Study Abroad and Housing Considerations

In this Issue: today we talk about the housing process for students who study abroad

Studying abroad is a high-impact experience that can be a transformational moment in a student’s life. I know it was in mine.

For students going abroad for the semester, there are some important housing considerations to be aware of. My colleagues in Residence Life and Housing have provided some food for thought, both for families with students currently abroad, as well as those with students who may be planning an abroad semester in the future.

For families with students currently abroad (likely P’25s)

We share this now because we want families to be aware of the likely outcome for spring semester housing after a fall abroad: most students will likely be able to be accommodated on campus in existing rooms with vacancies, and should not sign leases for housing off campus unless/until they are released in writing from the Office of Residence Life and Housing, which will happen prior to November 17.

Students received details on the Spring 2024 Processes from Residence Life and Housing on September 27 (read that message here). Students have three options related to the spring semester:

1. Enter the off-campus lottery (release from the University’s residency requirement is not guaranteed),
2. Be pulled in by a student on campus, and/or
3. Participate in Spring Only Housing Selection.

For any student needing accommodation for a disability, they should submit a completed request and required documentation for review by November 15th via the Housing Portal. Note that a release from the University’s six-semester on-campus housing requirement is generally not considered a reasonable accommodation. 

Residence Life and Housing invites students and families alike to join their team on Thursday, October 26 at 11 a.m. EST for a webinar on Spring Only Housing. Staff will walk through the process and answer questions for students. Details will be posted on rlh.wfu.edu under Announcements soon. 

As a reminder, students who are currently studying abroad in fall 2023 were asked to acknowledge the following Study Abroad Agreement with the Office of Residence Life and Housing:

• Residential students who participate in study abroad/away are still subject to the residency requirement, with their semester abroad counting towards the six-semester requirement.
• 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.

• Students studying abroad during the fall semester will NOT select housing during Housing Selection. Instead, students abroad for the fall semester will select their housing for the spring semester online in December.
• Students returning from study away programs in the fall have limited housing options for the spring and are often placed into rooms with open beds, meaning they may be living with new roommates.
• Students studying abroad for the fall semester should plan to live on-campus unless they have been released in writing from the residency requirement by the Office of Residence Life and Housing.

For families with students considering going abroad (likely P’26s, food for thought for P’27s)

Each fall, a large number of current sophomores begin making plans to study abroad. Study abroad is an incredible experience – many say it was their best semester at Wake – and we encourage all students to consider studying abroad. That said, there are some nuances to study abroad that are worth considering upfront.

We tend to have many more students study abroad in the fall rather than the spring (interestingly, most of our peer schools are the opposite – more go abroad in the spring). BUT, if we have more students go abroad in the fall, it impacts housing for their return in the spring (there is no magical, unicorn residential community sitting empty each fall waiting for juniors studying abroad to return in the spring). 

In practical terms, what this means is that unless a student enters the off-campus lottery and is selected to be released from the residency requirement or is pulled in by a friend living on campus, it is very 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) (which they could do if they stayed on campus in the fall and went abroad in the spring instead). 

We encourage students to have conversations with their friends about what their full-year plans might look like in regards to some going abroad and some staying on campus. 

We tell students about their housing options in a number of ways, including info sessions about study abroad, and in individual meetings between students and Study Abroad Advisors. In addition, when students are confirmed as going abroad for the fall semester, they must sign a Study Abroad Acknowledgement with RL&H which includes the following: 

• Residential students who participate in study abroad/away are still subject to the residency requirement, with their semester abroad counting towards the six-semester requirement.
• 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.

• Students studying abroad during the fall semester will NOT select housing during Housing Selection. Instead, students abroad for the fall semester will select their housing for the spring semester online in December.
• Students returning from study away programs in the fall have limited housing options for the spring and are often placed into rooms with open beds, meaning they may be living with new roommates.
• Students studying abroad for the fall semester should plan to live on-campus unless they have been released in writing from the residency requirement by the Office of Residence Life and Housing.

Students are given a Post-Acceptance Checklist (after they commit to a fall abroad program) with similar language by Global Programs and Studies. 

Students planning to go abroad – for fall 2024 or beyond – should be asking themselves these kinds of questions to make an informed decision and consider what is most important to them:

• Am I willing to compromise on which semester I go abroad, knowing there are pros and cons to each semester?
• If I go abroad in the fall, will I have such a good time that it will be worth it even if I have to select a room with an open bed and live with someone I don’t already know when I return (i.e., I can’t room with one of my friends)?
• Would I be better thinking about going abroad in the spring, that way I can be on campus the fall of my junior year (and will be able to select the residence hall room/roommate of my choice for the fall)?

For those who choose to go abroad in the fall, when it comes time for room selection for the spring semester, students will have to recall the trade-off they made: I wanted to go in the fall with my group of friends, and that means that it is likely I will share a room that has an empty bed when I return, and I might not already know my new roommate. 

And if the idea of living with someone they don’t know is a big deal to your Deac, they may want to consider switching their abroad application to a spring semester.

(As an aside, students should be open to the possibility that living with someone they didn’t previously know might work out just fine! Sometimes being paired in a room with someone you didn’t know previously might be the beginning of an amazing new friendship you would never have discovered otherwise.)