Apply For Housing: First-Year Students
All first-year students are required to live on campus unless they are commuting from their primary guardian's permanent address within a 50-mile radius of campus.
First-year students are eligible for double rooms only. No single rooms are available for first-year students, unless the student has an accommodation for a single through the Disability Resource Center.
The first-year student application will open at 10 a.m. on Monday, May 1 , and close Sunday, June 18, at 12 p.m. (Noon).
During this time period, students should aim to complete the entire application process from start to finish. Listed below are the major components of the application. We HIGHLY recommend students read through all sections below:
$150 Housing Prepayment
All students, regardless of scholarship/financial aid status, are required to submit a $150 non-refundable prepayment at the start of the housing application. This prepayment cannot be waived or charged to the student account.
The housing application accepts credit cards and debit cards provided they also function as a credit card. The system will not accept debit only cards or prepaid credit cards.
Making the prepayment via the housing application gives students instant access to proceed. If a student chooses to mail their prepayment, they MUST follow the directions to do so listed within the housing application. Mailed prepayments will take significant time to process, as EMU staff is still largely remote, and will cause a delay in being able to proceed with the application.
As a reminder, the prepayment is non-refundable. Regardless of reasoning, this payment will not be refunded.
Housing & Dining Contract
Students who are 18 years of age or older will complete an electronic version of the Housing & Dining Contract within the application process.
Student who have not yet reached the age of 18 at the time of application are required to have their parent or legal guardian co-sign the contract before being able to proceed with the application process. The application process prompts students to enter contact information for their legal guardian, and emails a copy of the blank co-sign contact to both parties.
Students and their guardians need to read through the contract together. We ask that legal guardians help ensure that their student understands what they are agreeing to, and that the student will be held accountable for the terms and conditions listed in the contract. If there are any questions, we recommend that you contact us at [email protected] with your questions before signing and submitting this legal document!
Once the co-signed contract has been signed by the students and legal guardian, students scan the document as a PDF and upload it into the application. Directions on how to complete this are available on the corresponding application pages.
Answer Matching Questions
The application contains are few pages of roommate/suite-mate matching questions. We recommend that students answer these questions as honestly as possible, and do not let fill out the answers on your behalf. These questions, and how students answer them, help students find and match up with another student to form a group of two.
Write a Personal Description
All students are required to write a short personal description. Even if you know who you want to live with, this description is used by other students who may be potential suite-mates.
The maximum number of characters, including spaces, for your description is 500. We recommend writing your description in a word processing document so that you can keep an eye on your count. You can then cut/paste what you write into the text box.
Things to include: likes and dislikes, interests, hobbies, or anything else that might be important to you that you would want potential roommates to know. Another important item to list here is if you are interested in a specific Living-Learning/Theme Community! If you are looking to live in one of our communities, this is the best way for you to let others know about your preference.
We have found that students who list where/how to find them on different social media accounts are highly success in this process.
Find a Roommate
First-year students are limited to requesting one (1) other person to live with. This student will be your roommate.
There are multiple ways for you to find someone to live with:
- Use the matching filters within the housing application to determine suitable candidates, and contact them using the internal messaging system.
- Join our First-Year Roommate page on Facebook, and interact with other students who are also looking for a roommate.
Create a Group of Two
Students are required to form a group of two to proceed immediately into room selection. Once a student has determined who they want to live with, both students need to discuss where they want to live and who will be responsible for picking the room. The person who will pick the room and book both students into bed spaces is called the Group Leader.
The Group Leader is the individual who must create the group within the housing application, invite the other student to the group, and verify the group once the second student accepts.
Reserve Your Room
Only students who are in a verified group of two will be able to pick their rooms prior to June 18. Students who are unable to form a group of two, but apply before the June 18 deadline, will have the opportunity to pick their personal space during our lottery room selection on June 21, 22, and 23.
The Group Leader is responsible for assigning themselves and the other member of their group. We highly recommend that students talk with their group member about where they want to live well in advance, and have back-up options in case those areas are sold out.
If you are NOT the group leader, it is extremely important that you do not advance in the application before the Group Leader makes your assignment. This will cause errors in your application and your assignment.
Pick Your Meal Plan
After the Group Leader has made a housing assignment for both students, both students need to log into the application and pick their meal plan for the academic year.
Meal plans are the primary way that students pay for food and beverages while on campus. Our meal plans are comprised of meal swipes and Flex dollars, all of which are loaded onto your Eagle ID card.
First-year residents pick from the following meal plan options:
- Anytime
- 3 Per Day
- 2 Per Day
For all three of the plans above, students can elect to purchase more Flex when selecting their meal plan within the housing application.
