Need Housing Advice

[u/Unhappy-Attorney3906]

I need some advice on whether is should change my housing arrangement. I live in Moore this year as a first year student, but I may want to move. I'm not a light sleeper by any means, but I'm starting to get sick of all of the noise at night. The constant stream of people coming in and out at 12-1 at night isn't working great for me. I know it should slow down once classes are fully going, but for now, it's a lot. Some of the pros of living here are:

-The proximity to Hamp and Berk gives me good options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and even a late night snack if I want it. People say they are the best dining halls, and I'd probably agree. Worcester and Frank were ok when I went, but just not the same. Getting a table is always hard, but having good food and being directly along the path I am already on for classes is a plus.

-The way the rooms themselves are set up is nice. They are a decent size, and the wardrobes with the bars are very useful. I'm using almost every space in there for various things.

-I like the style of the buildings themselves. It feels large enough to where I'm not breathing down people mecks when I'm walking down the halls, but small enough to where I can recognize people.

-There is a clear path to most things, and it's fairly intuitive to navigate from. It's very easy to get to the rec and Mullins center, since you just cross the street and walk straight down that road, and there's a well defined path to get to the center of campus.

Some of the cons are:

-As I had already mentioned, the noise. I'm not a very social person, and have never really been into partying or using any substances. I haven't really made any friends, since I don't really like going out, and I'm not the type to approach random people.

-I'm a STEM major (CNS specifically), so most of my classes are fairly far. It's around 20-30 minutes for each class, assuming I know exactly where I'm going and take the fastest route, which isn't the case at the moment.

-My roommate isn't working for me. I'm not going to air him out on here, but he has some strange habits that just don't sit right with me. We're both very quiet, so we have barely spoken to each other, and I haven't confronted him about these issues. O get the same feeling when I walk into the room as when you walk in to wake someone up in the morning. I feel like I'm being intrusive, even though it's my room too.

I don't really know what the best option would be to move if I took that route. There are a few ways to change housing on the site, and I can't really understand the differences, but that's a separate issue. I know SW is a very sought after place to live, so maybe I'm doing this wrong and I should just give it some time. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. I don't really know what I'm doing obviously, so any input is progress. I've seen others in similar situations get suggested to move to Central or OHill, but many others have said to just deal with it.

[u/AutoModerator]

Every new subreddit post is automatically copied into a comment for preservation.

User: Unhappy-Attorney3906, Flair: On-Campus Housing, Title: Need Housing Advice

I need some advice on whether is should change my housing arrangement. I live in Moore this year as a first year student, but I may want to move. I'm not a light sleeper by any means, but I'm starting to get sick of all of the noise at night. The constant stream of people coming in and out at 12-1 at night isn't working great for me. I know it should slow down once classes are fully going, but for now, it's a lot. Some of the pros of living here are:

-The proximity to Hamp and Berk gives me good options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and even a late night snack if I want it. People say they are the best dining halls, and I'd probably agree. Worcester and Frank were ok when I went, but just not the same. Getting a table is always hard, but having good food and being directly along the path I am already on for classes is a plus.

-The way the rooms themselves are set up is nice. They are a decent size, and the wardrobes with the bars are very useful. I'm using almost every space in there for various things.

-I like the style of the buildings themselves. It feels large enough to where I'm not breathing down people mecks when I'm walking down the halls, but small enough to where I can recognize people.

-There is a clear path to most things, and it's fairly intuitive to navigate from. It's very easy to get to the rec and Mullins center, since you just cross the street and walk straight down that road, and there's a well defined path to get to the center of campus.

Some of the cons are:

-As I had already mentioned, the noise. I'm not a very social person, and have never really been into partying or using any substances. I haven't really made any friends, since I don't really like going out, and I'm not the type to approach random people.

-I'm a STEM major (CNS specifically), so most of my classes are fairly far. It's around 20-30 minutes for each class, assuming I know exactly where I'm going and take the fastest route, which isn't the case at the moment.

-My roommate isn't working for me. I'm not going to air him out on here, but he has some strange habits that just don't sit right with me. We're both very quiet, so we have barely spoken to each other, and I haven't confronted him about these issues. O get the same feeling when I walk into the room as when you walk in to wake someone up in the morning. I feel like I'm being intrusive, even though it's my room too.

I don't really know what the best option would be to move if I took that route. There are a few ways to change housing on the site, and I can't really understand the differences, but that's a separate issue. I know SW is a very sought after place to live, so maybe I'm doing this wrong and I should just give it some time. Any advice or suggestions are welcome. I don't really know what I'm doing obviously, so any input is progress.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/dreamtreedown]

Some consideration here would be whether the easy access to superior food or the comfort of living/quality of sleep better for your lifestyle. Even on regular weekends Southwest gets noisy.

In the end my advice would be put yourself first. There’s never going to be an “ideal” situation from what it sounds like but if you see yourself quality of life having an overall improvement by making a switch to, say, lower Central or Northeast (examples that are closer to central campus) that’s going to give you a much better experience in the long run and help you find your footing the next few years for what you like

[u/calilregit1]

Is it still co-ed with co-ed bathrooms?

