for properties that do not require co-signing.
What your student commits to, and where and with whom he or she lives, are big decisions. Encourage your student to visit each of the places under consideration in person, and to not make hasty rental decisions.
For more information on the November rush-leasing myth or for a list of available rentals, visit the Campus Area Housing website. For information about living in University Residence Halls, visit http://www.housing.wisc.edu.
If you are attending First-Year Parents’ Weekend in November, be sure to attend the session “Making a Second-Year Housing Decision.” For those not able to attend, a video of this session will be posted on the Parent Program website after November 15.
Questions about housing for next year? We have answers!
University Housing, the UW-Madison Parent Program and the Campus Area Housing service coordinated by Visitor & Information Programs are teaming up to host a live informational Web chat about 2010–11 housing options from 6–7 p.m. (CST) on Wednesday, November 3. Participants are encouraged to submit their own questions or simply sit back and observe the chat. For those who can’t participate in the live chat, a complete transcript will be posted the following day on the Parent Program website.