<p>In reading the Bama housing website FAQ, it indicates students will be sent an email indicating the specific time to log in to select their room.</p>
<p>Son has received no such email.</p>
<p>Has anyone received a specific email stating exactly when they can log in?</p>
<p>I know there is somewhere listed a time frame that students who completed their contract by a certain date can select their room, but nothing more specific than that.</p>
<p>Also, is there a certain code needed once you go to the room selection site in order to proceed?</p>
<p>Yes, my son received an e-mail on his Crimson account in January with the date, time, and instructions for room selection. There doesn’t appear to be any code he needs to enter when the time/date arrives. The instructions read as follows:</p>
<p>Logging In And Selecting A Room</p>
<p>You will access room selection by clicking on the On-Line Residence Housing Application link, located in the “Currently on myBama” section of the myBama Web site. When you click on the link, you will see the residence halls from which you are eligible to select a space.</p>
<p>Your initial date to enter the online room selection process is determined by the date you completed your housing application; living-learning community participation, if any; and any special needs. Listed above are the date and time you can first enter room selection if you are eligible for, and choose to live in, a living-learning community, and the date and time you will enter room selection if you are not choosing a space in a living-learning community. Please note, some living-learning communities require a separate application to, and acceptance by, that program in order to live in that community. All times listed above are Central Daylight Time.</p>
<p>After your initial log-in date, you may return to the room selection process any time that it is open; for a complete schedule, please visit our Web site at [Housing</a> & Residential Communities - The University of Alabama](<a href=“http://housing.ua.edu%5DHousing”>http://housing.ua.edu). You may change spaces as often as you like until room selection ends on July 2, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time. If you do not immediately find the space that you want, select another space and then continue to check periodically, as new rooms will become available throughout the process. Looking at different spaces will not change your assignment, so please look as often as you like. Your assignment will not change until you actually select another space.</p>
<p>Oh, yes, I got that email in January. For some reason, the wording on the site seems to indicate he’ll get a specific time. I’m hoping he’ll just go on on Tuesday within the time frame and start searching.</p>
<p>BTW, son did finally use the Roommate Finder to use their message system, but also sent his matches emails in case they don’t check the Bama site. His friend had messaged his choices and hadn’t heard back, so they suggested we do that as well.</p>
<p>What is confusing with room selection is that initially there is an open window between certain hours, but each hour more students become eligible for room selection. The proxy code is only used pulling in a roommate. There may also be a “room swap” code which can be used for switching assigned room spaces with other students (ie person A has bedspace 312C and wants to switch with person B who has bedspace 309D).</p>
<p>I haven’t payed my deposit yet because I don’t know if I’ll be attending. Are most of the rooms already taken? Are any dorms already full? I know I got that email, but I can’t find it. I don’t know why I would have deleted it. SInce it’s after March 1, iIf I do it now, will I get one of the last dates and have poor choices? It says they give you back the $225 if you don’t attend, so I would only be losing $25?</p>
<p>The dates for selecting rooms are determined by when you pay your deposits.</p>
<p>The dorms are not full yet. Other kids are waiting, too. </p>
<p>For those who are waiting, it’s a good idea to find some potential suitemates on Facebook who have earlier “room select dates” so that they can “pull” you into their suite.</p>
<p>I should probably get a facebook then. I don’t think anyone would pick me up if I had no friends on there, even if it’s because I just got one. At least I wouldn’t. So you lose the $25. Is there anything else? Is there a separate housing deposit that you lose? Has anyone paid their deposit recently and are you picking on one of the last days?</p>
<p>You don’t lose your housing deposit. That would be refunded.</p>