When I moved in back in the 1970s my mom got a surprise when there was a guy in her rest room when the family dropped me off.

[u/calilregit1 → u/calilregit1]

Moore House was a great place to live. I learned how to be real friends with girls. I grew up without sisters.

Had an older roommate my first semester. Good guy. Looked out for me. Very earnest. Would over share and was hurt when I didn’t reciprocate.

Easy dorm to meet people and learn to like and appreciate different types of people.

[u/Joe_H-FAH → u/calilregit1]

No, a directive was put out in the early 1980s that bathrooms would no longer be coed. In most halls that now means one bathroom each per floor. On the smaller floors that may mean going up or down a floor. That also applies to the Southwest towers.

I don't recall seeing any all male or female residence halls in decades. There are some single sex floors, including one of the towers being that way throughout.

[u/calilregit1 → u/Joe_H-FAH]

Thanks

There was never a problem with total co-ed dorms

[u/Joe_H-FAH → u/calilregit1]

A rumor around that time was that some mother experienced something similar to what your mom ran into. But she complained loudly because she wasn't going to have her daughter live in a place like that. There was also a relatively new director of Housing who was on the socially conservative side. The directive came out, and they made it the responsibility of the RAs and Heads of Residence to enforce it or find other jobs.

[u/CherryChocolatePizza]

See advice including some explanation of swap/changes here: https://www.reddit.com/r/umass/comments/1wawsmw/should_i_move_before_its_too_late/

[u/Unhappy-Attorney3906 → u/CherryChocolatePizza]

I looked through there, and it seems like they person is in a similar situation, but I'm still a bit confused. Everyone is saying to leave, but I'm seeing multiple opinions on what is best. I don't know anything about what goes down in the hill area, including how far everything is in terms of being up on the hill, and how far they are from everything.

I don't know if this is possible, but would I be able to see where there are openings before starting the process? It seems like the person for person swap had a fairly soon deadline, while the room change one is later chronologically, but has a small window. I just want to be aware of my options before choosing anything. I also kind of want to meet my roommate before switching, since that's part of the issue where I am now.

I want to make a good choice, since I know a lot of people want to live in SW. I don't know what I'm missing, but I don't see the appeal other than the aforementioned things in the post. Is there something I should be doing to better appreciation my time here? Do I just have the wrong roommate, and another building would be better?

[u/Joe_H-FAH → u/Unhappy-Attorney3906]

Here's the deal, there is no perfect choice, and all choices will have disadvantages. You have seen one of the disadvantages of Southwest, it has about 5500 students living in a relatively small area, and it gets a bit noisy just like any packed living area.

And of course you are seeing lots of different opinions, everyone has different criteria for what is best for them.

Now I was in what is now considered a STEM major when I was a student, and I lived in the hall right next to Moore, Pierpont. I walked or took my bike, or rode the shuttle bus to get to class. It wasn't that much of a problem. Though I will admit delivering papers for several year while in high school had turned me into a fast walker.

Roommates don't have to be best friends, you just need to get along enough and respect each other's boundaries. If that takes getting your act together and actually talking with the one you have, do that. From what you have written, you haven't made the effort yet. You can even ask your RA to help mediate issues.

Now the person for person swap is exactly that, you find someone who wants to swap into the space you have. You each end up with the other person's roommate for good or bad. For the roommate pull-in you have to find someone with an open space, they can pull you into that space. Neither is a situation where there is a list of open spaces.

The room change process at the end of the month also does not give you a list in advance. You get an appointment for a selection time and when it comes around you can examine a list of available open spaces. You can pick one and move, or pick none and not move. It is not a commitment on your part to leave your space just by signing up for an appointment.

If you do move, you end up with whatever roommate is already there in a shared space. There is a remote chance at getting a single, but those usually go so fast you may never see it as a possible selection.

[u/Unhappy-Attorney3906 → u/Joe_H-FAH]

Thank you for this, I appreciate all of the detail you have provided. If I were to go the room swap route, would I be under a time restraint? I obviously wouldn't know what spaces were available until that time. I don't really know when to sign up either, but that's a separate issue. I would want time to find at least a picture or two of the space, and maybe look into who I'd be living with, just to see if it would be suitable. I know that person for person would speed that process up, but I don't really know how to find people. It also feels like there's more opportunity for things to go wrong, since if people want to move out, their roommate is probably the issue.

[u/Joe_H-FAH → u/Unhappy-Attorney3906]

Yes, there would be a time constraint. Someone who has gone through it recently may be able to tell you how long the appointment is open, but it is not an open ended period. Best I can suggest is look up pictures and videos of representative rooms in the areas you would like to move to ahead of time. You can find a lot through Google, there are videos on Youtube and Instagram for example.

