College housing
I'm a transfer student. How do I find housing?
Updated By the Housing Rocket moderators
Short answer
Apply for campus housing as soon as you're admitted, because many schools guarantee housing only to first-year students and transfer spots can be limited. At the same time, look off campus through the school's off-campus housing office and your new college's housing group, focusing on open rooms in existing student houses and lease takeovers.
Transfers often face a timing problem. You may be admitted after most local leases for the fall have been signed. What's still available then tends to be single rooms in shared places where a tenant is leaving, or units in larger complexes.
- Ask the housing office whether there are transfer-specific floors or living communities.
- Post in your new school's housing group with your move-in date, budget, major and a few lines about yourself. Rooms in shared houses usually go to people who seem easy to live with.
- If you're moving from another city, don't pay until you or someone you trust has seen the place.
- Consider a semester sublet for your first term, then sign a full lease once you know the area.
Spring transfers often have an easier time, because students leave in December to study abroad or graduate and need someone to take over their room.
Want the whole picture? Read Off-Campus Housing for Students: A Semester-by-Semester Timeline.