Question about housing contract and when to apply

My daughter will be attending FSU, was accepted to Summer 2016, but it says we must do a housing contract for both fall and summer, and to do fall first, since it fills up faster.

So it says that January 20th is the day that they will begin accepting housing contracts for newly admitted students. I just want to make sure we have all our ducks in a row. We have already paid the admission deposit and it says she has “no fees due at this time”. I just don’t want to mess up and go about this incorrectly. So I have a few questions.

  1. On the 20th, when this opens to us, will the housing contract be something online that we fill out?
  2. Do we fill out the contract for Fall, submit it, and then pay the housing deposit, in that order? Or do we pay the $ first and then fill out the contract?
  3. Is this the point that we will get the "priority number", that I have heard so much about, that shows how far down the list she is?

I feel so clueless about all of this, and I just don’t want to mess up.

Thanks to someone who can help me understand this process, this is all new to me!

Fall/Spring housing contracts open first. There’s far fewer applicants for summer housing, so that contract opens much later.

Yes. You’ll fill out the contract, and if the student is under 18, you’ll also have a parent signature page that basically just says you understand the contract (since your child isn’t 18, they can’t legally sign without you).

It should be pretty straightforward.

Yes. I don’t know if they have changed it recently but once you submit the housing contract you get 10 days to pay the housing deposit and submit the parent signature page if needed.

Yes. However, if you fill out the contract on the first day your priority number will likely not matter as you’re likely to get your first choice, especially if the student is in Honors or applying to a large-capacity building like Wildwood or Degraff.

The entire process is pretty straightforward. The important parts are to remember to fill it out as soon as you can, and to remember to pay the deposit and submit the signature page if you need to. You also need to remember that if your child decides to attend FSU, they are contractually bound to live on campus next year. FSU Housing can hold you to paying the rent for the dorm room.

Thank you so much for this information!