Housing Application and Room Selection Information

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Returning Student Housing Application and Room Selection

Housing Application/Contract

The 2025-2026 Housing Application for returning students will be available starting at 9am on November 18, 2024. To complete the application process, students will need to carefully read and sign the housing contract (available within the application), complete application questions about living preferences, and pay a $100 application fee.

Because the housing application is a legally binding contract, any student that is under 18 years old at the time of submission will need their parent/guardian to sign off on the application before it is considered complete. An email will be sent to the email address listed for the parent/guardian as soon as the student signs the application.

The email being sent to the parent/guardian will contain a unique code and a link to the agreement signed by their student. After clicking the provided link, the parent/guardian will need to input their unique code to finish signing their student’s housing application. If the parent/guardian does not receive an email in their inbox or spam folder, they or their student should reach out to their campus’ Residence Life and Housing Office.

Upon completion of a housing contract, students are legally bound to its terms. Only extenuating circumstances may warrant approval of a Contract Release Request. Please refrain from signing an off-campus lease until your request has been reviewed and a determination has been made. Not all cancellation requests are guaranteed approval. If a request is approved, the student will forfeit their housing application fee, and additional cancellation fees may apply. For detailed information, please refer to the University Housing Contract and the Termination/Cancellation Process and Fees Policy outlined within it.

For step-by-step directions to complete the application and links to access the housing and dining portal, click here. For assistance with accessing the housing and dining portal or the application, check out Residence Life and Housing FAQs. If an answer is not available in the FAQs, inquiries should be directed to a student’s campus housing office.

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REMINDER: November 18^th: Housing Application & Roommate Matching open

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PART 1: Retaining with no new suitemates - November 20^th – November 27^th

Part 1 of Room Retention opens at 9:00am on November 20^th and is for students who are retaining their space and NOT pulling in NEW suitemates

- Tip 1: Room Retention is only available to students who are in their 2^nd year or more in campus housing AND who do not live in either Highlands 1 or 2 (2024-2025). These buildings are reserved for First Year students

- Tip 2: Only the student themselves can retain their space. If multiple students plan to retain spaces in a suite they occupy in Fall 2024, they will EACH need to do the retention process. Even if a group is fully matched, they must still retain their own spaces.

- Tip 3: Students who plan to retain for Fall 2024 AND pull in a friend(s) not assigned to their space for Fall 2024 should wait till December 3^rd at 9:00am (Part 2 of Retention). This process is to ensure everyone who should have the opportunity to retain gets the chance to do so

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PART 2: Retaining with new suitemates - December 3^rd – 10^th

Part 2 of Room Retention opens at 9:00am on December 3^rd and will occur for students who ARE PULLING IN NEW ROOMMATES who do not currently live in the suite. The option to pull in roommates, even matched ones, will not be turned on until December 3^rd at 9am

- Tip 1: This is the part of the Retention phase where those who retained their spaces can pull in matched suitemates

- Tip 2: Students who wish to retain, even if they are not pulling in matched roommates, can still retain if their room is still available

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‍CLEAN UP: Room Retention Clean Up - December 11^th – December 20^th

Clean up of any Room Retention issues

- Tip 1: Students should check their housing portal to ensure their assignment information is correct and to make sure everyone who is supposed to be in their suite is listed

- Tip 2: Students should contact the Residence Life and Housing team no later than December 20^th if they see an issue with their assignment information. This will give the team time to rectify any issues. If an issue is presented after December 20^th there is no guarantee that The Residence Life and Housing Office will be able to fix it since the first phase of open room selection will begin soon

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Students are encouraged to reach out to their campus Residence Life and Housing Office IMMEDIATELY if they need assistance. Once the next phases of room selection begin, it becomes less likely for issues to be resolved. Students should follow all directions and meet established deadlines.

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REMINDERS: January 15^th is the deadline to participate in Phase 1. Emails will be sent to those eligible to participate in Part 1 of Phase 1 on January 16^th.

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PART 1: Room Selection opens for those who can “fill a suite” - January 21^st – January 26^th

Room selection for Phase 1 opens at 9:00am for students who submitted their housing application by January 15^thAND who have a completely matched group with enough members to fill every space within a suite

It is possible, but not guaranteed, that there will be partially filled suites (left over from the Room Retention phase) available during Part 1 of the Room Selection Process. This means that smaller student groups that didn’t have enough people to fill an entire suite can still try to see if anything is available for their group. Students should not be concerned if they do not see something available prior to January 26^th as restrictions to fill the suite/apartment will be lifted on January 29^th

- Tip 1: Students who want a specific suite style should make sure they have enough roommates to fill the suite. This gives students the best opportunity to obtain their preferred suite style(s)

- Tip 2: This year students will have the ability to make self-selected room changes for a couple weeks following each phase of room selection

