Housing Selection FAQ

Why is a Waitlist Process necessary?

The waitlist is necessitated because many rooms/beds available on campus are encumbered by administrative purposes, including beds held out to be assigned to Community Advisors who have not yet been hired. Between now and July, we anticipate that 80 CAs will be hired and reassigned to the student staff rooms, students will choose to take leave from the College, others will sign leases to live off campus locally, and Theme Community rooms will be filled or released to the waitlist. 

Why is the Waitlist Process a placement process?

A placement process allows College staff to leverage additional data in order to create the most optimal assignments for waitlisted students. Some of the most important benefits are:

• Many of the students taking part in the waitlist process have not selected a roommate for the upcoming year, and many of the vacancies that will become available are in rooms where students are already assigned. 
• Students who are unable to participate in an active selection process due to scheduling commitments or internet access concerns will be able to participate in the same way as all other eligible students.
• It allows for more students to receive spaces within their preferences.

Where will the vacancies used in the Waitlist Process be located? 

Students participating in the Waitlist Process should not worry about their ability to gain housing. There are more beds on campus than we have students who need one. Vacancies will become available as students are hired as Community Advisors, take leave from the College, or join Theme Communities.

Why is the Waitlist Process happening in July?

July is historically when we have the most complete set of vacancies and enrolled students.  Running the process at this later date in July allows for the greatest number of vacancies available for students to yield an assignment. 

Will students be able to engage in the waitlist placement process as roommate pairs?

All students are encouraged to complete the roommate profile and begin looking for a roommate.  In the event a student is not able to find a roommate on their own, we will pair you with another student.

I was able to participate in HSP and select a room/bed, can I change it in the Waitlist Process?

The waitlist process is restricted to students who have not been able to select a room. Students who have already selected a room may choose to request a change through the room change process.

Do I need to look for off-campus housing if I am on the waitlist?

Students on the waitlist do not need to apply to live off campus. The College has sufficient beds for all students who are enrolled in the fall semester.

If you are interested in applying to live off campus, please see more information on this page.

What are the differences between the Waitlist Process and the general Housing Selection Process?

Unlike the Housing Selection Process, the Waitlist Process will be a placement process. As such, students will fill out their questionnaires with detailed information about their housing preferences and roommate information. Then the OSA Ops team will use the collected individual preferences to place each student in a room. The OSA Ops team will make a conscious effort to place students in their most prefered residence halls if there are spaces available. However, we cannot guarantee that students will receive their first choices.

Can I request to live in a room that I know will become available during the Waitlist Process? (i.e. I anticipate that the students who are currently assigned to the space will be CAs etc.)

Students with vacancies in their rooms will be given the opportunity to name a new roommate. All fully vacant rooms will be filled in the Waitlist Process.

How can I learn more about the physical spaces in the residence halls?

Our colleagues in Facilities maintain a list of floor plans of all halls and houses. The floor plans will not yet reflect the occupancy changes from the last several years.

Where are Gender-Inclusive Restrooms (GIRs) located?

In most residence halls, single-gender and gender-inclusive restrooms are present. The restrooms are distributed such that a student would have to travel a limited distance (such as one floor level), depending on the restroom preference. To learn more about gender-inclusive restrooms, please visit the Queer Resource Center’s website.

What are the differences between gender-inclusive restrooms and gendered restrooms?

Gender-inclusive restrooms are those that can be used by anyone regardless of their gender identity. Gendered restrooms are set as 'men' and 'women.' When selecting a room, the room description will indicate what type of restrooms are available to you nearby. The restroom designations must be maintained as they were created.

Will there be opportunities to live in a quiet hall?

There will be opportunities to select rooms the following residence halls, which are designated quiet communities.

• Chapman
• Morrow
• Seligman
• Tyler
• Wieland

How likely are rising juniors (current sophomores) to receive single rooms?

Last year, only about 20 rising juniors who participated in the General Placement Process received single rooms. This year enrollment is still expected to be quite high, and we anticipate that this trend will continue. Single rooms will be reserved for students with registered housing accommodations, but all students in the rising junior and sophomore classes should identify a possible roommate and prepare to select a double room.

May I choose a roommate?

Shortly before the Housing Selection Process (HSP) begins, you will be able to form a pair with another student in order to select a space in a double-occupancy room.

What if I have not identified someone to be my roommate for 2022-2023? Can someone assist me in finding a roommate?

Students who do not have a roommate will not be able to select a room after all of the single rooms have been selected. We encourage you to begin looking for a potential roommate now. If you are interested in opportunities to meet potential roommates, please reach out to your local CDC.

