Unofficial Spring 2023 Housing Q&A
Charlotte Shao ‘26 and Tallulah Hawley ‘25
Since this year’s housing system is new, here’s a quick Q&A based on the housing information sessions and Residential Life on MySLC.
Q: How do I apply for housing?
A: Housing applications will be done entirely online through the housing portal. Applications opened on February 20 at 9 a.m. and they will close March 10 at 5 p.m.. Specialized housing will be selected March 20–24, after which general housing will be notified of their time slot for room selection. General housing selection will be from March 27–31, and each group will have a time slot to pick their housing based on their lottery number. Second round notifications for those that did not get to pick their first choice for housing will be sent out April 3–7, and the final housing selection will be April 10–14.
Q: Where can I find the housing portal?
A: Here is a link, but it is also on the MySLC page for Student Housing information at the very bottom.
Q: What are my housing options?
A: For rising sophomores, everyone will be placed in Hill House unless a student is in need of an accommodation not available in Hill House. Everything except the North Lawn and Hill House is available for rising juniors and seniors, unless a student needs an accommodation only available in these locations. The North Lawn will remain as First-Year housing.
Q: What if I need accommodations?
A: If a student needs accommodations, they should submit a specialized housing request (found on MySLC) and any supporting documentation to the Office of Disability, as well as an online housing application through the portal during the application period (Feb 20–Mar 10). If a student previously received specialized housing, they do not need to resubmit documentation, but they will need to resubmit the specialized housing request. If they need a change in accommodations, they will need to submit supporting documentation, such as a doctor’s note along with the specialized housing request. Forms can be found on MySLC under the Office of Disability and Access page.
Q: Are people with accommodations allowed to bring roommates to fill an entire space?
A: Students with specialized housing cannot bring roommates to fill a space to capacity unless they can be accommodated in Hill House. Based on the February 8 housing info session, seniors, juniors and sophomores who cannot be accommodated by Hill House will pick housing at the same time, between March 21-24, from mostly singles. According to Abigayle Young, the interim AVP and Dean of Wellbeing, sophomores who can be accommodated in Hill House will pick their rooms March 27-April 14 and can choose a group of people with whom to share the apartment.
Q: How do I select my roommates?
A: On the housing portal, there is a side tab labeled “Roommate and Room Selection.” That leads to the options “Select Roommate” and “Select Room/Suite.” Go to “Select Roommate.” Then there will be three more options, the last of which is “Search for Roommates.” If a student knows who they would like to room with, they can search for them by name and add them. If they don’t, they can look through roommate profiles and send a request. For a more detailed tutorial, go to MySLC Student Housing Information and scroll down to the bottom of the page. Students must match with all their intended roommates to make sure that number of members in their group is clear. If students enter a lottery with the wrong number of people (ex. 4 people for a 5 person apartment), they will not be able to select an apartment during the housing selection window.*
Q: How does the lottery work?
A: For juniors and seniors, there is a lottery for each room type and for sophomores, there is a lottery for each apartment size. Once students apply, individuals or groups will be randomly assigned a number. Those that get a number equal to or lower than the number of rooms available (ex. #19 in a pool of 48 doubles, #7 in a pool of 7 4-person apartments) will get to choose in the first round. First round participants will choose in the order of their number. Second round lotteries will work much the same, but with reduced numbers.
Q: What happens if I don’t get housing in the first round?
A: Once first round housing selections have been made, a list of remaining housing options will be made available. From there, students should regroup with roommates and figure out whether or not to split up, remain together, or gain more people. Residential Life has suggested that they will send out a Google Form to those that are participating in the second round that will serve as the housing application. Anyone that does not get housing in either round will be placed on the waitlist.
Q: How much housing space is available?
A: An official spreadsheet of housing spaces is on MySLC under Campus Life > Departments > Residential Life > Student Housing information. Here’s the spreadsheet as of February 20:
Q: Will I get priority by submitting sooner?
A: No, everyone who submits their application during the open period will be entered into the lottery equally. Students who submit applications closer to the beginning of the application window will have an equal chance in the lottery as those who submit later.
Q: Is my deposit refundable?
A: The $450 housing deposit is refundable until May 15, 2023 if students decide they don’t want to live on campus before that date. All cancellations must be in writing and sent to reslife@sarahlawrence.edu.
Q: Can rising sophomores live with rising juniors or seniors?
A: Sophomores cannot apply to live with juniors or seniors, unless required for accommodations.
Q: Do seniors get priority?
A: Yes, seniors will get priority in their lottery pools. A group of seniors gets priority over a group of juniors, and a mixed group with more seniors will get priority over a mixed group with more juniors.
Q: This year’s housing process will be entirely online. How is the school going to combat the slow technology that students experienced last year on the housing portal?
A: According to associate director of Residential Life Eric Rivera, “in regards to last year’s circling and circling” while students were waiting for their individual housing slot numbers, this year the Residential Life team has acquired “a bit more bandwidth” on the portal’s website to ease possible disruptions and lag.
Q: What if I have more questions?
A: There are in-person drop-in office hours every Tuesday and Wednesday from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. during the housing application period. For questions about specialized housing, students should go to the Student Organization Space in BWCC 203 (second floor). For questions about generalized housing, students should go to the BWCC Living Room. If that isn’t a viable option, general information is available on MySLC under Campus Life > Departments > Residential Life > Student Housing information, as well as on the @slcreslife Instagram. More specific questions can be directed to the Residential Life Office (reslife@sarahlawrence.edu) in Bates 220, or to your RA.
*Edit: Students will not be able to officially select and match with roommates until they have been assigned a slot in the lottery.