<p>Do the Facebook thing. Use the roommate finder function (or whatever it’s called…SEA_tide…help me out here…LOL). You put in your likes, dislikes, etc…and kids will contact you. Don’t worry that you don’t have friends there. Many kids don’t have friends there. That’s the point of the function. If kids were going to pull in their friends, they wouldn’t even bother with the FB roommate finder thingy.</p>
<p>There’s virtually nobody on it right now, but perhaps it will fill as students commit to UA and the word gets around. My son has still not yet committed to UA (waiting to see all the final offers from schools to which he has applied), but we paid the housing deposit and he will select a room March 23. He’s reluctant to post on any roommate finder application because he doesn’t want to mislead anyone about his intentions at this point. I imagine there are many in his situation and I’m sure he’ll be looking to pull compatible roommates into a suite ASAP should he commit to UA.</p>
<p>In paying the housing deposit, which is refundable, do you have to pay the university deposit at the same time? So if you end up not going to Alabama, do you lose the university deposit as well as the $25 housing deposit?</p>
<p>Upon admission to UA, all entering freshmen are required to submit a $200 nonrefundable Freshman Enrollment Deposit (Fall tuition prepayment). Here are a few things to remember about the enrollment deposit and how it fits into the Admissions process:</p>
<p>The Freshman Enrollment Deposit must be paid before applying for housing or registering for orientation.</p>
<p>The deadline for payment of the Freshman Enrollment Deposit is May 1, 2010.</p>
<p>Further instructions will be sent via myBama email to students who are admitted to UA.</p>
<hr>
<p>What if I apply for housing and decide not to attend UA?</p>
<p>If you do not attend the University, you can receive a refund of your $225.00 prepayment by canceling in writing by July 1, 2010. To cancel your housing application, e-mail <a href=“mailto:chewitt@sa.ua.edu”>chewitt@sa.ua.edu</a>. Include your CWID, name, and the the reason you are cancelling your application. Because the prepayment is refundable, you are strongly urged to apply for housing, even if you have not made your final decision regarding the school you will attend. Your room selection date is determined in part by the date that you apply for housing.</p>
<p>Do use the roommate finder on Bama’s website, because it will let you plug in preferences, ie, nonsmoker/type of music/school/living-learning community. It saves a lot of time. We sent messages through the roommate finder, but also sent email to the email address provided on matches. Even if you’re not sure you’ll attend, if you find a match, you’re better off if you do decide to attend, rather than having to just plug yourself into a random empty space. </p>
<p>If I understand correctly, you don’t get the ability to select a room unless you’ve paid your housing deposit. Am I correct on this? And you don’t get the access code to go on roommate finder until you’ve paid your deposit. </p>
<p>We’ve already had the experience of finding someone on roommate finder who responded that they selected another university. I’m assuming that person paid both their enrollment and housing deposit, and thus, will forfeit the enrollment deposit plus the nonrefundable portion of housing. It’s a risk they were willing to take while waiting on offers so as to insure housing if they chose Bama. </p>
<p>Other experiences we’ve had with the roommate finder is getting a match who responded he had found three out of the four suitemates, so they had a space open. Or we’ve gotten matches that had one roommate already, so had two spaces open.</p>
<p>Of course, you can read through the facebook as well and send messages or friend requests, too.</p>
<p>We’ve also found the facebook thing helpful in that we saw some possible matches up there posting that they had already found rooms/roommates, so son knew to cross them off the list.</p>
<p>Good luck everyone on room selection and finding roommates!</p>
<p>I found my roommates through the facebook group and highly recommend that. Jrt, as an incoming freshman you are guaranteed space in a residence hall. It would be nice if you found somebody who would pull you into their room, but I have also heard of people contacting their local rep to see if they knew a person looking for a roommate.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, seatide. I agree, if you’re comfortable with facebook, use it. Thanks for the reminder about the help from your rep, too. </p>
<p>Son is still in “discussions”. Since he goes Tuesday, if nobody has given him their proxy code by then, should he just pick a four space room and hope the others join him when they pick on Thursday?</p>
<p>He could place himself in an empty room or one with people already in it. As has been mentioned previously, he can always switch to another room.</p>