Good morning colleagues. I'm the director of admissions at a small medical school in Eastern North Carolina. Over the last 2 cycles, I've seen an increase in housing difficulties for students, especially those that are admitted late in the cycle from the alternates list. Each year, we tend to lose 15-20 students at the April 30th deposit refund deadline. This leads us to make offers throughout the month of May to fill seats as they are vacated. I feel this creates undue stress on the students accepted after May 1st as our orientation starts around the 20th of July each year. This gives students a minimal amount of time to find adequate housing, move families, secure jobs for partners, etc. and get settled in before classes start. Many of our students are from rural or disadvantaged backgrounds and may not have the resources afforded to others. This has lead to students sleeping on friends' couches, living out of hotels, or commuting hours daily until they are able to secure housing, which also affects their well-being and performance. Are other schools facing similar issues? Have you found ways to help mitigate those issues?
Thank you,
Carla
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Carla Williams
Director of Admissions
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University
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