The housing lottery is one of the most stressful parts of coming into a new school year. We go into the housing process with a set idea of exactly where we want to live, and things never seem to go as planned.
Currently, students have the option to either live off campus by formally requesting to do so. Students can also fill out a housing intent form if they so choose in order to live on campus. Entering the housing lottery requires a $100 deposit.
For the selection process, students can go online and pick the actual room they will be living in for the upcoming year.
“We will continue to use the online process that was implemented last year, which has proven to be much more efficient than the in-person process from years past,” Residence Life Director Jon Geyer said.
Selection is done by class rank — rising seniors, or those with over 90 credit hours, choose first. Rising juniors with 60+ hours select next, and rising sophomores follow.
The online system has been working about as well as Residence Life thought it would — there were a few bugs that came up, but overall it was found to be user-friendly.
“Most of the tweaks made will not affect the student experience of selecting a room online,” Geyer said.
Special accommodations are encouraged to be filled out as soon as possible. The renewal for those who currently are living with special accommodations has already been sent out. It is best that students get this in before choosing a room, as it can be difficult to make changes afterward for living arrangements.
“We are a little delayed in getting the housing information out, but all of the housing information should be out very soon,” Geyer said.
Soon the Residence Life website will be showing all of the possible living options for the upcoming 2017-2018 academic year, and students can look forward to expanded house and apartment-style living.
The housing process will occur during the week of April 3 through April 7, and hopefully the online system and expanded living styles will allow for making selections to go as smoothly as possible.
