First Year Room Selection
Where to Start : Timeline : Contract & Deposit Payment : Add A Roommate
Decide Where You Want to Live : Hall Configuration Summary : Select A Room
Where Do You Start?
Review the information posted here and check your Ohio University email frequently.
The most important thing you can do to prepare for the First Year Room Selection process is to review the information from Housing and Residence Life. This page contains information designed to outline the process and answer many of the questions you might have. We also recommend that you regularly review the information that is sent to your Ohio University email account. Messages from Housing and Residence Life will come from housing@ohio.edu. If you have any questions, we highly encourage you to reach out to our office so we can best support you with this process.
You can also receive updates to keep you on track by following Housing and Residence Life on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
First Year Room Selection Tutorial 2023-24
Timeline
December 1: Housing Contract Available on Housing Self-Service
December 1: Find a Roommate on My OHIO Roomie
March: Check Your OHIO Email Frequently
May 1: Housing Contract Cancellation Deposit Refund Deadline
May 1: Roommate Matching Available on Housing Self-Service
May 8: Room Selection Times Released on Housing Self-Service
May 16: First Year Expanded GIH Room Selection
May 17-18: Experiential Living Opportunities Room Selection
May 17-18: Triple Room Selection
May 22-25: General Room Selection
Contract & Deposit Payment
Housing Contract Tutorial 2023-24
Step 1
To access the online housing and dining contract, click on the Housing Self-Service button located on the housing main page.
Step 2
Log in using your OHIO email address and password. Click on the Contracts and Applications tab. Select “First Year Student Contract 2241” from the drop-down list.
Step 3
Read and agree to the contract terms and conditions. By accepting the terms and conditions you are agreeing to a contract that is binding for both the fall and spring semesters.
Step 4
Answer the contract questions and select a meal plan.
Step 5
After accepting the terms and conditions, you will be advised that a $200 housing deposit/prepayment is required. You will be given the option to pay through CashNet. If you are not prepared to pay at this time, you can return the housing contract later. To pay the deposit later, you must log back into your housing contract and navigate to the end until you reach the payment page.
The contract is not marked complete until the payment is made. Only those applications completed (including deposit payment) from December 1, 2022 to May 1, 2023 will be eligible to participate in the First Year Room Selection process. Students whose contracts are received after May 1 will be manually assigned a room by Housing and Residence Life over the summer.
If you did not pay when completing your contract, finalize your contract by submitting a $200 housing deposit/prepayment. Payments must be received by May 1, 2023 by 11:59 PM.
To participate in the room selection process, the housing contract and deposit must be received by the May 1 deadline.
Payments can be made online at the end of the contract completion process. If you are unable to complete your online payment, please contact the Bursar's office at 740.593.4130 or bursar@ohio.edu. Any payments made to the Bursar’s Office need to be made prior to the May 1 deadline to be eligible for room selection.
Tips to Prepare to Complete a Housing Contract
- Review and understand the housing contract terms and conditions.
- Make sure that you know your OHIO email and password.
- Make sure that you have everything you need to make your housing deposit, credit card information or bank routing number.
Deposit Refund and Contract Cancellation Process
Students who decide not to attend Ohio University, may request a refund of their housing deposit up until May 1, 2023. All contract cancellations and deposit refunds must be requested in writing via your OHIO email account to housing@ohio.edu. The request must include your name and PID number. The request must be received by the May 1 deadline.
Add A Roommate
Roommate Matching Tutorial 2023-24
Students who know who they would like to reside with can add roommate(s) by visiting Housing Self-Service starting May 1. For those students who do not have a designated roommate identified, Housing and Residence Life will offer an optional and voluntary search using My OHIO Roomie. My OHIO Roomie is available to first year students beginning on December 1, 2022. Detailed instructions will be sent to the student's Ohio University email account in addition to being posted on their Housing Self-Service page.
Please Note: All students wishing to room together must have a finalized housing contract (with the deposit paid) to be added as a roommate.
Step 1
Determine how many roommates you want. You may request up to three other roommates. The majority of first year spaces are double occupancy rooms, and we recommend selecting in a group of two for greater options during selection.
First Year Students can begin matching with roommates on their Housing Self-Service beginning May 1, 2023. Due to hall configurations, first year students will only be allowed to match with first year students or incoming transfer students. If your requested roommate has a common name (i.e., Matthew Smith), it will be helpful to have the student's OHIO email address. Roommate requests must be mutually matched PRIOR to selecting a room to be successful in the roommate selection process.
Only students who have finalized their housing contract (both completed and paid their deposit) can be considered for roommate matching and/or selection.
Step 2
Visit Housing Self-Service on May 1 or prior to selecting a room and select "Room Selection". Next select "Add your Roommate" if you have not already been added, or confirm the pending roommate request of a student who has already added you as a requested roommate. By confirming the roommate(s), your roommate group should then be reflected as a "matched group." Unmatched groups must be corrected before the room selection process begins.
