Hi,

I'm an international exchange student due to study at McMaster September - December of this year.
I'm aware that on-campus applications open this Monday, but am still unsure if I want to stay on-campus.
Also, our places aren't 100% guaranteed at the University as of yet, so I would hate to book accommodation and then get rejected from the University.
So, I am just wondering how quickly places fill up for on-campus.
Would I really need to apply on Monday?
I know the deadline isn't until June, but can I afford to wait until then?

Do it now! I helped a few international students before and its is utmost important that you stay on campus your first year. International students particularly will enjoy the social benefits of being on campus versus off campus. Your wealth has already been established since you are paying international fees, what's a few more for being on campus when the benefit drastically outweight the benefit?

Residence at Mac isn't first-come, first-served. I believe first-year full-time international students are guaranteed residence as long as they apply by the June deadline. I'm not sure how it works if you're only here from Sept-Dec - you should contact the residence people to ask if you're guaranteed residence.
Whether you are guaranteed it or not, applying before the deadline won't make a difference. Typically, residence goes to all of the people who are guaranteed it and have applied before the deadline, and then after that it goes by admissions average, so people with higher averages are higher on the list. I'm not sure how exchange students fit into that. If you apply after the deadline, then you get put at the bottom of the list.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say that you'd hate to book accommodations and then get rejected by the school. If you arrange other accommodations and then get don't get in to residence, shouldn't that be a good thing?

Edit:

Do it now! I helped a few international students before and its is utmost important that you stay on campus your first year. International students particularly will enjoy the social benefits of being on campus versus off campus. Your wealth has already been established since you are paying international fees, what's a few more for being on campus when the benefit drastically outweight the benefit?

The OP is an exchange student only here for a term, not starting 4 years of study.
Besides, there's no basis for you saying to "do it now", you're just recommending residence as a good experience. If you're guaranteed residence, you only need to apply before the June deadline.

What I mean when I refer to getting rejected by the school is that our places in the university full-stop are not 100% secure, we are in the process of applications and have only been nominated by our home institutions to study here so far.
I'm still confused about whether or not to apply tomorrow.
As for my wealth, it's fair to say that I don't have the funds to study abroad as it stands.
Studying abroad for a minimum of 1 semester is compulsory with my degree course at my university, regardless of financial situations. I'm taking out a loan as it is to pay for this, so I really want to spend this money wisely.

Originally Posted by gallagherorla

What I mean when I refer to getting rejected by the school is that our places in the university full-stop are not 100% secure, we are in the process of applications and have only been nominated by our home institutions to study here so far.
I'm still confused about whether or not to apply tomorrow.
As for my wealth, it's fair to say that I don't have the funds to study abroad as it stands.
Studying abroad for a minimum of 1 semester is compulsory with my degree course at my university, regardless of financial situations. I'm taking out a loan as it is to pay for this, so I really want to spend this money wisely.

What do you mean by "full-stop"?

Are you saying that you coming to study at Mac for a term isn't guaranteed? If that's the case, I'm not sure they'd even let you apply to residence until you've been accepted.

Regardless, your case is not a typical one and that's why I suggested you talk to the residence people - that still sounds like the best thing to do. However, if you are guaranteed residence, then it does not matter when you apply, as long as it is before the deadline. If you are not guaranteed residence, then you really need to talk to them to see how it works.

Here is a link to the McMaster off-campus housing website. Many of the off-campus accommodations available to students are listed here. You can select to view short term rentals or sublets, either of which would work for you if you are only here for 4 months.

https://macoffcampus.mcmaster .ca/classifieds/

Residence is not guaranteed, it is selected by lottery as long as you meet the minimum grade requirement. Residence is also for the full year, and it is mandatory to purchase a meal plan. This may be different for international students... but I think it is true for everyone. That being said, residence is significantly more expensive than most off-campus accommodations, especially since the meal plan is mandatory.

Since residence spots are selected by lottery and not by first come first serve, everyone who applies before the cut off date (in June as you said) is considered equally. So there is no need for you to apply the very first day the application becomes available.

Originally Posted by jaywa

Here is a link to the McMaster off-campus housing website. Many of the off-campus accommodations available to students are listed here. You can select to view short term rentals or sublets, either of which would work for you if you are only here for 4 months.

https://macoffcampus.mcmaster .ca/classifieds/

Residence is not guaranteed, it is selected by lottery as long as you meet the minimum grade requirement. Residence is also for the full year, and it is mandatory to purchase a meal plan. This may be different for international students... but I think it is true for everyone. That being said, residence is significantly more expensive than most off-campus accommodations, especially since the meal plan is mandatory.

Since residence spots are selected by lottery and not by first come first serve, everyone who applies before the cut off date (in June as you said) is considered equally. So there is no need for you to apply the very first day the application becomes available.

If you are guaranteed residence, then it is your building/room type that is lottery, NOT whether or not you actually get a spot. There was one year where they guaranteed residence to too many people and had issues, but I believe they increased the average to guarantee it to less people to fix that. That's why it's so important that they find out if they're guaranteed a spot in residence.

Residence is not necessarily for the full year, regardless of whether or not you're an international student. Co-op students (including domestic/Canadian students) can stay for 4 months, as can exchange students, and the rates are posted on the hospitality website.

My exchange coordinator cleared this up for me ...
Indeed, accomm is not first come first serve, but done by lottery. There are in total 40 spaces for international students on campus, which will be allocated sometime in April or May.
So, even though there is no need for me to rush and apply ASAP, I can't actually anyway until my application is fully processed.
Oh, and 'full stop' must be an Irish thing. It means 'end of' or 'period'.
Thanks for all the help