When a student enrolls and is accepted at a school like the University of Miami, they expect all the perks that come with it: the football games, the influencers filming, the Saturday pool parties.
What they don’t expect is to pay, on average, $50,000 in tuition and still not receive on-campus housing.
During my freshman year at UM, I received housing in Mahoney-Pearson with almost no hassle. I enrolled, was accepted, confirmed my decision, and by about late May I already knew where I was living and who I’d be living with.
I assumed that securing housing for my sophomore year would be just as simple, if not easier. Boy was I wrong.
The problems first began when I, along with roughly 2,500 other rising sophomores, enrolled in the lottery system for housing for the 2026-27 school year in late February.
Once students expressed interest in on-campus housing through their housing portal, they were able to select up to three preferences for rooms, choosing among a quad, triple, double or single, all with variations of dimensions and building placements.
Students could select any combination of preferences, and were then emailed with a specific date and time when they could select their room based on what they selected.
In my case, and in the case of many others, by the time I logged into the housing website to select my room for next year, the rooms were completely sold out.
However, I believed I was still safe, because I had made my top choice a double and chosen a single as my backup choice. But when I went to select a single room, I soon realized that I was actually limited to only my top choice, a double room.
I quickly got on the phone with housing and explained how the University hadn’t explained that only their top preference was relevant, and that the other two options were pointless. They told me there was nothing they could do, and I would have to just wait to get back on a waitlist in Marchl.
I placed myself on the waitlist, and was told by several employees of Housing and Residential Life that I would receive housing by the end of May.
On May 27, I received an email explaining how to remain on the waitlist to continue the housing process.
On June 10, I received an email telling me that I would need to express my “continued interest in on-campus housing” and opt in to remain on the waitlist. It explained that I would receive my assignment no later than July 15 — five months after my original housing selection date.
At this point, I was in too deep and I decided to place myself on the waitlist again. Worst case scenario, I would find something off campus with friends.
On June 24, I finally received an email telling me that I had been assigned to a building and room. After multiple calls with Housing and Residential Life throughout this entire process, I remained confident that I would at least get something on campus, as this is what the employees on the phone had told me numerous times.
When I opened my email, however, I was extremely disappointed to see that I had been placed in the THesis Hotel, across the US 1 highway in front of campus.
The hotel is where all “overflow” students get placed, waiting throughout the fall semester to be told if they can move onto campus in one of the residential colleges.
So now, approximately four months later, I am still in limbo and could be given a new housing placement at any point in the fall semester.
I am not the only student who has experienced the same frustratingly long journey only to be placed off campus.
According to a statement from the University, 191 students were assigned THesis, and another 34 students who did not opt into the original waitlist are still waiting for a housing assignment after emailing the school.
“My son is assigned THesis. We are bummed. We are hoping he gets moved to a dorm asap,” commented one Facebook user under a thread of messages in the University of Miami Class of 2029 Parents group.
“My son has been on the housing list where he was guaranteed a spot. He has not gotten an email but he went into the housing portal today and it has him listed with a roommate and for the room it lists ‘overflow,’” said another user. “We were hoping he wouldn’t get THesis and I am a bit confused as he has not gotten an email.”
“My son just received an email saying he has been assigned to THesis. Odd as I called yesterday and they said they had no plans to put anyone in THesis. This process is so frustrating,” said a third anonymous Facebook user.
After almost 80 years of students and housing assignments, the housing process should not bring stress and confusion to residents. Students should be allowed to enjoy their time off for the summer, not worried about where they are going to live in the fall, and whether there will even be a spot for them on campus.