Housing selection is right around the corner and is often a nightmare for students. This lovely lottery-based system makes choosing a spot to live on par with a 20 page paper or an orgo lab report for causing anxiety in spring term. I’m here as your home-away-from-home RA for a how-to on housing.
The most important thing you need to pay attention to is the housing timeline. Put it in your google calendar. Make it your home-screen background. Do whatever you need in order to know when things close and open.
Timeline
4/1 – Single Room Selection Application opens for students with approved single room accommodations
4/8 – Single Room Selection Application closes
4/10 – Single room selection takes place
4/9 – Fraternity, Senate Themed House, Eco House, Jazz House rosters due to Campus Life
4/12 – Applications for General Housing Selection Process opens; Roommate Matching Available
4/19 – General Housing Selection Application Closes
4/22 – Priority Numbers generated and shared via MyHousing Portal
4/22 – General Housing Information Session
4/25 & 4/26 – Rising Seniors select housing
4/29 & 4/30 – Rising Juniors select housing
5/2 & 5/3 – Rising Sophomores select housing.
When your housing application opens, whether that be singles or general housing, you must go to your MyHousing portal on MyKnox, and fill out the form. If you do not fill out the form, you don’t get to pick where you live! So do it, and do it quickly! There’s no reason to delay.
Priority Numbers
Once everyone’s forms are in, priority numbers are generated. Priority numbers dictate where in the order you are and what time you get to pick your housing assignment. Priority numbers this year are based first on your graduation date. This means that if you graduate in 2026, you’re a rising junior, no matter what the amount of credits you have says. Credits do matter as a tie-breaker. Between you and all of your fellow peers in your year, the amount of credits you have decides which person gets a higher priority number.
If you wanna juice your number and increase your chances, this year Campus Life has Matchup Mondays and Housing Bingo. You compete and win priority points that directly get added to your number.
You’ll be informed on your MyHousing portal of your number and time slot. If you have a single, you have 10 minutes to pick your housing during your allotted slot. If you don’t, you get 5 minutes. So once you know your time, make sure you are alert and aware! Applying for housing also works through, guess what, MyHousing. When your time comes, you will be able to see all of the housing still available to you. If it’s not on the list, that means it’s no longer available.
Make sure to plan ahead. Put together two or three backups for where you want to live next year. Don’t go in with only one choice. This is how you end up in Dean McLean’s office crying. Plan not only backup locations, but also roommates! Things happen.
Roommates
If you have a roommate already picked out – great! Make sure you (and your future roommate!) both fill out the housing application, and then link together on MyHousing. When you apply, you can pick people to come with you. This means you could build a roommate pair, a corner of a suite, or an entire apartment/suite.
Your application is based on whoever has the highest priority number in your group. That means if you are a rising sophomore, but you’ve got a rising senior roommate, then your roommate picks for you! This also applies for larger groups too – whoever’s highest picks.
If you don’t pick a roommate, then Campus Life will randomly assign you a roommate. Often, this can worsen your chances of getting the housing you want. Campus Life likes putting pairs and suites that have already agreed to living together before they like random assortment. Sometimes, if you apply for a place like post without a roommate, you will end up in the quads anyway, as places like post fill up quickly with people who have built large portions of a suite.
I Don’t Have a Roommate!
If you don’t have anyone picked out, that’s ok. Finding roommates can be scary, but Campus Life tries to give you lots of options! If you don’t know who to live with, and you’re uncertain how to even start – try one of the many campus hosted Matchup-Mondays 6-8pm in Taylor Lounge. If going in person to meet with people isn’t your thing, MyHousing has a really cool program where you can search for roommates.
Your MyHousing profile has the ability to note your preferences on a wide variety of things. (If you haven’t ever updated it, this information is what was entered your freshman year). You can use these preferences to search for compatible roommates and filter out results. MyHousing also allows you to send messages to people and ask to pair as roommates.
Dawn of the Final Day
Alright, it’s April 22nd. You know your priority number, you know your time slot, you have a roommate picked out and you’re ready to go. Stay calm, and don’t rush! Applications go by year, so rising seniors (and Fifth-Years) go first, then rising juniors and finally rising sophomores. Communication is key. Make sure you talk clearly and honestly about your housing plans with whoever is with you. Don’t assume anything. If you can, try to be with the people you want to live with when it’s your turn to choose! Keep your backups in mind, and good luck!