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REMINDERS: On January 27^th emails will be sent to students in Phase 1 who have not selected a room. These emails will contain a new selection date/time for the second part of Phase 1

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PART 2: Room Selection opens to the remaining students in Phase 1 - January 29^th – February 9^th

Room selection for students who could not participate in Part 1 of Phase 1 opens at 9:00am without restriction to fill the room/suite/apartment

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ROOM CHANGES: Phase 1 - Self Selected Room Changes - February 12^th – March 2^nd

Students will have the ability to change rooms on their own in their Housing and Dining portal

- Tip 1: The online room change option does not allow students to pull roommates with them. Each resident must go in separately to change their room, so students will need to plan with their anticipated roommate to change their rooms together

- Tip 2: Students who are changing rooms and have roommates who also want to change with them should make sure the room they are selecting has multiple openings

- Tip 3: For roommates to have a better chance of selecting the same room, (and being sure nobody else takes an empty bed before them) it is advised students log in at the same time to pick the open spaces together (Residence Life and Housing cannot hold beds while students wait for a friend to pick later)

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First Year Student Housing Application and Room Selection

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‍Housing Application/Contract

The 2025-2026 housing application for new/incoming students will be available starting at 3pm on November 18, 2024. To complete the application process, students will need to carefully read and sign the housing contract (available within the application), complete application questions about living preferences, and pay a $100 application fee.

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Roommate Matching

Roommate matching for new/incoming students will open on January 21st. To participate in early room selection and to have a better chance at obtaining their preferred suite style, students are encouraged to have enough students in their group to fill the entire room/suite/apartment. These groups must be fully matched and have enough students to fill the room/suite/apartment to select a room early.

Roommate matching can be completed through the housing and dining portal. When working to roommate match, students will only be able to match with students who have already completed the housing application. New/incoming students will not see any returning students (those who have attended one or more semesters at PennWest) in Roommate Matching. If a specific student is not showing in the roommate matching search results, it is advised that students connect with one another to discuss the status of their housing applications.

For help with the roommate matching process, check out Residence Life and Housing FAQs. If an answer is not available in the FAQs, inquiries should be directed to a student’s campus housing office.

Note: Students applying to live at Vulcan Village will need to contact Vulcan Village directly for assistance with roommate matching. They can be reached at vulcanvillage@pennwest.edu.‍

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Room selection

Room selection will occur in two phases, Phase 1 and Phase 2. For help with the room selection process, check out Residence Life and Housing FAQs. If an answer is not available in the FAQs, inquiries should be directed to a student’s campus housing office.

Note: Students applying to live at Vulcan Village will need to contact Vulcan Village directly for assistance with room assignments. They can be reached at vulcanvillage@pennwest.edu.

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REMINDERS: March 18^th is the deadline to participate in Phase 1. Emails will be sent to those eligible to participate in Part 1 of Phase 1 on March 20^th.

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PART 1: Room Selection opens for those who can “fill a suite” – March 24^th – March 30^th

Room selection for Phase 1 opens at 3:00pm for students who submitted their housing application by March 18^thAND who have a completely matched group with enough members to fill every space within a suite.
It is possible, but not guaranteed, that there will be partially filled suites (left over from the Room Retention phase) available during Part 1 of the Room Selection Process. This means that smaller student groups that didn’t have enough people to fill an entire suite can still try to see if anything is available for their group. Students should not be concerned if they do not see something available prior to March 30^th as restrictions to fill the suite/apartment will be lifted on April 7^th.
- Tip 1: Students who want a specific suite style should make sure they have enough roommates to fill the suite. This gives students the best opportunity to obtain their preferred suite style(s).
- Tip 2: This year students will have the ability to make self-selected room changes for a couple weeks following each phase of room selection.

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REMINDERS: On April 3^rd emails will be sent to students in Phase 1 who have not selected a room. These emails will contain a new selection date/time for the second part of Phase 1.

PART 2: Room Selection opens to the remaining students in Phase 1 – April 7^th– April 20^th

Room selection for students who could not participate in Part 1 of Phase 1 opens at 9:00am without restriction to fill the room/suite/apartment.

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ROOM CHANGES: Phase 1 - Self Selected Room Changes – April 14^th– April 27^th

Students will have the ability to change rooms on their own in their Housing and Dining portal.
- Tip 1: The online room change option does not allow students to pull roommates with them. Each resident must go in separately to change their room, so students will need to plan with their anticipated roommate to change their rooms together.
- Tip 2: Students who are changing rooms and have roommates who also want to change with them should make sure the room they are selecting has multiple openings.
- Tip 3: For roommates to have a better chance of selecting the same room, (and being sure nobody else takes an empty bed before them) it is advised students log in at the same time to pick the open spaces together (Residence Life and Housing cannot hold beds while students wait for a friend to pick later)

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