Room Selection FAQ

• Students start the process by going online to the Housing Portal (available Thursday, February 6) and signing their housing contract for next year.  As part of the contract signing process, you’ll be able to set up your Confirmed Roommates, submit housing preferences, select a meal plan, and opt into (or out of) gender-inclusive housing. Once this is done, you receive your tier/lottery number and room selection date via email.
• In order to participate in Room Selection, you will need to have your application submitted by Friday,April 3, 2020.

• Absolutely! All students who intend to stay on campus should sign a housing contract, even if you have been pre-assigned to a specific community. Furthermore, you will not be able to receive keys for a space that you anticipate residing in until a contract has been completed.

• The online application process is separate from the Room Selection Process. By signing the application, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions for the upcoming academic year, as well as securing your eligibility to self-select into a room during the Room Selection process. Room Selection is when you will actually choose the room, which will occur starting April 6. Please refer to the Room Selection Timeline for more information.

• Yes, still apply for housing if you are unsure of whether you will be returning to on-campus housing. It is imperative, however, that you submit your housing exemption prior to July 1^st, as any exemptions submitted after will result in a $250 cancellation charge. This charge also applies for any cancellations that occur after July 1^st.

• You will still be able to apply online. However, you will not be able to take part in Room Selection until April 20, 2020.

• Summer Housing applications will be available starting Monday, April 20, 2020.

• Students are organized for the room selection by the tier and lottery system. A student is assigned their tier according to how many credits they have earned through the end of the fall semester. Within each tier, students are randomly assigned a lottery number. Together, these two numbers combine to create the students tier and lottery number. For example, a student in Tier 1 and a randomized lottery number of 108 will have a tier and lottery number of 1108. During the selection process, the lower your tier, the sooner you are able to choose a room. The lottery portion of this number will only apply to Mills Quad Single Requests and waitlists for single rooms and single apartments.
• The Office of Residence Life receives your credit total as of the conclusion of the Fall 2019 semester and uses this total to determine what tier you are placed in. Students with 75 credits or more (rising seniors) are placed in Tier 1; students with between 45-74 credits (rising juniors) are placed in Tier 2; students with between 15-44 credits (rising sophomores) are placed in Tier 3; students with 14 or fewer credits are placed in Tier 4. If you feel you have been placed in the wrong room selection tier, you are highly encouraged to verify your credits online and, if necessary, with the Registrar's Office. Please note that any changes to credits will not be taken into consideration during the Room Selection Process, so it is highly encouraged that you work to correct your designated number of credits prior to Friday, April 3, 2020.

• The day in which a student will be able to access the Housing Portal to select a room depends on academic class standing. For example, half of Tier 1 will be able to access the portal to select a room starting April 6, whereas the second half of Tier 1 will be able to start selecting rooms on April 7. Your SelectRoom access day will be provided via email and is also viewable on the Housing Portal.

• This issue could be due to a couple of reasons. One of which is incorrect entry of your username and password. Another reason may be related to the internet source that you are using to access the system. Please try using another Internet source before logging in again. Be sure to completely close out of the page before attempting to log in again. If you continue to experience issues, please email reslife@earlham.edu.

• Please send a detailed message to reslife@earlham.edu which should include the error message you are receiving.

• At this time, the application is not compatible with most smartphones. Thus, it is recommended that a computer or a tablet be used to log into the Housing Portal.

• Students who have been granted a Housing Accommodation by the Academic Enrichment Center are still required to apply for housing. However, the Office of Residence Life will contact students who have a Housing Accommodation with more information related to their request. 

• Starting March 23^rd, 2020, you will be able to select a room via the Housing Portal and, if you have confirmed roommates, pull them into the room with you.  Our progressive room selection process remains the same, however: students receive their “room selection start date” which determines when they are able to select a room for next year.  You do not have to select on this date – is just when access begins to the room selection function.
• Please take a moment to review the Room Selection Walkthrough!

• Students who are not required to participate in room selection are as follows:
  • Students who have been accepted into a Themed or Friendship House or Living Learning or Themed Community for the 2020-21 Academic Year. Please check Today @ Earlham to see which houses are accepting applications. Deadlines for the application are dependent on each House community. /news/today/
  • Students who have been granted a Mills Single Quad Request
  • Students who are part of a Living Learning or Themed Community in a residence hall for the 2020-21 Academic Year.
  • Students who have an approved Housing Accommodation for the 2020-21 Academic Year
  • Students who are studying abroad for Fall 2020 or both Fall and Spring semesters.
  • Students who are graduating and/or not returning to campus for the 2020-21 Academic Year

• If you have someone you would like to live with, you are highly encouraged to confirm each other as roommates on the Housing Portal (available February 3).  Once you are confirmed roommates, whichever of you has the soonest room selection start date has the ability to place both of you into an available room.  To choose a roommate, each student must complete the Housing Contract and Preferences form on the Housing Portal and request each other as a roommate.  Once both students have requested each other, you will be listed as confirmed roommates.

• Campus Village, Mills Hall, Warren Hall, Wilson Hall, and Earlham Hall.

• Your requested roommate(s) must also opt into Gender-Inclusive Housing. Not doing so will prevent you and your requested roommate(s) from being able to select into a space together. If you want to change your opt-in preference, please log into the Housing Portal and Choose “Gender-Inclusive Housing Preference”

• We highly recommend that you and the other party email your request to swap rooms to reslife@earlham.edu and letting the Office of Residence Life staff handle the swap on the back-end. You are also able to change rooms on your own, but by doing so will not prevent another student from selecting into your space once it becomes available. Furthermore, if another student happens to select into it, Residence Life will not remove that student to accommodate your request unless the student voluntarily opts out.

• If you feel you have been placed in the wrong room selection tier, you are highly encouraged to verify your credits online and, if necessary, with the Registrar's Office. Please note that any changes to credits will not be taken into consideration during the Room Selection Process, so it is highly encouraged that you work to correct your designated number of credits prior to Friday, March 20^th, 2020.

Progressive Selection (March 23 - April 10)

Beginning Monday, March 25 students can go online to the Housing Portal and select their on-campus residence hall room for next fall according to their Room Selection Start Date, so long as they have completed their housing application by Friday, March 20. Students are given their selection start date based on their tier/lottery number.  So, if a student has a tier/lottery number of 1001, they will receive a selection start date of March 23.  A student with a tier/lottery number of 4001 not select their room until the beginning of April. Students are not required to select their room on their selections start date - this is simply when they can start their selection process. Students share their selection start date with other students listed in their tier, however, each student will be given a different start date depending on their lottery number. The lower the number, the sooner a student is able to pick. Students who complete an application after March 20 will be able to take part in Room Selection starting April 6 and will be able to select until April 10. Any students who have not chosen a room after that will be given a room based on their preferences indicated on their housing application.