How soon before the General Selection Process do I have to finalize my roommate pair?

Roommate pairs can be formed and broken as many times as desired from the time that pairings open on April 8th up until the pair chooses a room. Therefore, if a pair is trying to decide between single and double room options, they can wait as long as they would like to form the pair.

Why is there no option to join a Time Group?  

Students who participated in the HSP prior to the last two years may recall a concept that was known as ‘Time Groups’.  These groups advantaged larger cohorts of peers in creating adjacent, insular blocks of assignments within a residence hall.  One of the commitments held by the Office of Student Affairs is to equitably distribute the limited resource of assignments across our housing stock.  As such, the OSA Ops Team has discontinued this OSA-facilitated blocking of rooms to provide more power to a student’s Selection Number, and less power to a group.  Instead, groups of students who find interest in living nearer to their peer group should organize prior to the HSP and conduct an accounting of each peer’s Selection Number.  A group of students who wish to attempt to live in closer proximity to each other would benefit by:

1. Learning who in the group holds the latest selection time (highest Selection Number)
2. Deciding as a group that peers with earlier selection times will delay choosing a room their selection appointment time and wait for the group’s latest-selecting peer to choose
3. The entire group may select their rooms at the same time as the latest-selecting peer in halls with remaining adjacencies.  Remember:  Some areas are designated as All–Women.  Those designations must be honored. 
4. Consider applying for a Theme Community or engage the Suite Selection Process.

What happens if my roommate leaves the College?

Communication is critical during this time. Please be forthcoming with plans to leave the College when asked by a friend/acquaintance. We will be at maximum occupancy across campus next academic year. When an opening in a double becomes available, the OSA Operations team will reassign that space to another student after a brief opportunity is offered to the remaining student to identify a roommate on their own.

How does the Office of Student Affairs determine seniority?

Your seniority is calculated based on your class year for the upcoming semester. For the purposes of housing selection, students of the following class years will be able to select together.

• Rising seniors: 2023E and 2023
• Rising juniors: 2024E and 2024
• Rising sophomores: 2025E and 2025
• If your class year has changed since the time of your first enrollment at the College, the OSA Operations Team will calculate your class standing based on the class year that would allow for the earliest graduation, even if that is not your current anticipated graduation date.

For students coming back from leave, what will their class standing be in terms of housing?

The OSA Operations Team will adjust class standing to avoid penalizing students who take leaves. Each student receives the lowest Selection Number they are eligible for based on their class standing and start term.

I am a student who is 25 years old or older. How will I be placed?

Non-senior students who are 25+ will be able to select their housing assignment early during the rising junior class General Selection day. Rising senior students who are 25+ will receive a random number in the same window as other rising senior students. 

I would like to apply to a Theme Community. How do I do that?

Students who are interested in applying to possible vacancies in the Asian Culture House, Drew House, French Language, German Language, Humphries House, the Latinx Culture House, Marsh House, Russian Language, Spanish Language, and Sylvia Rivera communities will be able to find the applications on this page in January each year. Please check this page for the pre-application and all relevant dates and process notes. 

Will there be spaces available in all-women communities?

Students interested in living in an all-women community can assess the availability of those rooms when the list of available rooms is released shortly before the selection process. This year, there are all-women communities located on Morrow 4th Floor, Nicholls Biondi 4th Floor, and Seligman 3rd Floor.

During the selection process, students with an assigned gender marker in ACData will be the only students who are able to select rooms on this floor. Students whose gender marker does not match their gender identity but wish to live in this community should contact OSA Ops for assistance with an override. Please email osaops@amherst.edu at least one day prior to their selection process.

I’m interested in living off campus. Is that possible?

Please visit the page on our website regarding Off-Campus Housing for more information. Off-campus housing is capped at 50 students for the 2022-2023 Academic Year, and applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

When is the deadline to request housing accommodations?

All students seeking accommodations must submit documentation several weeks prior to the General Housing Selection Process. Visit the Accessibility Services website for updated deadlines and other logistical information.

How do housing accommodations affect selection order?

In the Housing Selection Process, students may be assigned an adjusted Selection Number based on their class year and approved accommodations. These alterations to the Selection Number are assessed on an individual basis according to the housing accommodation approved by Accessibility Services. Not all accommodations require   adjustments to the Selection Number. 

Adjusted Selection Numbers result in selection times allowing the student to select from a broader range of housing assignment options that meet their approved housing accommodation.  Students must engage in the Housing Selection Process and select their assignment.  All students with accommodations who are participating in the Housing Selection Process will be notified if their Selection Number requires modification.

