Information for Families with Students Currently Abroad
We have a good number of current juniors (‘24s) who are studying abroad this fall. Our P’24 families may have questions about the housing process for their students’ return.
Students returning from Fall 2022 semester abroad will go through one of three pathways to secure their housing for the Spring 2023 semester.
- They may be pulled into vacancies in University Housing by students who are currently living on campus.
- They may enter the Off-Campus Lottery to request permission to live off campus prior to fulfilling their residency requirement.
- If neither of the above, they will select housing as a part of our Spring-Only Housing Selection.
With the help of my colleagues in Residence Life and Housing, we’ve provided some of the commonly asked questions below.
Can my student live off campus?
Wake Forest has a six semester residency requirement, so students returning from abroad are required to live on campus unless they have fulfilled that requirement.
As a part of the Spring 2023 Housing Process, students may choose to enter the Off-Campus Lottery – in groups up to four – by the November 7 deadline. This indicates a desire to live off-campus prior to fulfilling the residency requirement. As the Office of Residence Life and Housing finalizes the number of students able to live on campus for the spring semester, they will use random selection to release the appropriate number of students.
Students with less than six semesters of housing credit should not make any plans to live off-campus unless they have been released in writing from the residency requirement by the Office of Residence Life and Housing. If a family rents or leases an apartment or house off campus and their student has not been approved to live off campus, that family will still be required to pay for a residence hall room as part of the residency requirement.
How will housing be selected?
All students studying abroad in fall 2022 will be assigned a selection time in December. Selection times are assigned randomly based on housing credits (# of semesters in housing, with credit given for study abroad); they are not tied to GPA. Students will go online in December 2022 to select from rooms available at their selection time.
Does Wake Forest hold double rooms open for juniors returning from abroad?
Students returning from abroad fill in vacant bed spaces left by students who go abroad in the spring, transfer, take a semester off, etc. While there may be some double rooms available open to students with high lottery numbers, historically speaking there have been 400+ students abroad in the fall, so any available double rooms will likely be claimed quickly.
Where will the open beds be available?
Students returning from abroad typically live in one of the Quad residence halls; normally there will be one bed open in a double room, so they will be joining a new roommate. There are occasionally beds available in the North Campus halls, but those are rare. Students will be able to see available spaces in early December.
My student is involved in Greek Life. What are the chances he/she can move to the fraternity/sorority hall upon returning from abroad in the fall?
Greek halls assign students to their blocks. Your student should check with their Greek organization to see if there is the ability to move onto the hall. If space is not available, the student would then go through the regular lottery.
What are the chances my student will get to live in a double room with another friend who had been abroad?
Students who go abroad in the fall should do so understanding that there will be limited options to live with roommates of choice during the semester. It is more likely that students returning from a fall semester abroad will be filling in an empty bed in an existing room, not living in a double room or suite/apartment with their best friend(s).
What if my student has a medical accommodation request?
Medical accommodations are reviewed by the Housing Accommodation Review Committee, which makes recommendations to Residence Life and Housing. Families should know that historically, over 98% of students’ medical accommodations have been met in on-campus housing.
Students currently abroad will receive further information at their WFU email address from Residence Life and Housing in November. Please encourage them to check their WFU email regularly so they do not miss important housing selection messages.
— by Betsy Chapman, Ph.D. (’92, MA ’94) – with a big assist from the Office of Residence Life and Housing