Senior accounting and finance major

Following up on yesterday’s general suggestions, here’s a more in‑depth look at navigating the logistics of the month-long housing process.

On-campus housing selection officially starts today at 9 a.m., with the release of eligibility emails and priority numbers.

Then, from today to Friday, students who have elected to return to their units will be able to view their unit and decide whether they would like to stay. Students have until 11:59 p.m. Friday to opt out of their current location. If you intend to get pulled into another person’s room, make sure not to agree to live in your room another year. Once you’re assigned housing, you’re committed to it.

After that, from Monday to Wednesday, April 9, students who chose to stay in their rooms can pull other students into their rooms, suites or apartments. Students in semi-suites, suites and apartments can pull people into any openings in their suites. In cases in which multiple students want to pull people into the same unit, the student with the best (lowest) priority number has the advantage. Make sure to communicate beforehand with your roommates about who is pulling people in and where.

Once pull-ins are done, preference-based shopping begins. From April 11 to April 16, students can form groups and start selecting housing assignments. As stated above, students can make groups of any size up to six people; each group will have access only to openings for that number of people. Students will also be able to see how many groups have a better priority number for any given location and will be able to use this information to help figure out whether they’ll be assigned their top choice. Students should try to make as many selections as possible so they can be sure to get something that works for them.

Students should also make sure not to include any units they wouldn’t want to live in, as they could end up living there — such as a woman who chose to live on South Hill and unintentionally ended up in the all-female Cecil Hall. Students can also prioritize their unit selections, and groups will be given the first available unit based on their priorities within group sizes. The deadline for preference-based shopping is April 16 at 3:30 p.m., when results will be posted.

Finally, from April 16 to April 18 at 3 p.m., group leaders will be able to assign group members specific rooms within their assigned unit. It’s important to discuss who will be the group leader ahead of time, to determine who will live with whom and, if applicable, who will get any singles.

Students who are dissatisfied with their housing assignment can also participate in room exchange, which will begin on April 21 at 9 a.m.

The Department of Resident Life regularly sends representatives to the dining halls to answer questions. Talk to them early and often.

If you follow these steps, you shouldn’t have quite as much trouble finding housing that works for you. It won’t be easy — it never is — but if you know what you’re getting into, everything should turn out all right.

Ezra Fishman is a senior accounting and finance major. He can be reached at efishmandbk@gmail.com.