Housing for Transfers
UR Housing is popular
Most University of Rochester students live on campus (~84%), and UR welcomes transfer students to join our residential undergraduate community as much as possible. To support student goals, UR has built and sustains many different kinds of campus housing; yet in recent years the popularity of all of our facilities has exceeded the number of available spaces. Thus, we currently can't accommodate every transfer student who will want to live on campus.
By the numbers
During the most recent years, on average about ~65 entering transfer students apply for fall housing and ~15 entering students request campus housing for spring term. Each year, UR has been able to accommodate 30 – 35 transfer students for fall term housing and (all) ~15 starting in January for spring term housing. Those students who we were not able to accommodate in the fall and who are still desiring housing, were able to secure on campus housing for spring term.
Transfer students who do apply for fall term housing are not likely to hear about housing until after July 15 at the earliest. And some assignments will come later, sometimes close to the date classes begin. In fact, each fall ~5 students have received their campus housing assignment in early September after classes begin, as late changes in other students' plans make spaces available.
Real options
Many UR transfer students live off-campus in apartments or shared homes in student-friendly Rochester neighborhoods. There are some transfer students who prefer to live off-campus and never apply for on campus housing. Others have sought housing off-campus for one or two semesters because they were unsuccessful in their first attempt to get a campus housing assignment.
Off-campus housing options for college students in Rochester are affordable, safe, can offer both parking and/or public transportation options, and come in a range of prices and lifestyles. Students seeking off-campus housing can depend on support from the Off Campus Housing staff in the Office of Residential Life while finding a good match for their educational plans.
Process and timing
For your best chance at securing on campus housing, apply as early as you can. Transfer admissions occur on a rolling basis throughout the late spring and summer, but do your best to get the housing materials in as quickly as possible.
Students entering as transferring freshmen and sometimes sophomores will have a higher priority for housing placement ahead of students entering at more advanced class standing. Students moving to Rochester from out of the area, including international students, will have priority over students who live locally. While these are the general placement priorities for assigning transfer students, it does not guarantee housing placement for all that may meet those criteria. We will do our best to place as many transfer students in housing as we are able.
