How Room Assignments Are Made

Assignment Process

First Year Students

New, first-year, and transfer students will be assigned by our Housing Operations staff. Students who apply by the priority date, usually on or around May 1, are guaranteed to receive their residence hall assignment in early June, usually by the first week. Students applying after the priority deadline (May 1) will receive their residence hall assignment on a rolling basis. Students should expect to receive their assignment before their New Coug Orientation date. All incoming students who apply before the housing priority date will be given equal consideration for placement.  

Quick Links

Returning Students

Returning students can self-select their room for the upcoming academic year if they apply by the returning priority date in mid-February. Students who apply after this date will be assigned by the Housing Operations staff and receive their residence hall room assignment in their housing portal.  

Assignment Communications

All official communication from the Housing & Residence Life office goes through the WSU email address, including assignment notifications. Students are encouraged to routinely check their wsu email to stay informed. Once assignments are made, students can view their assignment, roommate information, and other important Housing & Dining information via their housing portal found at https://wsu.starrezhousing.com/StarRezPortalX 

Assignment Considerations

Housing assignments are determined based on a variety of factors noted below:  

Accommodations

Students that have approved housing medical accommodation requests through Student Accommodations and Disability Resources by their priority deadline will be assigned first.

Living Learning Communities (LLCs)

  • Students who join an LLC will live together on the same floor and be enrolled in a shared WSU course.  

  • If you preference a living learning community and a roommate, your roommate request will be considered only if your roommate has chosen the same living learning community.  

Roommate Selection

  • Within the housing application, students have the ability to request a roommate. Roommate requests must be mutually confirmed online in the housing portal. Roommate requests that are confirmed, and both residents have completed their housing application by May 1 will be prioritized to be assigned together. 

  • As part of the housing application, all students complete a survey covering attitudes toward cleanliness, daily routines, sleep habits, views on overnight guests and feelings about sharing items within the room. Those that do not have an identified roommate have two options:  

  • They can utilize the roommate finder within the application to search for a roommate based on the survey that they completed in their application  

  • We can pair individuals together using the information provided in the survey they completed

Availability

  • New students are typically assigned to double rooms with community bathrooms. Depending on availability, other room configurations may be assigned based on the preferences you indicated in your housing application. 

  • We ask students to preference halls throughout the three sides of campus, so we encourage you to check out our residence hall information pages when making those preference decisions.  

  • Because each residence hall can accommodate only a set number of students, some halls reach capacity sooner than others. We do our best to place you according to your stated preferences whenever possible. 

FAQ

How likely am I to be assigned my top choice community? 

It depends on which hall you select, but on average, about 65% of our new students receive their first or second choice.

No matter the building, Cougs create connections that make campus feel like home. At the end of the day, the best campus experiences come from the relationships you build in your residence hall—not the location.

Where can I find my room assignment or roommate information?

Once assignments are made, students can view their assignment, roommate information, and other important Housing & Dining information via their housing portal.

What if I want to change my assigned room? 

The housing team takes reassignment requests on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the summer and works to reassign students to a different community or room type as space becomes available, until July 31. 

After July 31, students must move into their assigned space and can request a room change after the semester has started.