what are acceptees doing about housing if on waitlist?

[maitai]

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i'm accepted at wake forest but would go to IU or USF if they pull me from their wait lists (maybe tulane, too). this could potentially happen the day before classes start. i'm thinking maybe i'll go try to find a place in early july, and then break the lease if i get into one of the other schools. anyone else have any better ideas or thoughts on this? there's probably already a thread somewhere out there in the distant past, but this seems pretty relevant now. thanks for your input!

 

[TommyGunn04]

I'm in the same situation with Penn. I'm definitely going to Duke if I get in off the waitlist, but otherwise I need to get housing at Penn.

What happens if you break a lease? I was told that I could get someone else to take my place, but then would I be legally responsible?

This whole waitlist thing is a big pain in the arse!

 

[maitai]

i think usually they get to keep your deposit, but i don't think you're responsible for rent after that. does anyone know for sure what the general rule is? it probably also depends on how nice your landlord is. you could always sublet, but that's a pain in the arse.

 

[Dr. L]

One option is to sublet--although not all apartment buildings/landlords allow sublettng. If university housing is available, that is a lot easier to get out of and to only lose maybe a few hundred dollars. My sister got off the waitlist for law school and did a crazy switch to a new city the week before classes started. After bargaining with her landlord, she had to pay two months rent and then he let her out of the lease.

 

[Wednesday]

If you have a lease, you are actually responsible for all of the rent for the term of the lease even if you leave early. So basically if your landlord was a jerk, they could make you pay rent for the rest of the year. There is usually something in the contract that says that until they fill the place again you have to pay rent and then you can get out of the lease. It may depend on the state. But everything should be in the lease contract that you sign. Most likely you won't have to pay the entire year of rent if you break a lease, but it is a possibility, and you probably will owe more than just the deposit. Campus housing probably is the safest option.

 

[matthew0126]

I'm pretty lucky in this aspect. My parents live 90 minutes from the school I'm in (UCSD) and 45 minutes (without traffic) from the school I'm waitlisted at (UCLA). So I'm not going to rush and get an apartment. If I'm lucky enough to get pulled off but it's near the start of school, I'll just commute for the first week or so until I find a place to stay.

 

[IlliniEMT1]

For those of you that are accepted but hoping to get off a waitlist elsewhere, how long are you willing to wait before you give up on the waitlist and make permanent arrangements?

 

[trouta]

Im in the same predicament. Here is how I look at it: Since I really want to go to the school I am waitlisted at, I am holding off on getting housing anywhere until I know for sure. Sure I will get screwed in housing the first year, but that is a small price to pay to be where I want to be.

 

[brickmanli]

Exactly, three months of extra rent is nothing compared to the extra hundred grand you'll be getting every year once you graduated from your top school. This is an excuse to get away from your family and maybe do some research during the summer.

I've noticed one annoying trend among some state and lower tier schools, the orientation days take place earlier. Do they do this on purpose to retain accepted students? I don't know if this happens with housing weekends as well.

 

[WaitingImpatiently]

•••quote:•••Originally posted by brickmanli:
•Exactly, three months of extra rent is nothing compared to the extra hundred grand you'll be getting every year once you graduated from your top school. This is an excuse to get away from your family and maybe do some research during the summer.
•••••You're right, but I have a hard time looking that far into the future. I'm in the same boat as the posters above me, and I REALLY don't like the idea of paying $1000+ for a place that I'm not living in.