The Brandeis housing system is notoriously complex. As the housing selection date approaches, this editorial board would like to provide some suggestions to clarify the selection process. The current housing selection system works by assigning all rising sophomores, juniors and seniors a housing number. These can be found by accessing the MyHousing portal, where the number is displayed under the “Messages” tab, along with the selection period. Student athletes are assigned the lowest numbers (0-126), sophomores have the next lowest (127-1201) and juniors and seniors are given the remaining numbers. Time slots for housing selection will be assigned on March 13. 

The Department of Community Living  publishes the statistics from prior housing selections, which can be used to gauge the availability of housing time slots for this year. These can be found by visiting the DCL website, selecting “Housing Selection” in the sidebar, and then clicking on “Housing Statistics.” Each of the last four school years and their respective housing selection statistics are linked on this page, as well as housing selection resources for students planning to study abroad. From there, either the “Rising Sophomore” or “Rising Junior/Senior Housing Selection” links can be selected. These  links will display a spreadsheet containing every housing location available to your cohort and how many beds were available during each time slot. 

The numbers from previous years may not exactly align with the numbers for the upcoming housing selection, but can be helpful for approximating availability in a particular location and style during your time slot. When time slots are assigned on March 13, students who are unsure about which locations are likely to be available can refer to these spreadsheets to guide their selection.

If you get unlucky in the housing lottery, you may decide to look for housing off campus. For first-time renters, the process of finding and renting a house may seem like a daunting task with no clear place to start. You might think of turning to Brandeis’ website to seek guidance. The page offers    two primary resources. The first, Jumpoffcampus.com, is quite underwhelming and doesn’t have many listings; of the listings it does have, 39% of them were in Worcester as of press time. The second resource is a site hosted in conjunction with apartments.com, and they offer more listings. Even though this website has more homes and apartments for rent than the first, a simple search for the Waltham area on apartments.com shows more housing options than Brandeis’ page. 

This editorial board believes that Brandeis should provide more resources for students who are looking for off-campus housing. This support could connect students with landlords, info sessions on renting your first apartment/house and off-campus housing advisors to help guide students through the process. Brandeis should also  clarify more efficiently how financial aid works for students living off campus. Without meeting with a representative from the financial aid office, it is unclear to students how their aid package will be affected if they choose to live off campus.

If you are currently struggling with finding a place to live off-campus next year, we feel for you and assure you that you are not the only one. Finding the right place to rent can take a lot of time and a good amount of luck. So if this is you, be persistent and don’t lose hope if it takes a while — new opportunities are opening up every day and if you keep searching diligently for listings, it is only a matter of time until you find the right one for you.