I applied for Fall 2014. I'm a 105D applicant so I obviously can't live on res.

In my first year at uni people started looking for roommates and places as early as December. My application is still under review but if I was to get accepted (site says most offers between April and May) then wouldn't it be too late to start looking for off-campus housing by then?


So I don't know if I should start looking now or not, and even if I started looking now how in the world would I find roommates who I haven't even met since I didn't go to Mac??!! I also want to live in a party-free, quite and just in general a good place, so this might make finding people to live with even harder


I don't think many first years live off-campus, and on top of that wouldn't upper years want to live with people who are also in upper years?

And yes, this thread is serious.

Start now
http://macoffcampus.mcmaster .ca/
Kajiji too but be more wary of those places.
People also post signs up you can try classifieds too

Why can't you live on campus?

Residence isn't just for people straight out of high school.

If you're going to live off-campus though, you should start now.

Really 105 applicants can live on res???

But you're not guaranteed a specific type of residence regardless of your marks I think. I can't live in a double or a triple bedroom at all.

I really don't know what to do. I know res is a lottery system but double/triple room would be hell. I will only know what res I get after I pay my deposit, correct ($400)?. What if I want to get out of res after getting my room, would that be possible (I know I won't get the deposit)? Would it even be possible to find an off-campus place to live by that period (I think around August)?


I really do want to avoid the whole party place/scenario, whatever it might be. I went to Laurier this past semester and I hated that place, mostly because of the party scene and environment. I know Mac is different, but again I haven't lived on res at Mac before so I don't know.

You can drop out of res any time after getting your room assignment, but you won't get the deposit back.

You not wanting a double or triple is a completely separate issue from you being a 105 applicant. Most of the residence spots are doubles. At least on res if there are issues you have a CA and there's a process for dealing with it. What are you going to do if you end up with bad housemates off-campus? Plus, then you're going to be sharing a house with a lot more than 1-2 people.

10 spots are reserved for transfer students in res. Application is due June 20, 2014 at 4pm. http://housing.mcmaster.ca/Residence...tudents.htm l

I don't know, it seems like I have to search for roommates now but I don't know if I will get accepted. So I don't know if I should go to the off-campus session and fair seeing as I don't know if I will get accepted.

I'm not sure how your old university did it but you don't have to find your own roommates at McMaster. You CAN be paired with someone if you want to be, but if not they just pair you up with others who don't have pre-set roommates. I'm not 100% sure it'll be the same for a transfer student, but I don't see why it wouldn't be.

Thanks for the help so far guys!

I've decided to live off-campus. One last concern (well at least for now) - do you recommend not looking for roommates in a specific faculty? Pretty sure I shouldn't be looking for people in my program since its Nursing, but should I ask people which program or faculty they're in?

Also, how long should a typical contract or lease agreement be?

Any other tips would be appreciated!