I am a soon to be senior and do not want any bumps in the road when applying to schools and am only realizing now how competitive it is for on campus housing. I just need a few things cleared up about housing and any info would help. I’ll say what I think I know and any more information would be awesome:
UF:
What I understand is that a few weeks after you apply to the school you can pay a 25 dollar housing thing that, if accepted, you can get on campus housing and the earlier you send in the 25 dollars the better chance you have of housing.
Fsu:
I have no idea how housing works and when you can apply and how much it costs. No matter how hard I look I can not find any info.
Usf:
Same as above
Ucf:
you can only apply for housing once admitted and are for sure attending?
Thanks, any info for all these schools would help. Also, how hard is it really to get good on campus housing if I wait to apply for housing at other schools until I hear an admission decision from Uf?
Well for UF you’re right. I hope that you learned from my post yesterday and won’t make the same mistake I did. For FSU there is a date after you’re accepted, I think it was like mid January or something, where the housing application opens in the morning. I woke up and skipped school to get a good priority number for that. I’m not sure about the other schools though.
For UF I heard from housing that this is the last year they will use the application date ( housing application with $25.00 fee) as the priority date for your place in line. They will start using the actual date they receive the completed application and deposit. I will verify this but this is what I was told on the phone.
That is correct! The deposit we made back in November determined our housing spot for fall and summer (if you decided to do a summer semester.) Now, if you paid before a certain date, I can’t remember to be exact, you had priority and can choose what hall you wanted without having to choose 3 top choices.
Now for me, I apparently paid before that date so during my housing time I got to choose what is available. I suggest you pay very early in November because my housing time was around 2:30 (which I thought was good because it was the first day housing was open) but housing was open since 8 that morning so when I logged in everything I wanted was not available and was apparently gone since like 11 that morning.
So even if you’re not sure if you’re going to UF, pay early just in case! $25 is worth it to get an early housing time when the time comes around, instead of having to settle for housing you never taught of getting.
I hope this helps. 
The housing contract opens up sometime in early November. apply before them and watch for that date. I highly recommend waking up on midnight of that day to send in the money. rooms go fast, especially if you want a quad or apartment style or you have a roommate you want to room with.
I’m not positive for FSU but pretty sure they have the early application thing too but not as early or as big of a deal (I thought) as at UF
As mentioned above, the dorms in UF are in fact pretty limited. My freshman year, although I had paid on time, I was stuck living in an economy triple in Broward Hall. It was a really small space to share with 2 other girls, and I had to share a bathroom with over 10 girls. If I could’ve picked any dorm, I would’ve picked a double in Jennings. However, it wasn’t even an option by the time I was able to select my dorm.
If I could re-do my freshman year- I would live in Windsor Hall. It’s not owned by UF so when you sign up you are able to pick exactly which room you want to live in. I had friends that lived there and we hung out in their room more than in my dorm because their room was bigger and had a bathroom.
Hope this helps!