Most incoming freshmen have settled into their dorm rooms, but overcrowding might keep some students stuck for days or weeks.
On Friday, 220 two-occupant rooms in the residence halls were filled by three instead, said Director of University Housing Angela Brown. Overbooking occurs when more students choose to come to MSU and live in the dorms than the university planned.
It's called transitional housing, and it's assigned on a seniority basis with freshmen receiving overbooked rooms first. The students living in these rooms have the option to stay for the entire semester or wait for a spot to open up elsewhere.
"People get picky, and that narrows down the options, but usually by the second or third week of classes (rooms) open up," said Brown.
Fortunately, the number of overbooked rooms is down about 50 percent from this time last year, Brown said. After today - the last check-in day for residence halls - it might decrease due to no-shows.
In the meantime, students such as electrical engineering freshman Casey Prill are living in crowded rooms with two other roommates.
"It's kind of crappy, to tell the truth," he said. "I was the last person to move in, and it was a mess before. Now it's kind of cluttered."
Although transitional housing might result in a more hectic environment than normal, it's cheaper. Residents living in overbooked rooms receive a rebate adjusted for the amount of time spent in the room. For a full semester, the rebate is about $400.
"Some students see that as an economical way to stay in the residence halls," Brown said.
Learning disabilities freshman Kathleen Kramer and her roommate Corey Borisch, a pre-nursing freshman, briefly considered saving a little money by living three to a room after learning they would be placed in transitional housing. Since their room is fairly large, they said this seemed like an enticing option.
"A lot of people come by and say we've got more room than they do in their transitional housing," Borisch said.
They decided against this plan after discovering they might not get along with the third roommate. Before moving in, the three went to a private online chat room with AOL Instant Messenger to discuss such things as study and sleep habits and found their personalities wouldn't be compatible.
Overcrowding is controlled by the number of rooms that guarantee single-occupancy. Normally about 2,500 single rooms are assigned, but this year there are only 1,700 because of a higher number of returning students and a slightly larger incoming freshman class.
Brown said in the event of a larger group, "We reduce the number of singles and that provides more spaces to assign students to."
Transitional housing attempts to strike a balance between honoring these contracts and providing rooms for everyone.
"MSU's philosophy is we will not put students in lounges or lobbies," Brown said.