For more information on meal plans, please visit: https://www.emich.edu/residencelife/campusliving/meal-plans.php
Review Assignment Summary
The Assignment Summary page is the last page of the housing application that students can reach at this time. This page displays the meal plan selections and room reservations details made by the student. We want to make sure all students end on this page of the application, as we will ask you to return to this page in August to complete your move-in items.
All housing rates will increase for the 2023-2024 academic year. You can expect a higher increase in rates for newly renovated buildings.
Please see the 2023-2024 Rates page for housing and dining pricing.
General Information:
What housing types are available?
First-year students have the opportunity to book a double room for 2023/2024. First-year students are not eligible for any single room options.
The majority of our first-year spaces are double room suites. A double room suite consists of two rooms, connected by a bathroom or other living space.
A double room suite has a room that you will share with a roommate, and share common spaces like a bathroom, with another set of two students. This means that four students are assigned to each double room suite - two students per room. Please see the individual complex pages for floor plans and what comes in each space.
Wise Hall is the only residence hall that is a little different. All rooms in Wise are double rooms. Students do not have suite-mates in Wise due to the community bathroom. Students who select Wise will share the bedroom with another student, and share the community bathroom with the floor. Please see the Wise Hall page for floor plan information and what comes in the space.
First-year students can select double rooms in Wise, Buell, Putnam, Walton, Best, Hoyt, Pittman, or Downing. Please note that floors 3, 4, and 5 of Downing is reserved for Honors College students only.
What if I apply before the June 18 deadline, but don’t find a roommate/pick a space?
If you are unable to find a roommate and select a space before the June 18 deadline, you will be contacted via email on June 19 regarding our room selection lottery.
You do NOT have the ability to form a group or request to live with specific students after the June 18. Any unverified groups or un-accepted roommate requests will be voided as of June 18 at 11:55 p.m.
You will be assigned a random lottery time on June 21, 22 or 23. At your lottery date and time, you have access to the room selection pages. You need to review the remaining open spaces, reserve a space for yourself, and complete the remaining pages of the application no later than June 25 at 11:55 p.m. The application process will close to all students at that time.
I missed my lottery time! Now what?
Students are emailed the week of June 19 with their lottery date and time, and are sent additional lottery reminder emails during the lottery. By missing your lottery time and the June 25 at 11:55 p.m. deadline, you no longer have priority to pick your space.
If you missed your lottery time, you will have to wait until the application reopens on July 10 at 10 a.m. to log in and pick your space and complete your application. We highly recommend that you log in right away on July 10, as space is already limited and many late applicants will also be picking spaces when the application reopens.
When will the application reopen for late applicants?
If you are unable to apply and make your $150 non-refundable prepayment prior to June 18 at 12 p.m. (Noon), the housing application will reopen for late applicants on Monday, July 10, at 10 a.m., and will fully close Friday, August 11, at 5 p.m.
Students who apply July 10 and after do NOT have the ability to form a group or request to live with specific students. Housing options are limited to what is available for you to select from at the time you apply.
I am in TRIO, Brotherhood Scholars, or Sisterhood Scholars. Is there anything I need to do?
Living in the TRIO, Brotherhood, or Sisterhood Scholars communities require that you apply for those programs and be accepted into them in order to be assigned housing in those areas.
If you plan on being in any of these programs, Housing recommends that you apply and make your prepayment as soon as possible, and then communicate this to your program.
You should NOT reserve a space or create a roommate group. Please complete all pages of the application through the personal description. At that point, log out and let your program know that you have applied for housing. Housing will reach back out to you to complete the application once your program makes your assignment.
I am a Division I Student-Athlete. Is there anything I need to do?
Student-athletes need to apply, make your prepayment and complete all pages of the application through the personal description. At that point, log out and let your coach know that you have applied for housing. You should NOT reserve a space, look for a roommate, or form a group of two.
Athletics makes your assignments over the summer, and then communicates this to housing. Once housing has been given an assignment for you, we'll let you know via email and provide further directions for completing your application.
All questions about student-athlete housing should be directed to your coach.
Application Access
- Please log-into our online application portal using your emich user name and password. You will also have to dual-authenticate with DUO in order to enter the application.
- Students cannot access the housing application if they have a hold on their student account. Once holds are removed from a student's account, they take one business day to update in our system.
- Students must use Firefox, Chrome or Safari; Internet Explorer is not compatible with our system.
- Make sure to clear your cache prior to logging into the application. You should do this each time to log in to ensure proper performance.