Helpful Hints
- Make any additions and changes to your roommate requests in advance of your room selection time. You can make additions and deletions during the scheduled time of your selection but using this valuable time when you could be selecting your room could result in another individual selecting the room that you wish to select.
- During the room selection, students will have the ability to divide roommate groups into “sub-groups” on the "Room Selection" screen. This will provide the opportunity for the student selecting for the matched roommate group to break the group into sub-groups, view options for rooms in halls without deleting the roommates, and then select for the entire group by placing students in different rooms within the same hall. This option is to allow student groups to remain near each other within the same hall when/if spaces to accommodate their group size are no longer available.
- If you are someone's roommate, and they are eligible to select at an earlier selection date and time, that student will be selecting for you. HOWEVER, it is still your responsibility to confirm that you were pulled into a room as expected.
Decide Where You Want to Live
The room selection process is set up in four distinctly different room selection processes. There will be an earlier selection for students interested in Expanded Gender Inclusive Housing on May 16. An early selection on May 17-18, 2023 for students who will be participating in a Experiential Living Opportunity (i.e. Fine Arts, Honors Halls, Substance Free, Women's Leadership, etc.).
The General Room Selection Process will be May 22-25, 2023 and will be the process in which most first year students will select. Each student will receive a scheduled date/time during which they can select a room.
1. Expanded GIH
The Expanded Gender Inclusive Housing Selection Process will be May 16, 2023 and will be the process in which anyone who has opted into gender inclusive housing on their Housing Self-Service personal preferences. Each student will receive a scheduled date/time during which they can select a room.
2. Experiential Living Opportunities
The Experiential Living Opportunities Selection Process will be May 17-18, 2023 for those students who have elected or been selected to be a part of an experiential living opportunity on campus. These selection processes include Honors, 1804 Scholars, Fine Arts, Substance Free, Women's Leadership, etc. Each student will receive a scheduled date/time during which they can select a room.
3. First Year Student Triple Room Selection Process
Housing and Residence Life is excited to offer an early selection process for students who are within a matched group of three to select into triple rooms. The First Year Student Triple Room Selection Process will be May 17-18.
If you wish to participate, you will need to ensure that you are within a fully matched group of three students. You will need to be in a fully matched group of three no later than Monday, May 15 at 8 a.m. so we may add you and your group to this opportunity.
If you do not elect to participate in the First Year Student Triple Room Selection Process, you will be eligible to select at your designated time during the First Year Room Selection Process that will take place between May 22 and 25. There will be limited triples available during the general selection process. If you choose to not select a triple in the First Year Student Triple Room Selection Process, your current matched group of three may need to consider a different option for the future selection process.
4.General Room Selection Process
Times and dates for selection in the general process are emailed and viewable on the Housing Self-Service on May 8. The campus wide room selection process will be held on May 22-25, 2023 and will be available only to those students who have met the contract and deposit payment deadline.
Students who did not meet the May 1, 2023 contract/deposit deadline will be assigned a room by Housing and Residence Life Staff, but can be pulled into a room during room selection by a matched roommate if both students are matched before a room selection is made.
Hall Configuration Summary
The configuration summary shows quick facts about each hall, including the capacity, any special communities that are housed there, if it has a laundry room, and other interesting facts. The hall configuration summary can be found here.
Select A Room
Step 1
Be prepared on your assigned date and time to select your room. You can find your selection date and time on your Housing Self-Service page. Selection dates/times are published on May 8, 2023.
There is a difference between the start time of the selection process and your scheduled selection time! Once your time begins, you can select a space from that time until the end of the selection process. You may only select once during room selection.
Step 2
Visit Housing Self-Service to make your selection. The room selection section can be accessed by selecting the 'Room Selection' tab located on the left side of the page. Detailed instructions for selection will be found in Housing Self-Service during the selection process.
Tips for Preparing for Room Selection
- To prevent delays or problems with your online room selection, you should know your OHIO email address and password, make sure that you and your roommates are matched, and have reviewed all green, building, and room options that you are interested in. Be realistic with room availability and have several alternative selections in mind so that you have several back up plans.
- Students can monitor spaces prior to selecting a room. Once your designated selection date/time arrives, you will then be able to select a room.
- If you have a manually matched roommate group, the student that has the earliest selection date/time should be the student designated to complete the room selection process for the group. All students in a matched group will be assigned into the room once the first person in the group has completed the room selection process.
- Verify that the correct roommates are also listed on your Housing Self-Service page to ensure that you successfully pulled all desired roommate(s) into a room with you.
Once You Have Made Your Selection
After you have completed your room selection, the assignment will appear on your Housing Self-Service overview page with any roommate information. In addition, a confirmation email containing your hall and room assignment will be sent to your OHIO email account within one day of your room selection date. Keep this email for your records.