My daughter has identified 3 girls for roommates. They would like to be in a Pres 1 suite. She has a 7:30 p.m. May 7 room selection time and will pull in one of the other girls with a much later room selection date. Another girl with a 6:00 p.m. May 9 room selection date/time will pull in the final roommate. I have several questions and was wondering if anyone in this community has recently been through the process and could shed light on them:
How likely is it that the 6 p.m. May 9 selection will be able to get the 3rd and 4th rooms in the suite that my daughter selected on May 7?
The email my daughter received said “Online room selection will be open on May 7, 9, 14, and 16 from 6 p.m. CST to the following morning at 7 a.m. CST. Once you have access to room selection, you may return to it any time that it is open.”
Does room selection occur continuously from 6 p.m. through 7 a.m. the next morning such that some room selection times are, say, 4 a.m.?
What does the second sentence above mean ("Once you have access...")? Does that mean that after 7:30 on May 7 my daughter can move herself (and pull in her roommate) to any other two room suite?
Given the student with the second selection time (May 9 at 6:00) is the first selection slot of that day, it would seem like she would either A) be able to select the room my daughter is in if it is available, or B) find out that someone else took the 3rd and 4th rooms of the suite my daughter took and be able to hunt for a possibly fully open 4 room suite in Pres 1...and then my daughter would need to switch to that suite. Does that sound right?
Are there any other resources that are available to better understand exactly what happens after online room selection begins on May 7?
All comments, pointers, and suggestions are appreciated! I’m hoping that by better understanding the process, the potential drama that goes on during online room selection can be reduced
Hard to say. My student intentionally chose a suite that already had 2 students because “they seemed harmless” when there were tons of fully empty rooms.
I think it does go in blocks but not sure if some are specifically in the wee hours.
Yes
Yes. Also the student who selects on May 7 can go back in before selection closes again in the morning and scope out still-fully-empty rooms as backup options. That way all the students have a plan and can quickly go to a 2nd choice if someone else pops into their original room.
Not official ones that I know of, but the Facebook groups for Bama parents are full of info and help.
There is a possibility, it all depends on how desirable that room/dorm/location is. If another pair of girls takes the other 2 rooms, your daughter and her match will need to select another empty room.
No, I believe the last time slot is around 9:30 pm however changes can be made throughout the night until the following morning's deadline.
Yes, once her time has past she can go on during any other time and switch her room.
Your daughter will be able to see at any point if 2 other girls have taken the empty slots in her housing selection portal..there is a spot to view roommates and new girls will show up there. If that happens, she can only look for and switch to another open room (if one is available) during the next housing selection time.
The parents of class of 2023 facebook page will have updates leading to and during the whole housing process. As far as resources through the school, you can always call the housing office.
The biggest cause of drama that occurs during the housing process is the bullying, most often between girls. Your daughter’s situation is common with the first pair selecting on one day and the second pair having to wait until another day. Many times that first pair thinks the entire suite “belongs” to them, even though they only occupy 2 of the 4 rooms at that point. Girls have been known to DM or email any other 2 girls that happen to come in and “take” the open 2 rooms. If they are reported for bullying with screenshots, housing will remove them from the room and they will be placed during the open housing process that occurs in June.
The only tip that I can offer, is that your daughter and her 3 friends need to have a number of alternative choices ( rooms, floors and dorms) in case the 2 girls with the later time are not able to get into the empty slots. Pres definitely is the first dorm to fill up (has been for the past 2 yrs). Riverside is directly across the street and is a great option if they need a second choice.
@flatKansas - definitely second your advice to check out Facebook parent groups. I just joined the UA Parents of 2023 group and they have a ton of housing info and the moderators are quick to answer new questions.
@flatKansas@Roo17 - between this post and the UA parent’s facebook page, I am getting a little stressed. S19 has a 5/9 8:30pm selection slot. He is honors/NMF and looking to room in Ridgecrest. He is already on the students’ facebook page and has talked to some kids about rooming together. It almost seems like he would be better off to go in with just one other kid or by himself. He is coming from CO so definitely knows no one. Thoughts?
@elodyCOH just checked - he applied for housing on 12/5. He received his selection time on 2/13. I imagine if your son put housing in really early he will have a slot the first day.
@elodyCOH Good luck on Blounts! I am sure your son would meet students easily through that program.
S19 is having a little luck on the Facebook page and I am sure it will work out but all of the posts made me stress a little about the process. S19 isn’t remotely stressed so I should just relax! ?
@mountainmomof3 He should have no problem getting into Ridgecrest on the second night of selection. If he matches with one other boy they can either find an empty suite or go into one with 2 occupants already. If he does end up finding 3 boys that he wants to share a suite with that is fine too. In that case the 2 with the earliest slots should match with the 2 with the later slots. This way the later boys will be pulled in early and the 4 have a better chance of being together. Also, you would be surprised the amount of kids coming in from Colorado. There is a Parent group on Facebook for Co families, you might be able to network on there to help him find someone as well.
@Roo17 - not surprised there are so many CO kids as our state schools offer very limited merit even to top stat kids. But I did not know about the CO group - I will check that out.
As an NMF he will be on campus for all 4 years so I am sure next year it will be the stress of finding other kids that will be staying on campus past freshman year!
DS will be graduating this May, but I so remember stressing over the room selection, me not him. We are far away and he didn’t know anyone either and I was really worried about him getting settled in w/ a good group. At that time, I think one kid could pull in 3, so things are different now. However, I wanted to assure many parent here that most of the time it works out very well.
DS pulled in one kid he connected with on the housing site, but never spoke to him or met him until move in. The 2 guys they moved in with also didn’t know each other and just teamed up before selection. They all got along so very well, and he is still living with 2 of them the past 2 years in a complex off campus.
The only thing he checked for was for guys who were not planning on joining a fraternity. They are often busy with that in the beginning and probably wouldn’t be around much, so hard to form an early connection. Also, if going in alone, to pick a room with 2 occupants. This was advice I was given 4 years ago.
I just joined the FB Parents group and I’m totally overwhelmed. Everyone seems to already know exactly where their kids want to live, and I doubt S19 even knows the names of the dorms.
@brentwoodmom - that Facebook group is what got me going! I feel like I am six months behind in this process. S19 is very chill about the whole thing - good thing he is the one headed off and not me.
@brentwoodmom - The only thing my S19 has figured out for his housing is the name of the dorm he wants, he knows he wants a lower floor and a floor with laundry. For this kid, that’s what I call progress! However, he hasn’t spent any time at all trying to find roommates. To add to the stress (on my part) neither of us are even on Facebook, lol. We both have accounts but neither of us have ever really used them. I’m going to have to reset my password, etc. and hopefully quickly figure out how to navigate. Somehow most of our family never jumped on the Facebook craze.
It is still pretty early for roommates…throughout the spring kids will be making and changing their decisions. My daughter had 2 potential suite mates change their minds in early summer!
