Incoming Student Housing Selection Process
Welcome to RWU! We are excited to have you join our community.
Please review all of the information in this "Incoming Student" section. If you have any questions after reviewing the information, please call us at (401) 254-3161, or e-mail us at rwuhousing@rwu.edu.
Housing Application & Selection Process
Please review the information below to learn for an overview of how to complete the housing application process for 2024-2025.
- Complete the New Student Housing Application through Housing Self-Service starting May 24th: As an incoming student, you should have received a username and password for our internal web portal, Roger Central, after you submitted your tuition deposit. For more information about your login information, refer to RWU's Login Cheat Sheet.
- Complete the Housing Application and Sign Your Housing Contract by July 7th: The Housing Application will launch on May 24th. In the Housing Application, you will A) review the Housing Contract and electronically sign acknowledging you accept the terms and B) complete your housing questionnaire which will help us match you with your first college roommate, update your parental contact information, and complete your living requests.
Students needing housing accommodations must review the Request for Accessible Housing Accommodations web page and follow the outlined instructions. Incoming student accommodation requests are due by June 30th.
- Apply for a Special Interest Community and/or LLC (optional): Learn more about these communities via our Webpage for more information regarding these offerings. You can apply for a Living Learning Community through Housing Self-Service after completion of your Housing Contract. Honors students do not need to apply for the Honors LLC, they will be added by the Honors LLC Program Director. Priority deadline for all options is Monday, July 8th.
- Participate in Roommate Matching (optional): After you complete your Housing Contract, you will be able to find or confirm your roommate through the "Housing Self-Service Portal" once your application is reviewed and approved by a member of the Housing Operations team- we typically approve on a daily basis. All roommate requests will need to be mutual, meaning, each student must request each other. Students will need to select/confirm their roommate by Monday, July 8th. Students who request roommates after this deadline may have their time slot impacted.
- Participate in First Year Housing Selection (optional): There are two different types of selection options for students- either a placement process or a selection process. 'First Year Single Room Selection' and 'First Year Housing Selection' will occur during the middle of July. See our First Year Housing Selection section for more information regarding these exciting new options we are providing to first year students!
- Receive Your Housing Assignment by Friday, August 2nd: All students who did not select their own room will receive their placement no later than August 2nd. Move-In information will also be provided at that time to the entire campus community who have already selected their space through a selection process.
- Review and/or Update Your Meal Plan: Once you receive your housing assignment, you can also use the Housing Self-Service portal to make changes to your meal plan up to the second week after classes begin. If you’re worried about this – don’t be! We automatically enroll you in the 230 Block Plan dining plan, however, students living in traditional halls may also choose the 225 Block dining plan or 200 Block dining plan. For other options, feel free to visit the Dining Experience webpage.
First-Year Housing Selection
There are two different types of selection processes for incoming first year students: 'First Year Housing Selection' and 'First Year Single Room Selection'. This page will be updated throughout the summer with additional resources for a successful selection process:
All students who complete their Housing Contract by July 12th will be issued a randomized timeslot between the hours of 9:00 am and 4:00 pm during a two-week period in at the middle of July. Housing Selection for First Year Students choosing non-single rooms will be July 16th through the 26th.
Eligible students will learn of their time slot on July 12th, if they are part of a group the best time slot is utilized for the entire group. There will only be around 175 time slots issued per day. There is no priority given to students who have paid their deposit early or completed their application before the deadline- if you’ve completed the Housing Contract by July 12th, you will be eligible to select your own room for yourself or your group.
Triple Room Guidance: Due to limited triple availability for new students, any triple eligible group must call the Help Desk for assignment/placement purposes. Triples will be allocated in the order in which a Help Desk call is received and by the group’s earliest time slot. Triple rooms will only be filled by groups of three until the list is exhausted.
Students who fail to select by July 26th will be placed according to their living requests and roommate matching profile- we encourage all students to select their own room as the remaining rooms left after selection will be very limited- first, second, or third choice requests may not be available for placement purposes.
Student must indicate on their housing application that they are interested in a single room and not be matched with another student via the roommate matching portal. All of the students who do this will learn of their randomized time slot on July 9th for the First Year Single Room Selection process which will occur on July 11th. If you select a room within this earlier process, you will not be eligible for the larger ‘First Year Housing Selection’ process later in the month and will not be issued a time slot for it.
There are no priorities for students who complete an application ahead of time or paid a deposit earlier- simply meet the deadline and any student can participate. Once your time slot activates, you will be able to select any single room still available. Once there are no more singles available, you will be strongly encouraged to participate in the ‘First Year Housing Selection’ process the following week or be placed according to your requests and roommate matching info provided through the Housing Application.
Any available single rooms left after single room selection has been complete is eligible for any student to select when their time slot activates.
What to Bring
Check out our suggestions for things you’ll want to bring for the residence hall, your classes and your new life on campus!
First-Year Residential Communities
In your first year living at RWU, you'll be in South Campus with all of your fellow first-year students, making it easy to get to know your classmates as you transition to life at RWU.
First-Year Residential Communities
Living Learning Communities
Our Living Learning Communities are designed to help you get the most out of your freshman year by strengthening the connection between the classroom and/or affinity group and the residential community, and helping you transition from high school to college.
