Tag Archives: lottery

Housing After First Year

It’s the question on everyone’s mind – even before they start at UBC. “Where will I live after first year?” UBC is fabulous and guarantees housing for all first year students, which definitely makes first year a bit less stressful, but after that year is over, the remaining housing on campus is basically a free-for-all between all students of other years, not to mention grad students (although there are some areas designated for grad students).  So housing after first year will typically go one of a few ways:

1) You win the winter session lottery. You lucky bum!  Housing is now taken care of for you.  However, most of the people who apply for winter session housing don’t get it. So what then?

2) You get year-round housing.  Year round housing is often the next stop for people looking for housing on campus.  And it’s what it sounds like; you sign a year lease and get to live there for the whole 12 months, and you can renew at the end of the year without having to go on a waiting list again. But let’s say you don’t get into year-round either (or don’t want it). What happens next can be quite different for different people.

3) Stay with family. People with relatives or friends of the family who live close to UBC will often try to rent out their basements. Pretty solid plan, if you’ve got a relative with a vacancy. I however, do not.

4) Find an apartment/basement suite for rent off campus.  Plenty of people in the Kitsilano and Kerrisdale areas (and other areas surrounding UBC) will rent their rooms out to students. However, if you want to be close to the university it can often be very pricy, so finding something suitable can sometimes be tricky.  There are plenty of sites to look on for places though, such as amsrentsline.com, kijiji, and Rent BC.

5) Get a condo. This is what I’ve ended up doing. Now, I know what you’re probably thinking: Oh my goodness, your family must be rich! Well, no, middle class really, we just happened to be able to afford getting a condo.  And it’s what’s best for us, I mean, I’ll be sharing with a roommate to share the cost of the mortgage, I won’t have to worry about paying high rent during the summer of a 1-year lease, I won’t have to find new housing every year, if I want to go on exchange the condo will be waiting for me, and all the money we put into the mortgage now, we’ll get back when we sell the place when I graduate, instead of money that we never get back from rent.

 

Okay. I’ll be honest. Every time I said “we” there I really mean my parents…

 

I feel sure there are other things people have done for housing over the years, and if I’ve missed any please let me know in comments!

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Filed under Residence

Residence Lottery Results

Around campus, in the dorms, on the buses – all people are talking about are the results of the residence lottery.

It is well known that here at UBC, first year students are guaranteed a place in residence – it’s a nice, secure feeling, as a freshman coming in.  However, once first year is over, it’s gamble everyone from 2nd year students up have to take part in if they want to live on campus.  The lottery is about as fair as they can make it, but the majority of people I’ve talked to or heard talking didn’t get in.  I didn’t.

It’s fine, I’m not panicking (unlike some of my friends).  There will be plenty of places off campus I can look into closer to fall, and I’m not too high up on the wait list for year round housing.  Honestly, I’d rather not live in year round housing, because it’s a lot more expensive than many off campus sites, but if everything else falls through, there’s a chance I could be in Thunderbird or Marine next year.  I have an idea of where I want to live off campus, but I won’t know if it’s possible until late May or early June.

Either way, I’m not about to freak out and get upset.  My friends and I (probably) won’t spilt up just because we aren’t living together. (Who knows, it could actually be better for our relationships.)  I won’t die if I have to take a long-ish commute.  Getting to know new people won’t be so bad.

If anyone else is in the same position as me, I mean, I’m not experienced in this situation, but I feel safe in saying that everything will be all right. :)

-Samantha

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Filed under Campus Life, Residence