As the school year comes to a close and students have begun making plans for the final weeks of the semester, many students were surprised to learn that we would be expected to move out of our dorms prior to the week of final exams. 

Students who have not petitioned to stay for finals are required to move out before noon on Sunday May 9th. This has caused many people to have to change their move out plans for a closer date.

“It’s really inconvenient for me to have to move out the weekend before finals, because I have an important final on Monday and Mother’s day is on Sunday, so I will be too busy packing to be able to study or celebrate properly,” said Isabella Rossi ’24.

“I was unaware that we had to move out this early, I just assumed that move out was either right before or right after commencement for everyone, but we are required to move out before finals,” said Collin Gaschen ’24. “I’ll be leaving on either Saturday or Sunday, but it’ll be a hassle to pack all of the stuff and study at the same time.” 

It is even more of a hassle for international students who often have to fly for hours on end to reach their home. Many students booked plane tickets for late May as they were unaware that move out was before finals. Students that want to stay past the original move out date are required to submit a petition to Residence  Life and Housing.

Souha Aliou ’24 is an international student from Tunisia who was able to successfully petition to stay on campus during finals. “I am not moving out before finals because I can’t handle the stress of moving out and preparing for finals altogether” she said. “I didn’t know previously that we had to move out early.”

Many students have petitioned and are still waiting for Residence Life to let them know if the school can accommodate them for the last week of the semester.

“I had no clue that we were required to move out so early and therefore am currently trying to petition to stay on campus for finals as it would be extremely difficult to study while traveling.” said Tejus Thapa ’22 who is from Nepal.

Students are required to clean their room and drop off their keys in the contactless drop off box at the Residence Life office at the Holland Union Building (HUB).