In all the frenzy of midterms and clubs, there is another process that rocks the entire school during this semester: the housing selection process.
The University holds over 4,000 undergraduates, and over half of those students live in a University sponsored residence hall. With so many students, the process to select rooms for next year is a long one. Yet, one can see why this long process is necessary.
To be eligible for the housing lottery, everyone has to pay a $500 deposit. However, the deadline to pay the deposit has already passed, so if a student has not paid it and wants to be put on the waiting list, they can see the Office of Residential Life in Bixler Hall. If you are worried about being place on the wait list area coordinator of upper class areas Mike Kennedy said “If you’re put on the waiting list, do not worry. For the past five years, ORL has been able to offer a bed to everyone on the list by July.”
On March 9, lottery numbers were emailed out. The lower the lottery number, the better choice of room the student will get. Students will then have all of spring break to find groups respective to their class status. Roommates can then be selected through the myHousing portal on insideUNH.
Celentano roommate selection started March 22, while all but mixed group start March 28, with mixed group selecting April 8.
Celentano rooms are selected first on March 24, with complete rising sophomore groups selecting March 29 and 30. Complete rising juniors and seniors select March 30 and 31. Then incomplete sophomores select their rooms April 5 and 6, with incomplete juniors and seniors selecting April 6 and 7. Then finally, mixed groups select April 11 and 12, with final selection occurring April 13 and 14.
“If you’re a complete group, than that is your best bet to get housing this year…even if on the waiting list, and you don’t like where you are placed, wait until the two week room freeze at the beginning of next semester,” said Kennedy.
The room freeze refers to ORL’s policy of not moving roommates around the first two weeks of the semester. Designed so residents do not go crazy changing rooms around, ORL envisions a lot of residents getting used to their new environment and not desiring a room move again.
While very stressful, the housing selection process has been worked on after years of students input to be as fair as possible. The Office of Residential Life is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday to address any questions you might have. There are also RAs throughout campus to whom you can go.
