The Office of Residential Life partners with The Housing Director for Room Selection. Every returning student will receive a room selection lottery number and an individual room "Selection Time." At their given Selection Time, students will log into their Student Housing Self-Service portal using their Banner username and password to select their room for the upcoming academic year.
Prior to participating in Room Selection, all students must submit a Returning Student Housing Application to signify their intent to live in a residence hall for the next academic year. Failure to submit the Returning Student Housing Application on time will result in a student being unable to participate in Room Selection. This application can be accessed via the link for “Applications & Forms” in the Student Housing Self-Service portal, and will be available by early April. The Office of Residential Life will share more details about lottery numbers, Selection Times, and the Student Housing Self-Service portal in mid-April.
| March 29, 2021 | Returning Student Housing Application becomes available |
| Mid-April | Roommate Selection process opens via Student Housing Self-Service |
| April 16 | Deadline to Submit Returning Student Housing Application |
| Mid-April | Students will receive information about their individual Selection Time(s) via email |
| April 19, 2021 | Room Selection: Senior Suites |
| April 20-22, 2021 | Room Selection: General Suites |
| May 3, 2021 | Substance-Free Housing Room Selection (all class years) |
| May 4-6, 2021 | Room Selection: Single, Double, and Triple Rooms (all class years) |
| Early August | Housing assignments made for students who do not participate in Room Selection in April; room change requests accommodated as able |
Only rising seniors should plan to participate in room draw without a roommate. Potential roommates should discuss expectations for living together including sleep, study, cleanliness, and social habits. If you do not have a roommate, you cannot draw into a double room.
Your lottery number is a computerized random number assigned to each student, and it reflects your graduation year and gown status. Residential Life uses this number to determine the order in which students choose their rooms. The Office of Residential Life cannot change your class or gown status. If your class or gown status is incorrect, you must contact the Registrar's Office. If the Registrar's Office confirms that you are listed in the wrong class or gown status, you should contact the Office of Residential Life to get a new number. New lottery numbers are generated randomly from lottery numbers assigned to students who will not participate in the room selection process (e.g. Proctors, students studying abroad, etc.).
Every student will receive an individual Selection Time for room selection. The Office of Residential Life anticipates sharing Selection Times at the end of the week prior to room selection. Selection Times are assigned in lottery number order. The lowest lottery number (e.g. number 1) will receive the first appointment, and the highest lottery number will receive the last appointment. Students will receive Selection Times for their class year’s selection date (dates listed above). Once you have determined your roommate, identify the lowest lottery number between the two of you. The roommate with the lower lottery number will receive an earlier Selection Time, and will select a room on behalf of both roommates at that time. The roommate with the higher lottery number (and, therefore, the later Selection Time) will not need to log in at their Selection Time, as their room has already been selected.
Typically, if you plan to study away in the Advent semester, you are not permitted to participate in the room selection process in the preceding Easter semester. Housing for you is arranged when you return to campus in January of the following year. However, due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding global travel amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, this year we encourage you to make tentative housing plans for the Advent semester just in case you become unable to study away for any reason. However, please note that if you select a double room for the Advent semester during room selection but ultimately study away from Sewanee for that semester, your roommate in Sewanee may forfeit the selected room and receive a new, random roommate and room assignment over the summer. For this reason, we highly recommend that all students planning to participate in a study away program make tentative campus housing plans for the Advent term with another student who also intends to study away.
Note: If you select a room during room selection but end up studying away during the Advent term for any reason, please note that the Office of Residential Life will NOT hold your selected room for the duration of the semester. Should you return to campus for the Easter term, you would receive a new assignment via the mid-year housing assignments process.
If you plan to study away in the Easter semester of the next academic year, and will therefore be on campus during the Advent semester, you should participate in the room selection process as normal. You should make your Advent semester roommate aware of your plans, as they will need to plan to fill their space for the Easter semester.
Students currently reapplying for reinstatement, if approved, will be assigned a room and roommate over the summer. Currently enrolled students cannot select a roommate during room draw that has not been approved for reinstatement to the University.
The Office of Residential Life has implemented some changes to the process for selecting “Senior Suites”. Senior Suites are suites for 2-6 residents in Hodgson, Humphreys, Quintard, and St. Luke’s Halls. All rising seniors will have the opportunity to participate in the Senior Suites round of Room Selection if they wish. During this round, one senior representing a group of seniors may select from the available suites in the buildings listed above. To participate in this round of room selection, ALL members of your roommate and suitemate group MUST be seniors. Should any of these suites still be available at the conclusion of the Senior Suite selection day, the Senior Suite selection process will reopen. At that point, groups of mixed class years or groups of underclassmen (rising juniors and sophomores) may have the opportunity to select a suite during General Suite Selection.
Students requiring special housing needs (e.g., an air-conditioned room, meal plan exemption, or living on central campus) due to a medical condition should contact Student Accessibility Services prior to March 1. Housing accommodations issued after March 1 will be accommodated as is possible; in most cases, students with an accommodation issued after March 1 should plan to select a room during room selection and utilize the waiting list process to change rooms over the summer if necessary.
Students living in substance-free housing agree not to possess or use alcohol, tobacco, smokeless tobacco or any illegal substances while on campus, regardless of age. Designated buildings and floors used for substance-free housing are subject to change each year based on interest and space availability. Interested students must apply via the Substance-Free Housing Application in their Housing Self-Service portal.
Rising seniors interested in living in a pre-approved off-campus apartment or house must apply to be exempt from the University housing requirement. This application is typically made available by early March.
For more information, checkout the Theme Houses below.
If you are interested in living in your fraternity or sorority house, please contact your chapter president.