In some cases, the number of accommodations or limitations in rooms available that meet a student’s accommodations would make it very unlikely for a student to yield a room that meets their accommodations by selecting a room themselves. In such a case, the student would be pre-placed into a room before other students select rooms.

Which housing accommodations qualify a student for an adjusted Selection Number?

The number and location of available rooms that meet a student’s accommodation(s) determine whether or not a student receives an adjusted Selection Number. The Selection Number is adjusted in order to ensure that there will be rooms available that meet a student’s accommodations when that student selects their room.

For example, because so few rooms on campus are not able to accommodate an air conditioning unit, students with an air conditioning accommodation do not need their Selection Number in order for their accommodation to be met. The number of students seeking accommodations and the availability of particular room types varies from year to year, therefore neither the Student Affairs Operations Team nor Accessibility Services can state which accommodations will be eligible for earlier selection with certitude until all accommodations are processed.

Students with accommodations who are participating in the Housing Selection Process will be notified about whether or not their Selection Number has been modified and the factors that led to that Selection Number assignment prior to the process.

My group is interested in participating in the Suite Selection Process. How can we sign up?

All interested students can register for the STSP using this registration form. The form will be available until 11:59 pm EDT on April 3rd, 2022.

Once that information is shared, students will be able to share their suite groups via Google Form. To indicate shared consent of all group members, a group will not be considered finalized until the group leader (person that submits the form) forwards the copy of the form receipt email with the Office of Residential Life, with all group members copied.

Is there a suite selection? What suites will be able to be chosen? 

Students will be able to organize in groups of 3 (Mayo and Triples), 4 (Greenways), 5 (Mayo), or 10 (Jenkins). After submissions are received, groups will be chosen in order of averaged Selection Numbers during a live conference via Zoom. Jenkins 101A-101F and Jenkins 201A-201F will be placed as single rooms, and not included in the Suite Selection Process.

What is the likelihood that my group of rising sophomores will get a suite?

The chances are very low. Similar to the general process, selection order is based on seniority (rising class standing). Full groups of rising seniors will be drawn first. Once we exhaust groups of rising seniors, we will move to a combined group of rising seniors and juniors, and then rising juniors and sophomores and so forth. 

Histocally, a few sophomores have been chosen for spaces in the Greenways suites consisting of two double rooms. Participating rising sophomores are most likely to be chosen for spaces in triple rooms.

If my group is chosen in the STSP but we do not want any of the spaces left, do we have to live in a Suite or Triple?

No, all selected groups are given the opportunity to choose or withdraw from the STSP during the selection event. If a group is not interested in any of the spaces remaining, they may decline the opportunity to choose to await the possibility of being chosen for another suite type or to participate in the general selection process.

I've been locked out of my Amherst College Log-In, what can I do?

Please contact askIT@amherst.edu to request that access be restored. In time sensitive situations, contact OSA Operations at osaops@amherst.edu or 413-542-2723.

Will rooms where occupancy was changed during the last several academic years be reduced to their earlier occupancy for AY 2022-2023?

No, current enrollment trends suggest that the College will need to maintain the occupancy increases in all rooms.

Should students who are planning to study away participate in the housing process?

The deadline to commit to study away programs for Fall 2022 is April 1, 2022. Students who commit to study away will not receive a Selection Time for the Housing Selection Process 2022-2023. Students who commit to a study away program and subsequently withdraw from that program will be able to participate in an alternate room assignments process in the late summer.

I have a No-Communication and Restricted Proximity Order (NCRPO) in place with another student. How do I manage my housing selection and the terms of the order?

Students who are eligible to participate in the housing selection process and have or are considering a No-Communication and Restricted Proximity Order should contact Scott Howard, Associate Dean of Students, (showard@amherst.edu) for more information.

For more information available about resources available to students, visit the Office of Student Affairs webpage.

When can I return to campus?

The move-in date for Fall 2022 has not yet been confirmed/published. Please be on the lookout for an email from the Office of Student Affairs announcing the move-in process for Fall 2022.

Where do I pick up my key and/or ID when I come to campus?

The OSA Operations Team will distribute keys to arriving students upon your arrival. If you no longer have your student ID, email idservices@amherst.edu to request a new one.

I have an unstable internet connection/ need assistance with selection - what should I do?

Students with an unstable internet connection may choose to call in to select their room during their designated housing selection timeslot, or can designate the College as their proxy. If you would like to designate the College as your proxy, email OSAOps@amherst.edu to discuss your preferences and the logistics of the process.

What if I do not like my room assignment for the spring semester?

Students seeking an opportunity for a room change can choose to request a room change to take place after the end of the fall semester room freeze, which will end on September 20th, 2022.