Upperclass Housing Application Process
Resources & information about our housing application process for sophomores, juniors & seniors
Information provided below will cover the following topics. Please be sure to familiarize yourself with this information and contact the Housing and Residence Life office should you have any questions.
Process Overview
Rising Sophomores
Beginning on January 27, 2023 at 8 a.m., rising Sophomores will be notified that the 2023 Fall housing application is available to them. Rising Sophomores will be placed by Housing and Residence Life; students residing in University housing do not get to select their facility. However, rising Sophomores can create a roommate group of up to two people total.
Chapter facilities within IFC and Panhellenic should be at capacity. If chapter facilities are not at capacity and members are permitted to live outside of the chapter facility, those students/groups will be placed after students without alternative housing options in the selection process. If your chapter is at capacity and you are selecting to live in University housing, you will be placed by Housing and Residence Life.
For the students who are currently affiliated with a Greek organization, we will work closely with the Fraternity and Sorority Life Office and each of the House Corporations to determine if their chapter will have overflow needs. If there are overflow needs, members are required to receive approval from their House Corporations prior to any consideration for housing in university housing. Students who receive final approval and wish to reside in university housing will be included in a housing application process.
Rising Juniors and Seniors
Beginning on January 27, 2023 at 8 a.m., we will open what is called the “opt-in process” on our Residence website. Residence allows us to simply make these processes available to students without requiring you to fill out an application. Only students who are currently enrolled at DePauw are eligible for this process. Students who have applied to study abroad in the Fall are not eligible for these processes. In addition, these processes are only for those students who intend to live in University-owned housing in the Fall. Students who plan on living in their Greek Chapter houses in the Fall should indicate on the Intention that they will be residing with their chapter for the Fall semester. Once you have been placed in housing, there is a $250 contract breakage fee if you choose not to live in University-owned housing. For a full timeline of the Upperclass Housing Application process, click here.
Opting-in and Forming a Group
When you log into Residence, you will see the process(es) for which you are eligible. You’ll be able to opt-in to any of these processes and then will be asked to form groups, although you are not required to do so. Forming a group is easy. Simply talk to your friends and form an even numbered group from 2 to 10 students. Once you’ve done this, you’ll designate someone in the group to be the leader and this person can take your individual roommate codes from Residence and build the group in the system.
You can log into Residence any time and see if you’ve been added into a group. Students are free to opt out of a group and/or change their housing intent until the opt-in period ends on February 17, 2023 at 4 p.m. Any time a student is added to or dropped from a group, a system message goes out to the members of the group.
Students living in University-owned housing are required to be on a meal plan per their contract. For questions about meal plans, please contact the ID Card office.
Some locations within UOAH are designated as a No Event Registration Neighborhood. Students residing in the No Event Registration Neighborhood will have the opportunity to live in a more quiet setting, which meets the needs of students and the Greencastle neighbors. All of the Community Living Policies apply, except that students living in this neighborhood can only host gatherings with fewer than 10 guests. For a complete list of unit designations, please see our webpage.
An Important Note about Group Sizes
For the past few years, we have had far more 2 person groups apply for housing than we have two person units available. There are very few two person units available. Two person groups will have the option to select into a larger unit if there are not two person units available but you should consider forming a larger group before the opt-in process closes so that you can have more control over the students with whom you live. For a full list of our housing inventory with the capacity of each unit, please explore our upperclass housing pages here.
Selection Process – Houses, Apartments, and Rector Village
HRL staff will assign selection times to groups. Selection times will be offered in descending order of group size from largest to smallest. Within group sizes, priority will be assigned to those groups with the greatest number of seniors. When the seniority among groups is equal, selection times will be randomly assigned. Students will choose housing in 15 minute increments. The group leader will be designated to choose on behalf of the group and they will only be able to choose from units that accommodate the size of their group. Groups can change leaders at any time by having the current leader designate another group member. Smaller groups will be able to move up to larger units if they are available. Odd numbered groups will be given selection times after the larger full groups. For example, a three person group will get a selection time after all the four person groups have selected, regardless of group seniority.
Chapter facilities within IFC and Panhellenic should be at capacity. If chapter facilities are not at capacity and members are permitted to live outside of the chapter facility, those students/groups will be placed after students without alternative housing options in the selection process. If your chapter is at capacity and you are selecting to live in University housing, you will be placed by Housing and Residence Life.
For the students who are currently affiliated with a Greek organization, we will work closely with the Fraternity and Sorority Life Office and each of the House Corporations to determine if their chapter will have overflow needs. If there are overflow needs, members are required to receive approval from their House Corporations prior to any consideration for housing in university housing. Students who receive final approval and wish to reside in university housing will be included in a housing application process.