This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at F and M chapter.
The semester is barely underway, and we are forced to already look towards next year. Although not stressful enough, the whole lottery system is such an ordeal, after it all you’ll feel relieved that it’s all figured out before even spring break. But this is the time where you need to look into your friendships and address whether you can stand living with certain people for a whole year, or if you’re lucky, you already have a solid group of friends you know you want to live with next year. So with the mass amount of emails flooding your inboxes and no clear cut explanation, this is where Her Campus has your back as always about what housing would be best for you!
If you are a Freshman…
- Thomas
- Each college house has their own floor where you can only room with friends from your house, or the very rare 1st floor which is a mix of houses and you can inter-house mix. But because of freshman going last in the lottery it’s very hard to get a suite on this floor.
- Options of 4 or 5-person suites with one double and the rest single bedrooms connected by a common living room with couches and a dining table. (Bathrooms are communal and down the hall)
- Schnader
- Each college house has a designated floor where you can either choose to live in a single or double room (with only people from your college house, of course.) These rooms are very similar in size and furniture to what you had in your first year rooms.
- Back home in your college house
- Either if you apply to be an HA in your college house or there is also the option of limited triples or doubles in some of your college houses.
- **For New and Weiss, you have a completely different lottery system because there are more rooms for sophomores, your Dean will inform you of those complicated lottery systems.
- Themed housing
- These are difficult to get as priority is given to upperclassmen. But the option is still there. If you go on the housing website you can see the different houses offered, but the most common ones are Sustainability, Arts, and Substance Free. These all require application processes and are not guaranteed. The living options would be a single with a full bed and you would be living on your own in a townhouse on West James near the seminary. Having to share a full kitchen and laundry with 5-7 housemates.
If you are a Sophomore/Junior…
- You have all the same options as last year, but with a higher priority as you get a better lottery number than the freshman.
- CROW
- The time has finally come where you can qualify to lease the coveted apartments at college row either above Iron Hill or Fresh Farms.
- These are newly built, fully furnished apartments with a great security system, laundry on the floor of your unit.
- Full kitchen and you have a single with a full bed in your unit of either 1, 3, or 4 people.
- **rent is cheaper the more bedrooms in the unit
- Although the biggest downside to this option is the price – when you sign your lease it is a 12 month lease, so unless you plan on staying in Lancaster over the summer for a class or job, you are paying for an empty apartment for 3 months, which is the hardest sell on your parents, I would know..
- But overall it is close to Martin and LSP, making it one of the more popular off-campus options and price-wise all off-campus options are about the same.
- Also if you plan on going abroad one of the semesters, you can still sign a lease and sublet it, people are always looking to sublet in CROW, so it’s definitely not a waste.
- LOFTS
- Again very popular among athletes, these are furnished apartments right across the street from Mean Cup, Beliers, Suko Thai…etc. A few blocks further away om campus but still manageable, (the school even runs shuttles during the day).
- In the middle of a residential area, so noise complaints are high, usually on the weekends. But the one downside is as these are a popular place for mixers, and are extremely difficult to navigate which unit is which, they are really loud, and you have to be prepared for random people walking in getting units confused and the hallways and stairs to be trashed on the usual.
- West James Houses
- Much like Themed houses, these are college owned townhouses down West James and Lemon Street that are available through the lottery system.