About 200 Iowa State students are starting the school year in temporary housing, with up to four residents sharing a residence hall den at a time.

Dens in Towers Residence Association and Oak-Elm, Linden, Willow and Larch halls are occupied by 194 students living in temporary housing, and none of them know exactly how long they will be there.

“It’s hard to stabilize,” said Candice Wilken, a sophomore transfer student in biology and temporary Willow resident. “We’re making friends on our floor, which is good and bad. We don’t know how long we will be living here, and if we move to a different dorm, we’ll have to make new friends.”

Wilken and her three roommates are living in the sixth-floor Willow den, sharing four beds, two closets, two dressers and two tables to act as desks.

At this point, it is unknown when rooms will open up. Depending on whom in the Department of Residence she asked, Wilken was told she would have to stay in the den anywhere from two to six weeks.

“Last year, we had 185 [students] living in temporary housing, and most were out by the end of August,” said Kathy Wacker, manager of the residence department’s administrative services. “We don’t anticipate it will be that early this year, but we hope it will be by the end of September.”

A move in the middle of the semester is not appealing to Wilken.

“It will really interrupt our studies,” she said. “I don’t mind the room. I almost wish we were here the whole semester. Then we’d be able to get settled.”

Wacker estimated the number of housing contracts increased by more than 200 from last year. Students were assigned their rooms based on the date the Department of Residence received their applications; those returning their contracts latest were placed in temporary housing.

Tamathy Stage, a junior transfer student in zoology from Horseheads, N.Y., is feeling the strain of the Willow den’s limited space.

“I won’t be going home until Christmas,” she said. “I brought everything — thank goodness for storage!”

Wacker said rooms are expected to vacate as students move into sorority and fraternity houses. In addition, the department can now start replacing students who were assigned a room but still haven’t moved in. “We always have a few people who forget to tell us they are living in an apartment instead of on campus,” she said.

Wilken said little inconveniences complicate living in temporary housing.

“Being female, it’s hard for the four of us to share two dressers and two closets. There’s just nowhere to put stuff,” she said. “Also, it’s hard to get involved in the floor meetings because we don’t know where we’ll end up.”

Alissa Grell, an undeclared freshman, is having trouble keeping organized in her Willow den.

“I just cleaned, if you can believe it,” she said, motioning toward her cluttered corner.

Despite the inconvenience, the residents are making the best of their living arrangements.

“It’s not as bad as it could be,” Wilken said. “We’ve got great roommates, and that helps a lot. We’re good at sharing, and we’ve been really considerate of each other. I’d rather live in temporary housing with good roommates than in a dorm with a bad roommate.”