- What are the dates of the Fall 2008/Spring 2009 contract period?
- What if I only want a contract for Fall 2008?
- When will you start making contract offers for Fall 2008/Spring 2009?
- How do I figure out if co-ops are for me?
- How do I visit the houses?
- When is my application due?
- How many housing preferences should I list on my application?
- What are my chances of being placed?
- How can I get priority on the waitlist?
- Which houses/apartments are the best to live in?
- Can I get a single? Do I get to pick my roommate?
- How much does it cost?
- Do I have to be a student to live in the co-ops?
- What are workshifts?
- How big will my room be?
- Do I have to move out during the semester break?
- Will my room be furnished?
- Do you provide Internet Access?
- Are pets allowed?
- How does the food setup work?
- Do you offer wheelchair accessible housing?
- Can I move in early?
- What about parking?
What are the dates for the Fall 2008/Spring 2009 contract period?
The Fall 2007/Spring 2008 contract begins August 22, 2008 and ends May 21, 2009.
(Move in August 21). Spring 2009 contracts begin January 16, 2009 and end May 21, 2009.
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What if I only want a contract for Fall 2008?
After signing a Fall 2008/Spring 2009 contract, you may cancel the Spring 2009 portion of the contract without penalty by giving written notice by November 12, 2008.
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When will you start making contract offers for Fall 2008/Spring 2009?
We assign vacancies in batches every few weeks. We mail out contract offers and generally people have 2 weeks to accept the offer. Then once we know who signs and who does not, we assign another batch of vacancies to people on the waiting list. This process keeps on going throughout the summer. In the middle of July, anyone who still has not been assigned will receive a notice asking them if they want to remain on the waiting list, and those wishing to stay on the waiting list will need to re-confirm their interest in Fall 2008/Spring 2009 housing. The reconfirmation process is meant to be able to keep those still waiting better informed. As we move closer to the start of the semester our waiting list becomes artificially large as many people change their minds about waiting for a co-op but do not remove themselves from the waiting list.
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How do I figure out if co-ops are for me?
You’ve already taken the first step! The website is a great place to start. Check out our video on co-op life. Also, on this website you can learn about all the houses and find out a little about what they are like, what they look like, where they are, how many rooms they have, and information about house policies. The next step is to narrow down your search based on some of the above information. Then go and visit the houses. Our members love to meet potential co-opers and are expecting you to stop by and ask for a house tour. See rooms and talk to people living at the house now. The best way you’ll ever be able to tell what a co-op is like is to go and see the house for yourself!
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How do I visit the houses?
Come to UC Berkeley CalDay on April 12, 2008, for a tour of co-ops! More CalDay Information.
We give organized tours twice a year. Normally in April and October. You don’t need to wait for the organized tour! Often you can get a better feel for a particular house by just showing up and asking someone who lives there to show you around. There aren’t specific visiting hours, but generally early evening around dinner time is the best time to stop by. You can also contact our office to get the house manager’s phone number or email address if you would like to set up an appointment.
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When is my application due?
There is no due date or deadline for applications. However, it is never too early to apply. We order our waitlist by application date, so it is always better to apply sooner rather than later. The application fee is $60, and if you later decide you don’t want to live in the co-ops, $50 of your application fee is refundable. Later applicants may need to stay on the waitlist longer before they are assigned.
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How many housing preferences should I list on my application?
The application form includes an area to state your housing preferences in numerical order. We advise students to list as many houses as they are willing to live in because many houses have long waiting lists and your first choices may not always be available. We suggest that you visit the houses if possible, as they are all very different from one another, both in physical structure and in personality. If visiting is not an option, view our descriptions of the houses.
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What are my chances of being placed?
This depends upon many factors, such as how many vacancies we have, how many housing preferences you list, how early you apply, how many people applied ahead of you, how many of those people want to live in the same places that you do, and how long you are willing to remain on the waiting list. If you’re flexible in terms of where you’re willing to live, and you allow a reasonable amount of time for us to assign you, then your chances are excellent!! If you are only interested in the apartments and you do not have any priority on the waiting list, you should know that your chances of being offered housing are extremely low.
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How can I get priority on the waitlist?
We give priority on the waiting list to the following:
- Participants in UC Berkeley’s Educational Opportunity Program (EOP). You must provide a verification letter from the EOP office to receive the priority.
- Participants in the Disabled Students Program at UC Berkeley. In order to receive priority, you need to send our office a letter from the Disabled Students Program confirming your participation in the program. Their telephone number is (510) 642-0518.
- International students coming to UC Berkeley as part of the Education Abroad Program.
- People who have previously lived at another NASCO co-op. To receive priority, you must provide a letter from your other co-op indicating that you were a member in good standing. The letter must be on your co-op’s official letterhead stationary. The co-op must either belong to NASCO (North American Students of Cooperation), or be willing to extend the same special status to our members.
