Staying informed about the housing process

Photo by FIU Housing, via flickr

Adrianne Richardson/Contributing Writer 

To start things off, I would like to send my condolences to those students who wanted to live in the new Parkview dormitory next semester and were denied due to lack of space. Click faster next time.

The Housing and Residential Life office strives to provide organization when it comes down to signing up for housing through housing appointments. These appointments are given to each student within a one-to-three week period and each student is responsible for remembering their own appointment time or it’s better luck next time.

Now, here is what I don’t understand on the student’s part. Why is it that some students claim to not have a place to stay when everyone receives a sign up time? Three students that I spoke with prior to writing this article admitted to missing their sign up time and “having to be assigned to a dormitory that they didn’t want.”

Here is some advice for incoming freshmen and upperclassmen that are considering on campus housing for next fall/spring semester:

The Housing office has a waiting list the size of forever and the time to sign up through assignments has passed, so start looking for an apartment of some kind which holds up to your standard of living, just to be on the safe side.

Another important reminder is that financial aid is not given during the summer term unless it is your first term as a student in college. As a consequence, to stay on campus you will either have to use a loan or pay out of pocket.

“I really love the on campus life, I live in Apartments,” said sophomore Shancovia Pearson. “[But] when I found out there will not be financial aid for the summer term, I knew immediately that I would be living at home.”

It is very important to know your surroundings, especially when living on campus. For example, one day while I was walking to class, a student came up to me and asked where the Housing office was on campus because they needed to pay something. Obviously, the fact that they needed to pay something means that they lived on campus. The example proves that some students still haven’t learned their school.

By now, you should know where everything is located, especially the Housing office if you live on campus. The Housing office is located in University Towers dormitory; this is the huge overarching building near Panther Hall, Lakeview, and the POD store in the Housing Quad. Now, if you do not know where any of the aforementioned places are, then sign up for a tour with FIU’s Office of Undergraduate Admissions.

As students here at FIU, we have no reason not to know when important dates are coming up. Everyone gets the emails and it is up to you whether or not you decide to read them! I highly suggest that you do for your own benefit.

The on-campus life can be a wonderful experience, but it is only an experience rewarded to those who pay attention to deadlines. Not just anyone can handle this life, everything that glitters isn’t gold. Do your research before deciding where to live, and by research I mean ask around – don’t ask me though.

Thank me later.

opinion@fiusm.com