Due to a limited number of housing spaces available, Res Life cannot guarantee housing to all who fill out a housing application. Each year, when it appears that every room has been filled, each person participating in the housing lottery is notified and given information on how to sign up for the wait list.
Once we have a wait list and people begin to cancel their housing contracts as extraneous circumstances lead to a change in their plans, we start to offer those newly-vacant spots to the wait list. Because the wait list is constantly changing, it is hard to know exactly where each student is on the list. So how will you know whether to make new plans?First, make sure to join the wait list, and make your housing preferences as broad as possible. Contact us to find out in a very general sense where you are on the wait list, and we can advise you on whether or not to plan to find off-campus housing.
So what to do about this off-campus housing pickle:
- Join Reed College Housing Board & Lost and Found Facebook page. This is an unaffiliated page, but very populated with Reed people. This is where community members post offers for housing positions as they become available in Reed houses, and where you can post an “ask” for available rooms within your price range, and with however many people you are trying to find housing with. It may be possible to only find subletting conditions until the end of summer, and then getting on a permanent lease. Figuring out the logistics may take patience and some creativity.
- Join Reed College Switchboard! This is a Reed Affiliated site that allows current students and alumni to post asks/offers for housing. The advantage of the Reed-specific housing pages is that the available housing stays within the Reed community. So “ask” away! Be as specific and as flexible as possible.
- Look into unaffiliated apartments: The Wimbledons and the Garden Parks are the closest and some of the most popular apartments for current Reed students due to their proximity to campus and their proximity to community safety. A new apartment community by Solterra in the Brooklyn neighborhood is also opening up.
Make checking these sites a part of your daily habit for a bit to avoid making the very last day of school incredibly stressful! email us at res-life@reed.edu with further questions.
