In just a few short weeks, the final push for the spring 2018 semester will be upon the Cabrini community. Although still finishing up this academic year, students across campus are beginning to make preparations for the 2018-2019 school year.
With the recent influx of Cabrini’s enrollment, housing has become increasingly hard to come by. Upperclassmen have the most to worry about, due to the fact they are last in line when it comes to choosing where they want to live.
“I’m a little worried I will not be able to get housing,” Kasey Alff, a junior marketing major, said. “If I don’t, I’ll just have to commute from home.”
Like past years, the incoming class of 2022 will occupy Xavier, Woodcrest and most of East, thus leaving the sophomores through senior classes to battle it out for rooms in Houses 1-7, West, the Cabrini Apartment Complex or Valley Forge. With the freshmen class size getting increasingly larger each year, many students wonder how much housing will be available in the upcoming fall semester.
Housing is not guaranteed on the Cabrini campus, causing much concern for students hoping to find a place to stay on campus. Although the office of Residence Life wants to accommodate all students, they are aware it may not be possible.
“Like most schools, we rely on the historical averages that consider both the incoming class and the percentage of students who typically wish to remain in on campus housing,” Stephen Rupprecht, interim director of Residence Life at Cabrini University, said. “Housing has never been guaranteed for all Cabrini students, this is why we have a lottery system.”
Taylor McColgan, a junior psychology major, admits that there is cause for concern when it comes to housing availability. Although she will consider possibly moving to the Valley Forge apartment complex, McColgan said her preference is to stay on campus.
“I’m kind of open to Valley Forge, but I would definitely prefer to be on campus,” McColgan said. “I am very concerned about whether or not I’ll have housing next year and I don’t have any backup plans yet, but it’s something that I definitely need to start thinking about.”
Some students ultimately find it easier to just commute, rather than deal with founding housing.
John Myers, a junior writing major, has opted to live off campus since his sophomore year. Myers believes that commuting has saved some money, along with relieving the stress of worrying about on campus housing options.
“I lived on campus freshman year but ultimately I decided to commute because it was more cost efficient,” Myers said.
Myers plans to continue commuting his senior year from Newtown Square, only a 15-minute drive from Cabrini’s campus.
Another big concern for students is finding roommates. As a freshman, students take a survey about personal likes and dislikes to pair them with a person with similar traits; however, after freshman year, it is up to the students to find who they may want to room with.
When looking for a new roommate, students tend to struggle because most people are already paired with someone. In this situation, students are encouraged to try and look for a new roommate through one of their current classes or a class-specific Facebook group. If they are not successful in either of these cases, students will be randomly matched.
The housing selection process can be a tedious one, especially to those who may be unfamiliar with it. The process as a whole is spread out over a few weeks and requires students to complete multiple steps in order to grant housing for the following academic year.
Students will begin by completing the housing application that started on Monday, March 26. This application is accessible by visiting CabriniOne and will be available until April 26.
After completing the housing application, students will have the chance to attend an optional housing information session, hosted in select residence halls. The dates and times for these information sessions can be found on Cabrini’s website.
In order to receive a lottery number for housing, students must register for fall classes by April 26 at the latest. On April 27, students will be able to access their randomized lottery number. On the same day, students can also select roommates and suite mates. Both can be done by visiting CabriniOne in the “myhousing” portal.
The lottery number students receive act as a virtual place in line when the day comes for their class year to pick housing. Rising sophomores will pick on Monday, April 30. While rising juniors and seniors will select on Tuesday, May 1.
“While we would like to house everyone, including seniors, the university believes that our senior students are most prepared and ready to live in an off-campus setting,” Rupprecht said.
