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Frequently Asked Housing- Related Questions

The Department of Housing and Residential Life would like to provide you with some key information regarding new student housing. The answers to these questions often come via the phone or email. In an effort to ensure information is being distributed accurately, we hope that you will use this as a guide to answer any questions or guide the student to the correct person.

Office of Housing Staff

  • Summer Housing Assistant- assists in tracking incoming students housing information and matches roommates.
  • Cindy Vogelzang, Housing Coordinator- coordinates housing processes under the direction of the Associate Dean of Students. Also, responsible for returning students housing information and housing assignments.
  • Dee Campanella, Associate Director of Residential Life and Housing
  • Dr. John Jobson, Associate Dean of Students and Director of Residential Life and Housing

FREQUENTLY ASKED HOUSING QUESTIONS:

Is there guaranteed housing?

  • If you received a housing card from the housing office and return your housing card, then you are guaranteed a space on campus.

Where are students generally housed?

  • To provide the most conducive learning and living environment, we generally house students in the following configuration.
    • First Year Students-Durfee, Dykstra, Gilmore, Kollen, Scott, VanVleck, Voorhees, Wykoff.
    • Readmit and Transfer Students- apartments, cottages and Cook. Due to limited space, it will be difficult to house these students in residential halls.

All my friends have received their housing assignments but I have not received mine:

  • We will begin mailing out assignments (starting with those Housing Card received by June 8), the week of July 23 and after that on a weekly basis.
  • Since we hand match all roommates, we often want to make sure we are able to have as many options as possible in the pool of roommates. This sometimes forces us to wait until more housing cards are returned.
  • If you have not received your housing assignment by Friday, August 10, please contact the Housing Office (housing@hope.edu or 616-395-7943).

I received a housing assignment indicating that I have been placed in "alternative housing". What is it?

  • Due to increased enrollment, housing spaces are being utilized in a variety of ways. If you received your assignment stating you are in alternative housing, you are housed in a location that is not utilized unless we are in this situation.
  • Alternative does not mean that the space you are given is not comparable to other spaces on campus. You will have the same amount of furniture (bed, dresser, desk, desk chair, closet).
  • Alternative housing arrangements may be in a study lounge, or other common area such as an exercise room. Bathroom and shower facilities are located near all locations used for alternative housing.

I requested to live in X hall but was placed in Y hall:

  • While we do try to honor hall preferences, we have limited space for first year students in certain residence halls.
  • Students may be placed on a waiting list and if anything opens in that particular hall, we can contact them. To be placed on a wait list students should contact the housing office (housing@hope.edu or 616-395-7943).

I requested to live anywhere BUT Dykstra:

  • We try to honor all of the requests that we receive. However, because of limited spaces in residence halls, we were unable to fill all of them.
  • Dykstra holds about 300 freshmen women. Being our largest female hall, most frist-year women are assigned to this hall.
  • The majority of women who have lived in Dykstra their freshmen year have enjoyed their experience in Dykstra Hall.
  • Students may be placed on a waiting list and if anything opens in that particular hall, we can contact them. To be placed on a wait list students should contact the housing office.

I heard rumors about this residence hall:

  • It is important to remember that not all reputations or rumors are true.
  • Our residence halls are what the students make of them. We have different students living in each hall, each year and the dynamics change with the students. It is important to go into your living situation with an open mind and no preconceived notions.

I requested to live in the same cluster/residence hall as my friend and we didn't get housed together:

  • We receive many housing requests and try to fill them as best as possible.
  • The most common cause for this occurs if either you or your friend's Housing Card came in after June 8, 2012. We are often unable to fill this request in these situations.

I am playing a sport and wanted to live with a teammate or other student-athlete but didn't get one as a roommate:

  • Although there are quite a few incoming student-athletes, we are not made aware unless the student identifies on their Housing Card that they are a student-athlete.
  • We do try to match student-athletes request to live with another student-athlete, but we do look at other information on the Housing Cards as well to ensure the best possible roommate match.

Why was I housed with an upper classmen?

  • We had a few upper division students without roommates. We consolidated as many of them as we could to house incoming students together.
  • As we begin to house the incoming students we fill the empty rooms first and then move on to filling the spaces with these upper classmen.
  • Although you will be a roommate with an upper classmen, you will have other first year students in the residence hall with you.

Why do I have two roommates instead of one (triple rooms)?

  • There are a few rooms in Dykstra and in Voorhees that house three students per room.
  • These rooms were built to accommodate three students and are larger than the two person rooms.

When can I move in?

  • If you are a new student, you can move in on Friday, August 24, 2012 at 10:00am. Please check in at your residence hall.
  • If you are a returning student, you can move in on Sunday, August 26, 2012 at noon. Please check in at your residential facility.

Can I come and see my room?

  • Due to the residential facilities often being occupied by conferences, the rooms are not available for show over the summer.
  • The dimensions for residence hall room can be found by clicking on the picture of the respective community at hope.edu/student/residential/tour.html

What size sheets should I purchase?

  • The mattresses in all of our facilities are 36 in. X 80 in. The XL sheets are often 36in. X 84 in. It never hurts to check the size of the sheets you are buying.