Okay this post may seem silly but it needs to be said. When you decide to apply for the DCP, you will probably join the "Disney College Program Fall (or spring)/Fall Advantage (or spring advantage) 2014 (that's my year at least)". At first it will be great, you will get to know other Disney lovers, and suffer the countdown to when apps drop together. Then applications will go live and the page will EXPLODE with questions. "Who was your interviewer?", "How long was your interview?", and most commonly (THIS WILL COME UP ONE THOUSAND MILLION TIMES!!!) "Has anyone been accepted yet?". DO NOT be that person that asks the same question that was asked 20 seconds ago. And there is no need to ask if anyone has heard anything, when they do, the page will go crazy with people writing about their acceptances. It sucks if you're still waiting to hear from Disney, and people who applied after you are getting accepted before you, but don't ruin the magic for them. Just say your congratulations and move on! Don't use this to over analyze your interview, or better yet, don't over analyze THEIR interview! Everyone has a different process, and though I know it's hard to stay patient and upbeat, don't be nasty to people. Seriously some people need an attitude adjustment. As soon as you know people are getting accepted, you will spend every waking moment checking your dashboard, and checking the Facebook page for the next wave of acceptances. Other pages will pop up such as "Disney Penders" and "Disney College Program Confessions" and whatever else people think to create. I like to call it the Disney Mayhem. Seriously the amount of posts that go up a day during this time period is RIDICULOUS.
As soon as you hear from Disney and are accepted, use the Facebook group to find roommates if you want (I did!). Various pages will be created for the different arrival groups, different roles, and other qualities that set you apart (such as "DCP Christian Fellowship" or "Disney College Program Fall 2014 QSFB" or "DCP Fall 2014 September 2nd Arrival"). I found my roommates through my arrival group. Everyone posts roommate surveys/get to know me pages. Look for titles that might weed out roommates you don't want. For instance, if you want to live in non-wellness (alcohol permitted/21+), then don't look at people's pages who are wellness only. Try not to be the weird kid that posts their survey 20 times in each page. And especially don't be the one that looks for roommates BEFORE you get accepted, some even find them before they apply, which is nuts. Just be patient, it works out much better this way. It's okay to post a survey and find FRIENDS that might be POTENTIAL roommates before you know if you're accepted, but it's so sad to see a group of 6 that are going to be roommates and only 4 get accepted! Trust me, it just gets your hopes up.
Once you find your roommates, use the Facebook page as a resource. There are many alumni happy to answer questions, but there are many questions that can be found on your own. I recommend searching the DCP website and blogs before posting your question to the Facebook page. There are always people quick to call out the "dumb questions" and complain about people not doing their research. So don't be the meanie that calls people dumb, but use your resources and try find information on your own first. For example, "what kind of shoes do I need" and "how much is rent" are questions answered on the website. Just be smart. And not lazy. I've considered leaving the page so many times because of all the die-hard Facebook addicts that post on there everyday, but have stayed in case I miss something important. Prepare yourself (if you stay in the group after finding your roommates) for people asking for others to edit their final papers for class, at least one countdown a day to their arrival date, and people CONSTANTLY asking people to follow them on Instagram and Tumblr. We're talking like 520394234 posts a minute. There will be many people posting their video blog and blog pages to the group, and some looking to video chat. Basically there's A LOT of information to sift through, and once the roommate frenzy has ended, it's generally the same few people posting each day. People secretly hate those people, so don't be them.
My advice? Join the group just before applications, stay active until you find your roommates, then turn off notifications from them, or try ignore the Facebook spam that will come from it. When your arrival date is within sight, I would join in again because you will probably have more questions on packing and such that can be answered by alumni. It can be very helpful, but the amount of drama involved puts middle school girls to shame.
NOTE (added January 25, 2016): one of my coworkers was the DCP Facebook page admin and was super active on the Facebook page, and he almost got termed. They always have their own people in the DCP Facebook group and will take action against you if they see inappropriate posts. My coworker was called in to talk to them with a few others who were super active, and he didn't get termed because he had left the group a little while back, but still. It's a big risk you're taking by A) running the page and not doing a good job weeding out the inappropriates or B) being mega involved in the page and posting stuff about underage drinking, drugs, parties, or calling out sick and faking. Stuff like that should be common sense, but you will be shocked by the amount of people that still post stuff like that. ALSO just related to underage drinking at Disney, DON'T DO IT. If you get caught or turned it for drinking and/or being drunk, you will get termed. If they do a random inspection and find alcohol in your apartment, your WHOLE APARTMENT will get termed. I had a friend who got termed for drinking because she left an alcohol bottle on the kitchen table, her roommates found it, and they turned her into housing. BE SMART PEOPLE. At Disney, you can still be cool if you don't drink, this isn't college ;)
