Large Cardboard Boxes

They’re sounding pretty attractive to people on the wait list.

891 is my lucky number, so I’m not even thinking about living in res next year. I’ve never been in a situation where I don’t know where I’m going to live. In a catastrophe, I will be homeless next year because all of the other people on the waiting list took all the housing in the lower mainland.

But fear not! There are other options. They are outlined in the pretty daunting long email basically saying “Oh hi first year international student, there’s no chance you’re getting housing next year. Good luck!” But that email is not exactly fun to sort through, so here’s a few options for people. I didn’t know these existed until I got wait listed, so I’m pretty sure a bunch of other people don’t know about them either. (This list does not include graduate student housing.)

On Campus:

Year round housing: Self explanatory, pretty simple, and pretty repetitive. I’ve heard so many times to apply for year round housing, but one of the problems is (and with a significant amount of other places) that you have to be 20 for some of them. However, you can put in your application for free if you respond to the wait list email. Given that this option was one listed in the email though, I’m not sure of your chances of getting in since 2,000+ people got the same message. Either way, it’s worth taking into consideration. Marine Drive is nice, yet expensive, as most people know, but it’s really not that much more expensive if you’re looking for a nice place close to campus. I’ve never been in Thunderbird, but by the looks of the outside, it seems like a decent place, even though it’s as far as the forestry building.

Fraser Hall: One of the few non-religious and not affiliated with UBC housing places to live on campus. I can’t say I know much about this place or any of the others to follow, but I will provide links that will lead to more information: http://www.fraserhall.net/index.html

Greenwood Commons: This is run by the same people as Fraser Hall and Granite Terrace (below). http://www.greenwoodcommons.ca/index.php

Granite Terrace: http://graniteterrace.com/

VAPA: This is only open to female UBC students given that it is affiliated with sororities, however, I don’t think you have to be in one to live in their residence. http://www.vapa.bc.ca/

The following three are religious residences, which is not my specialty, so I will leave their websites to do the talking for them: (Also, just because these are religiously affiliated does not mean they aren’t worth checking out, but they might be harder to get into if you cannot get proper references.)

St. Andrew’s Hall: http://www.standrews.edu/

Carey Centre: http://www.careycentre.com/facility/

Vancouver School of Theology: http://www.vst.edu/main/

Off campus:

I really haven’t looked into it that much, but there are some options listed at http://www.housing.ubc.ca/other-housing/off-campus-hse. I could be wrong, but most of what is there doesn’t seem to be long-term housing, but the one other link that is important on that page is http://www.amsrentsline.com/ which gives you off campus housing options close to UBC. There are also bulletin boards in the SUB and International House that have similar types of listings to those on AMS rents line. Finally, I’m not sure about the quality of the links on this site, but if you’re still having trouble or want to consider every option go here: http://www.housing.ubc.ca/other-housing/helpful-links (The fraternities and sororities also have housing if you’re so inclined.)

Good luck on your search! :)