Selecting AUP Housing

Our housing team will be the first to acknowledge that no residence can be the perfect fit. With so many different factors to consider (single or shared, commute to campus, on-site staff, AUP-only or mixed community, internal policies and regulations), every residence has advantages and constraints. It is important that each student keep an open mind and be ready to live in any of the residences in our offering. We have found that what will most impact whether a student enjoys their living experience is their willingness to embrace the community and remain open and optimistic about their living experience, no matter their specific assignment!

In our experience, one of the first determinations students should make is deciding whether they would like to have their own private, individual space, or whether they are looking forward to living with roommates and housemates. This will narrow down the list of options to consider. In deciding further on partner vs. AUP residence, French student residence vs. Apartment-Hotel, location, and other factors, there is no perfect answer. Do keep in mind that as we are working within the difficult Parisian housing market, our main priority within the housing office is finalizing assignments for our students in a timely manner and ensuring every incoming student has a safe and comfortable living environment. As such, while we do want to offer our students an opportunity to list preferences, our challenge and priority is to house a large cohort of students in the AUP communities we have created. 

This is one of the main decisions you will have to make when indicating your preferences: would you prefer to list single studios only, single and shared rooms in co-living apartments where you will be sharing your space with others, or a mix of both? This decision is best made by reflecting on your needs and priorities: there are great benefits to living with others, both in building life skills that are sure to be useful in the future (we all coexist with others, work with them, etc...) and in finding a sense of community and belonging during a delicate transitional year. On the other hand, many of our students start their journey knowing exactly how they want to manage their living space, and do not feel they want to share that space with others based on their needs.

It is important to remember that shared housing will shape a number of your housing processes: your security deposit refund determination will be linked to that of your housemates for shared inventory and spaces (shared inventory and spaces, when damaged, affect all residents' security deposits, as costs are split unless a specific student takes responsibility themselves), and the walkthrough for these shared spaces is only conducted with the first resident to arrive (for entry) and the last resident to leave (for exit). All of these processes specific to shared housing mean that communication, coordination, and compromise among housemates are integral to the shared housing experience. This should absolutely not discourage you from listing shared options in your preferences; the work of adapting to living with others, and even resolving potential conflicts with roommates and housemates, are part of what makes sharing a space a great learning experience.

We work diligently to find the best matches possible through our survey for roommates and housemates but do keep in mind that we can only work with the group already assigned to each residence - that is a limited pool of potential roommates and housemates for us to choose from, especially if many of those assigned students had already requested a specific roommate. We have had great success in past years in matching roommates and housemates: some of our residents ended up building great friendships with the students they were paired with, and even continued living together after moving out of AUP Housing! It is important to remember, however, that even with the best match possible and great compatibility in living habits, sharing a space still requires effort in communicating with your housemates and adapting to living with others.

It is very important that you fill out the roommate and housemate survey sent to you once you are assigned to a shared apartment. It is also important that you fill out the survey truthfully. While many of our students challenge themselves to change their living habits once in Paris (trying to wake up earlier, wanting to learn to cook, working on becoming tidier), it is best to fill out the survey based on how you know you use your living space currently. In our experience, being aspirational when answering the survey (by describing the living habits you wish to learn, rather than the ones you currently have) will likely lead to an incompatible match, and roommate conflicts later in the semester.

*Full-year students (attending both the Fall and Spring semesters) will have uninterrupted access to their housing assignment from the Fall Landing Day to the Spring Move-out Date