November is upon us, and for many freshmen this means having their mailbox stuffed with information, advertisements and junk mail relating to the grand question, “Where are you going to live next year”?
Despite the fact that freshmen barely know anyone other than the people on their floor and that they have only known those people and the city and campus for a short two months, many feel pressured into making housing decisions about next year. This process is wrong, and students should put more thought into their important living decisions.
In the heart of the semester, apartments are looking for new residents to fill the vacancies left by graduating seniors. In order to fill these vacancies, they begin aggressively recruiting freshmen as early as October. This has led to the process that some students call “November Rush” in which freshmen, in a mad frenzy, rush to decide where they want to live next year, and who they want to live with. The process is facilitated by overeager apartment complexes wanting to sell as much space as expensively as they can.
Most freshmen are new to the city and the campus and do not yet know where they would be happiest living. I personally think living near State Street would be great for me, but if I took more time to explore Regent Street I might think differently. Two months is barely enough time for students to establish their favorite spots in the city, and this could be a major factor in determining where they want to live.
An even bigger issue than that is two months is not nearly enough time for students to establish who they want to live with for certain. Many rifts could potentially occur between friends when under the pressure of living together, and two months is not enough time to gauge those potential rifts. Although students may want to live with their best friends, it may be a good idea for them to look to other people if they feel styles might clash.
Being rushed into making these decisions forces students to make decisions that might be ill-advised. Housing contracts are legally binding documents, and a lot of thought should be put into them. If one person in an apartment loses their job, it could put all other roommates in dire straits. It is an important decision that requires a lot of thought, and rushing the decision undermines students’ ability to put that amount of thought into it.
According to University Housing, one of the best kept secrets in Madison is that good things come to those who wait. Many landlords do not place ads until winter or even later, and it is possible to find housing well into winter and spring. Most contracts are not due until March.
Also according to University Housing, many landlords will bring prices down for the apartments they could not sell, and as poor broke college students, we could all use some savings.
University Housing also suggests that returning students consider residence halls. Speaking from experience, though it may not be an environment that facilitates good sleeping and eating patterns, it certainly is a great place to meet new people.
Thought it is fine for freshmen to start thinking about these questions, the external pressure landlords place on them to make a quick rushed decision is wrong, and these landlords should know better. Freshmen students should feel less pressured to jump into a housing contract, allowing themselves to put more thought into the process and make better decisions. While many do not like the process they are complicit in it. In order to end this “November Rush” for future Badgers, freshmen should take their time and not let land lords push them.
Spencer Lindsay ([email protected]) is a freshman majoring in political science.
