Who is eligible to participate in new student online room selection?
New and transfer students who completed their 2024–2025 housing application by May 15, and have registered to attend an upcoming summer orientation session by May 22 are eligible to select their room in June. Students will receive their individual room selection timeslot via email in late May.
International students who applied for housing by May 15 and are participating in August orientation will be permitted to select their room online in June.
Students that complete their housing application after the May 15 deadline will receive their staff-assigned housing assignment in July.
How to prepare in May
- Familiarize yourself with the room selection process by watching our room selection webinar:
- Check your @UIOWA.edu email account regularly for updates.
- If you are in a roommate group, start communications early.
- Familiarize yourself with our varied room rates.
- Once you receive your room selection timeslot, make yourself available during or after.
- Review the step-by-step instructions here.
- Incoming Hawkeyes will live in all residence halls on campus. Explore your building options by clicking the button below.
Tips, tricks, and reminders in June
Room selection is in real time; the spaces available to you are unpredictable, as it will depend on where the Hawkeyes choosing a room before you select. Our Hawkeyes can build community in any of our buildings all while being successful and enjoying their experience. We encourage having an open mind and heart to all of our buildings. Many students come to appreciate their building, community, and new opportunities after they have settled in.
- Log in using one device only (preferably Google Chrome).
- Stay calm: we have room for everyone to stay on campus.
- Students can log in on or after their assigned room selection time.
- If in a paired group, don't forget to assign all roommates to the room!
Compare residence halls
Expectations of new students and families
We understand that you may have a range of emotions during this time of transition. We ask that all students and families adhere to the following expectations:
- Students and/or roommate(s) complete the room selection process. We understand that parents mean well, but it is important for the student to navigate this process.
- Guest accounts are not available for housing and dining.
- Stay calm—we have room for all students that have applied to live on campus.
- Students should initiate contact with UHD for support. Families are welcome to join the phone call/Zoom. Students are expected to lead the conversation/make any formal requests.
- The best source of information is communication directly from UHD. We will email updates throughout room selection to your @UIOWA.edu email address.
- Parent/family alumni status does not factor into student placement.
- Hawkeyes are not permitted to hold a room if they missed the roommate matching deadline or failed to assign their paired roommate.
- Have an open mind with potential roommate(s) and building locations.
- Treat all Hawkeyes (students and staff) with respect.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I didn't apply by May 1?
Students that missed the May 15 deadline will still be able to live on campus but will not be able to participate in online room selection to pick their own room. Our office will be in contact with those students in late June/early July with an update to their assignment.
Roommate requests after the deadline are not guaranteed. Students that completed their housing application by May 15 were able to participate in roommate matching through May 29.
Students that were unable to pair with their preferred roommates should be welcoming and inviting to any Hawkeye that selects or is assigned to the same room.
Room selection timeslots were assigned based on your room selection number. As a reminder, room selection numbers were given out each month, with all applicants within a given month randomized.
Applications that were received the first day (January 4) does not guarantee that they will receive the first selection time.
Students are assigned a randomized room selection lottery number based on the month they submitted their completed housing application. While we may have several students cancel their housing application after they have been assigned a number, it is not our practice to adjust room selection lottery numbers or timeslots.
Yes, students are assigned their room selection timeslot based on their room selection lottery number. It is very rare that a roommate group/pair will have the same timeslot. It is recommended that the student with the earlier timeslot login to select the room for group/pair.
It is always hard to predict what buildings will be available during room selection as availability changes in real time and will depend on where the Hawkeyes participating in room selection at an earlier time select their room. Students pick buildings for a variety of reasons, which change from year to year.
We encourage you to have an open mind to all of our building options and know that you can build lifelong friendships and community in any of our residence halls. First year and transfer students will live in all of our residence halls across campus.
Room selection is live and availability will be changing throughout the process. Students can log in to see if a room/space has become available in your preferred building.
Students will be able to add themselves to our room change waitlists after move in.
As a first-year student, you will be in academic buildings all over campus. All of our residence halls have bus stops just steps away from the entrances and go all around campus.
We encourage you to focus more on community when selecting your residence hall rather than location.
Approximately 94% of our first year students choose to live in the residence halls. However, the University of Iowa does not have a first-year student live-on requirement.
New students will be sent their housing contract on June 26, 2024 and are given seven days to cancel for any reason with no financial penalty. Learn more about our cancellation process and penalties here.
You can access the housing portal for room selection on and after your designated timeslot as long as room selection is still in process. However, the earlier you are able to log in, the more room options you will likely have.
Students that do not select a room by the close of room selection will have their housing application canceled.
Each student will receive their own room selection timeslot based on their lottery number.
You will want to communicate with your roommate to determine who has the earliest timeslot. The student who has the first timeslot will log in and locate a room that has spaces available to accommodate the roommate group and assign all students at that time.
Even if your roommate assigns you to a space, you must log in during or after your assigned time slot to select a bed configuration and a meal plan.
If you were not offered a space within the specific community, you will not be able to live there. Students choose their community for a variety of reasons; we recommend having open communication with your roommate(s) to determine if you will continue to live together outside of Honors Housing/LLC or if you should continue looking for a different roommate.
Many of our new students will select the Gold meal plan simply because they want to make sure there is no question that they will have enough meals for the semester. With the Gold meal plan, students can go into the market places as often as they want (as long as they are open) to use their unlimited meal plan.
Our Black meal plan offers a total of 145 meal swipes and 75 flex meals. This plan estimates to be about 2 meals per day.
While meal plan balances do not roll over to the next semester, students do have the opportunity to adjust their meal plan in between semesters. Learn more about meal plans here.
The university does not provide insurance for student belongings. Students and/or their parents should consult their current policy to determine if a student's belongings are covered through a current policy.
A renter's insurance policy can be purchased as part of a homeowner's policy or you can purchase insurance through companies specializing in property insurance for college students.
Once your room is chosen or assigned, you will have the opportunity to learn about GradGuard, the preferred renter's insurance provider of the University of Iowa.
We do not need a copy or confirmation of your renter's insurance policy.
If online room selection is open, the vacant space is available for another Hawkeye to select and become your roommate.
Room selection is live and ever-changing throughout room selection. You have the opportunity to view available spaces if you would rather pick into a room that is in need of a roommate.
If the space is available at the close of room selection. you will be assigned a new roommate from our list of students that are waiting for an assignment. You can view any updated roommate information within the housing application portal. We encourage early communication, and we encourage doing so once someone is assigned to the space.
We would strongly recommend talking to your roommate about the selected room.
You can always adjust your room assignment as long as there are rooms available during the room selection period.
Discuss a plan with your roommate if you plan to adjust your room assignment.
All rooms include heat, electricity, air conditioning, water, cable TV, internet, garbage and recycling services. In some setups, you may opt to pay extra for a shared/private/single-user bathroom, and/or shared kitchen.
All students are provided a twin XL bed, desk with chair, dresser, closet, and trash/recycling receptacles.
No. Please respect conference guests and construction underway. We ask that you do not visit your building and room assignment prior to August move in.