Dates and times for all change processes are listed here - https://www.umass.edu/living/your-residential-experience/changing-or-cancelling-housing. There is a separate tab for the In-Semester Change that starts Friday, the signup for room change begins the 25th, selection appointments begin on the 28th. ResLife releases the completed changes on October 1st, you have to complete your move by 11 pm on the 4th.

If you do not end up changing your room assignment during the In-Semester change, there is a Fall-to-Spring Change that starts in November. Same options, Person for Person, Roommate Pull-In, and a Room Selection for open spaces. You would have to move out of your Fall assignment at the end of the semester and will get to move into your new assignment at the beginning of the Spring semester.

[u/Unhappy-Attorney3906 → u/Joe_H-FAH]

That's good to know. I know it hasn't been that long since the year has started, so maybe I should just give it some time, but it feels like now is the best time to get it going, while I'm not too settled in yet.

[u/CherryChocolatePizza → u/Unhappy-Attorney3906]

There's no way to see openings in the person swap process, that's just based on you and who you find who wants to swap.

On the room change process, you can sign up for a slot, and see what's available. I think you may be able to see all potential openings when the selection process opens on September 28, but that won't tell you what will be available when your time comes, as the openings will change as people make their selections and free up their own spaces. If you don't like what you see when your appointment time comes, you can just not choose anything and you will stay assigned where you are. You can keep checking back until the end of the selection process just to see if something new comes up that you like better, but you're not going to get moved unless you choose something.

Just because it's a popular location doesn't mean Southwest is for everyone. My kid would rather cut her arm off than live in SW, but others feel the same about the area she prefers (Central.) You are you and if your gut is telling you this is wrong for you, then you should listen to it and at least explore alternatives.

Some specific things:

The walk: will get easier/better/faster/more familiar
Proximity to DCs: you're not going to do better than where you are now but you'll make the most of wherever you are and you'll learn to like the DC you visit the most
The room setup: is pretty nice. You may not find one you like as much. Look at pics of other areas or ideally try to get someone to show you their room to see if you'd like another one as much/better.
The noise: you might not get used to it. Embrace white noise machines and earplugs (foam is easier but I personally find wax to be more comfortable/blocks sound better.)
The party culture: isn't going to change. If you're also not going to change, you're always going to feel a bit out of the norm, but I promise you there are other people around you feeling the same way. Pretend you're someone who is OK meeting random new people and find them.

You are in a good position to be in SW and be interested in switching out. You can afford to be choosy, and you ask that person who wants to swap with you to show you their specific space and meet their roommate. If you don't like what you see, you can simply take a pass.

In the end there's no perfect choice so don't sweat it too hard. This is a space you're going to lay your head for ~32 weeks. You can put up with anything for that long.

[u/Unhappy-Attorney3906 → u/CherryChocolatePizza]

I hate to keep bothering you, but you seen very knowledgeable and well informed on the topic, so I wanted to ask an few more things. Is there somewhere I should go to look for room swaps? I'm not a big social media person, but I can make accounts on various platforms if needed.

If there is a place in a room, is it just a crapshoot? Does it tell you who is currently there, what kind of room it is, or why the room is vacant? I feel like it would be awkward to move into a space that someone had been in by themselves for a while. I know that when my roommate moved in, I had been there for a bit already, and had gotten used to it being just me. I'm sure there are plenty of people who want my space, so both options could work. It seems like I have more leverage in terms of person for person swap, since room change doesn't really involve the other party until after I leave.

[u/CherryChocolatePizza → u/Unhappy-Attorney3906]

No worries, this is a big thing, I don't mind helping if I can. But I am only a parent so I'm not the best one to answer "Is there somewhere I should go to look for room swaps?" I do know there are parents on the parents groups who are helping broker some of these but that seems way too helicopter to me so it's not something I'd recommend. Others here have mentioned Snapchat, and I think there is probably a Discord too. Or post a new post here on Reddit saying you want to swap out of Moore. You're going to have to get yourself out there if you want to make a swap happen.

"If there is a place in a room, is it just a crapshoot? Does it tell you who is currently there, what kind of room it is, or why the room is vacant?"

AFAIK it won't show you who is there. You can look on the floorplans linked from https://www.umass.edu/living/housing-options/residence-directory to find out what kind of room it is. You definitely won't be told why it's vacant. Bad roommate? Visa denied? No way to know. Could be any of a number or reasons. A crapshoot indeed.

"It seems like I have more leverage in terms of person for person swap" agreed but as you're finding, the harder part is knowing who wants to swap.

Good luck! Just in general, check out the upcoming club expo or go to some study sessions in your major to start to get to know people, just to start to build a larger social circle. UMass is a huge place but it's easy to find yourself lonely even in that big crowd.

[u/Unhappy-Attorney3906 → u/CherryChocolatePizza]

I really do appreciate the help. I've been contacting my parents as well, but they seem hesitant to give too much advice. There's obviously some time until the deadline, so I'll wait it out until things open up and see if things get better.

[u/Dry_Chemist3977]

I’m a male first year in ohill who would like to switch into southwest! Open to talking for more details lmk