While most NYU first-years describe moving into the dorms as a swirl of Pinterest board inspiration and IKEA visits, ours was more like the beginning of a very long and confusing prank. There was no sense of excitement. Instead, the whole process was focused on buying and decorating as little as possible, since we were placed in temporary housing. Our families left us in relatively bare dorm rooms in Greenwich Residence Hall on move-in day. Our questions remained unanswered: How would we meet other first-years? How long would we be here for? Why were we here at all?

In reality, these questions have complex answers, because housing students at NYU is a complex process due in part to the university’s urban location. While we understand the unique difficulties that come with assigning dorm rooms, being placed in temporary housing is an obstacle that dulls the otherwise thrilling NYU experience.

At the beginning of this school year, Greenwich Hall — a relatively small upperclassmen dorm located next to the Hudson River — was home to an entire floor of first-years. There seems to be little awareness about this issue because very few students have to deal with it. However, it’s a problem NYU faces every year. Essentially, students of all classes are placed in dormitories or hotels where they stay until placed in more permanent residences.

But particularly for first-years placed in temporary housing, the anxiety and fear surrounding college is heightened by the uncertainty stemming from unpredictable living arrangements. Before we got to school, all of us on the first floor of Greenwich already shared common memories of sitting at our computers, refreshing our NYU email accounts and waiting desperately for updates on our housing to come through. We received a string of emails from the NYU housing department throughout the last six weeks of summer, promising “updates” on each of our housing situations. It was a painstakingly long process with very few clear-cut answers. It was only a week before our move-in day when we discovered that we would be temporarily placed in Greenwich Hall with a number of fellow first-years.

Not only was the process leading up to move-in stressful, but there were a host of problems that accompanied the temporary housing arrangement. Our first morning at NYU, we walked to Lipton Dining Hall to use our first meal swipes of the semester. We, along with three of our suitemates, made the 10-minute trek to Lipton Residence Hall and attempted to swipe in. To our surprise, however, our meal swipes did not work. We were told that it was because of our temporary housing placement, but the employees there were also bewildered by the situation. Once we were put down on a list of students whose meal swipes did not work, with a bracket around our names that said “Greenwich,” we were eventually allowed to get food. This was admittedly not the most welcoming experience.

Tom Ellett, senior vice president of Student Affairs, wholeheartedly agreed that temporary housing is an inconvenience and far from ideal. However, Ellett said that there aren’t many alternatives to the current system, especially with New York City’s strict building and zoning codes. The housing department, according to Ellett, understands the frustration that students face and keeps it in mind as they figure out relocations. For example, the four residents of Greenwich suite 103 were all moved on the same day.

To expand on the situation, he explained that the main purpose of temporary housing is to keep costs down for future students. NYU housing has the license to overbook because a significant number of students drop within the first weeks of school while the budget only allows for 40 vacant beds in total. According to Ellett, if there are more vacant beds than the budget allows, NYU would have to charge more in subsequent years to make back the money they had lost.

Despite the undesirable circumstances, hearing from the housing department that they are aware of how we felt made the process slightly more bearable. And similarly, other students in temporary housing should have the opportunity to understand in the same way. NYU should be able to make these small changes in transparency and streamline the process of the second move. First-year students need more than 48 hours to relocate to their newly assigned dorms and should be guaranteed car service. But most importantly, what incoming students should know is that NYU, a university whose image is built on the glamour of the Big Apple, does not grant all new first-years the same glossy New York City experience.

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Email Sima Doctoroff and Sarah John at [email protected].