There are two additional ways to receive priority status on the waitlist before you actually move into the co-op. You can board (eat meals) at any co-op you're interested in during the semester before you want to move-in. Boarding is a great opportunity to get to know the co-op community you may join, and the food is excellent! There are three different board plans: Full Board (all your meals), 7-night dinner, or 5-night dinner. All the boarding plans give you more seniority and priority on the waitlist than prospective members with no points. Finally, summer residents receive .75 of a point after six weeks of residency. If a summer resident is still on the fall waitlist after gaining their .75 of a point, it greatly increases their chances of getting a spot in the co-ops for the fall.
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Which houses/apartments are the best to live in?
Part of what makes the co-ops a fabulous place to live is the diversity that exists amongst the different houses. We really believe we have something for everyone! There is a vast range in size and theme among the residences and their members. People's living preferences vary substantially, so it is unwise to rely on word of mouth recommendations when you rank your housing choices. The only way to really know which co-op is the best for you is to visit them. Meeting the residents and seeing the house is the only way to determine whether or not you'll be happy living there. If you move in and find that you have chosen the wrong co-op, don’t just assume they are all the same – come talk to us at the central office about transfer possibilities!
If you’re an international student or otherwise not able to visit the houses, contact our office to get the house manager’s phone number or email address so that you can ask them questions directly. The central office staff can help you with general information but the members in the houses are the best source for house information!
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Can I get a single? Do I get to pick my roommate?
The only places where you are guaranteed a single room are in the two graduate/re-entry student houses (Convent and Hillegass/Parker) and the Rochdale/Fenwick apartments. You should be aware that new members are rarely assigned to the apartments in their first semester, although getting a space in the Rochdale or Fenwick apartments after one semster is highly probable.
In the houses, new co-op members live in double or triple rooms (some of our houses also have several quads, or four-person rooms).
When we offer you a contract, it will be for a particular house, not for a particular room type. You will have an opportunity to choose your own roommate(s) in a process called "room bids".
For Summer, all houses have capacities set to the number of rooms (except for quads), thus it is extremely likely that all members who want single rooms will get one.
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How much does it cost?
See the Academic Year rates page.
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Do I have to be a student to live in the co-ops?
For the fall and spring semesters, only full-time students are eligible to live in the USCA. In addition, Cloyne, Convent, Rochdale, and Fenwick are open to UC Berkeley students only. Read our eligibility guidelines or contact us for more details.
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What are workshifts?
See the workshift information section.
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How big will my room be?
There is no standard size for the rooms in our houses, as most of our co-ops are converted properties, which gives the rooms a lot of interesting spaces and character. Some shared rooms are so wonderful and spacious that people have been known to pass up an opportunity to live in a single room. Also, lots of residents loft their beds to create more living space in their rooms. However, there are minimum requirements for our rooms’ sizes, and they are as follows:
- Single rooms cannot be less than 70 square feet
- Double rooms must be a minimum of 130 feet if the ceiling is 8 feet tall, or 110 square feet if the ceiling is 9 feet tall.
- Triple rooms must be 200 square feet or larger.
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Do I have to move out during the semester break?
If you have a contract for both Fall AND Spring, you can stay in your co-op free of charge during the semester break. There are no food deliveries during the break.
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Will my room be furnished?
You are guaranteed a bed, desk, chair and dresser.
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Do you provide internet access?
All the rooms in the co-op have high speed internet access. Many houses have a small fee of $5 - $10 per semester, a fine example of how our pooled resources keep the cost low for everyone.
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Are pets allowed?
Warm-blooded animals are not allowed in the co-ops.
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How does the food setup work?
See our food service section.
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Do you offer wheelchair accessible housing?
Yes. We have several wheelchair accessible apartments in Rochdale and Fenwick. There are five room and board houses that can accommodate wheelchair users: Kidd Hall, Wolf House, Andres Castro Arms, Convent, and the Oscar Wilde House. If you are interested in accessible housing, please contact us and ask for Betsy.
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Can I move in early?
Normal move-in begins the day before the date the contract begins. Earlier move-ins are usually possible, but you must contact the Manager of the house you are moving into.
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What about parking?
Parking is not easy in Berkeley. The co-ops have a very limited number of parking spaces available for a semester fee of between $236-$388. Who gets a parking space is decided by co-op seniority in the first week of the semester.
New members rarely are able to get one of these parking spaces. Street parking around the co-ops is two hour parking weekdays until 6pm unless you have a permit from the city for street parking. If you register your car through the DMV at your co-op address, the city will sell you a permit ($50 per year). If you do not register your car at your co-op address, the city will only sell you a maximum of two temporary 2-week permits for $20 each. Other ways to deal with parking are to find a local person renting parking on their property or you can park FAR away from the University on the weekdays (out of the 2-hour zone).
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