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Renew Your Housing

Frequently Asked Questions


To begin, renew your housing application on the Housing Portal:

  1. Login to the WKU Housing Portal via my.wku.edu

  2. Select "Apply for Housing" from the top menu

  3. Select "Academic Year 2024-2025"

  4. Complete the application

If you renew your application by March 1 , you will receive notification of when you can select your room during phase 2 on March 8. 

 

When you are eligible to select your room:

  1. Login to the WKU Housing Portal via my.wku.edu

  2. Select "Apply for Housing" from the top menu

  3. Select "Continue" on your Academic Year 2024-2025 application

  4. Using the timeline links at the top, navigate to the last completed page of your application (for most students, it's Choose a Roommate.)  On this page, select save and continue to  the "Room Selection" pages

  5. Select your hall and room

  6. Select "Save and Continue"

  7. You (and roommate assigned) will receive an email confirming the assignment, and the final page of the application will provide a summary of your housing status.

No. Students who have continually lived on campus each semester since their initial application will not be charged an application fee.   

If for any reason, a returning student does not have a deposit on file, then the application will ask you to pay the $75 application fee.

If a student affected by the Hilltopper relocation in spring 2024 wishes to return to campus for Fall 2024, their re-application fee will be waived.

You may need to change your wireless connection

If you are on a wireless device on campus, it is recommended to use the WKU-WIRELESS network. WKU-SECURE is known to cause error messages.

 

The system may be experiencing an overload of user logins

Please try again in a few moments or later in the day.

We request this information in the event that our staff would need to reassign you after renewal. We will use your top preferences when moving your assignment.

Through room selection, students will choose their specific hall and room during phase two and they can seek out these preferences at that time.

Students choosing private room as their first preference will be added to the private room waitlist in order of contract date signed.

You can make changes to your application on the Housing Portal through March 31st. 

  1. Login to the WKU Housing Portal via my.wku.edu

  2. Select "Apply for Housing" from the top menu

  3. Select "Academic Year 2024-2025"

  4. Navigate to the page(s) you wish to edit through the checklist menu above the application questions

  5. Make appropriate changes

  6. Select "Save and Continue"

The Roommate Screen Name is created by each student in the personal details section of the housing application and is used to find roommates in the housing portal.  Search by the roommate screen name to add a preferred student to your roommate group.   

When you request a roommate in the housing application, a "roommate group" is created. 

The roommate group is your official roommate pairing request.

The roommate you send a request to must accept that request; it's advised to make sure they accept the request BEFORE you complete room selection.

Students can be in only one roommate group at a time.

Either student can leave the roommate group to choose a new roommate until March 31st. 

The group leader is the student who initiates the roommate group invitation. 

Students have the opportunity to switch who the roommate group leader is. 

After room selection access times are provided to each student, it is recommended that the student with the earliest entry time become the group leader in order to select a room for the roommate group at the earliest time available. 

The WKU housing application includes roommate matching questions that will provide you with a list of suggested roommates. 

During the application, you will be prompted to create a Roommate Screen Name, complete roommate matching questions, and create a personal description. These actions will generate your roommate profile to help you search and find potential roommates.

 

Create a Roommate Screen Name 

This is how other students will search for you and view your profile in the roommate matching system. 

  

Complete the Roommate Matching Questions

The system will use your responses to match you with potential roommates. 

 

Create a Personal Description

This is your opportunity to let potential roommates know more about you. Examples to include: interests, academic major, clubs or organizations you would like to join on campus, living habits, etc. 

Review Suggested Roommates

After completing your roommate preferences, you will be able to access your suggested roommate matches on the "Choose a Roommate" page of the application by choosing "Review Suggested Roommates by Profile Match."

You will have the option to view their profile, send a private message, and/or send a roommate request.  

A student can remove themselves from a roommate group, if they no longer wish to be roommates. 

To leave a roommate group and select a new room:

  1. Login to the WKU Housing Portal via my.wku.edu

  2. Select "Apply for Housing" from the top menu

  3. Select "Academic Year 2024-2025"

  4. Navigate to the roommate selection page

  5. Select "Leave Group"

  6. Select "Save and Continue"

  7. Select a new room and click "Save and Continue"

Adding a Current Student

You will be able to pull in a roommate of your choice, as long as s/he is eligible to live in the same residence hall as you are and there is a space in your room. You and your roommate must have created a roommate group in order to add him/her.  

 

Adding a New/Transfer Student

If you would like a new freshmen or transfer/returning student to be your roommate, you will need to visit or call Housing & Residence Life at (270)745-3143 by March 31. Our staff will assist you with the renewal process. The requested roommate must have submitted a complete housing application (contract signed and fee paid).  If they do not have an application on file, please direct them to wku.edu/housing/apply.  

Once someone is assigned to your room, their name will be listed in the Housing Portal with your room assignment.

"Squatter" is the term used for those students who want to stay in their same room.  Students who are squatting and wanting to pull in a roommate, should ensure their roommate group is formed and roommate has accepted the request, before squatting.

When you squat, you should see yourself and your roommate, to assign to your current room. If you don't, stop and ask your roommate to accept your roommate group request.

In this situation, the current roommate pair should visit or call the Housing & Residence Life office in Southwest Hall and allow our staff to assist in your renewal.  We will ensure that both students and their preferred roommates are assigned in that hall, or a similar style hall.

Students who cannot squat will receive additional information by email about their options. Please call our office if you have questions - (270)745-3143.

Yes. You will be able to view your room assignment on the Housing Portal.

If you gave your roommate screenname to someone so they could add you as their roommate group, you will also receive an email when your assignment is made.  Every time you make a change to your assignment, you will receive a new email confirming that change. 

Eligibility is determined on number of hours earned, and Honors College or Living Learning Community membership.  This will determine the day that you are able to select a room.  The assigned access time for each student within that day, however, is a lottery system and is randomly generated.

A limited number of private rooms may be available to upperclass students in Gilbert Hall.

Students who are given a private room will be charged the private room rate. 

During renewal, when completing your application, students should choose "private room" as their first preference on the living preferences page of the application. We will assign private rooms in first come, first serve order, using students' contract signed date.

Additionally, you should either squat in your current room, or renew to another room on campus to hold a spot elsewhere, should you not get a private room.  

As renewal continues in March, Housing & Residence Life staff will contact students who preference a private room on a first-come, first-serve basis to re-assign you to a private room in the designated halls, if available.

For more information, please call our office at (270)745-3143.

No. All private rooms automatically reset to double room status for the next academic year.  A student who currently has a private room can "squat", but it will not be a private room next year and the student should expect a roommate to choose the other bed during room selection. Students wishing to have a private for next year should ensure “Private Room” is their number one preference.

Extended living halls remain open during Thanksgiving, winter, and spring breaks, when other halls traditionally close. For the 2024-2025 year, extended living halls will be Pearce Ford Tower, Meredith Hall, and Zacharias Hall.

Students already living in these buildings should squat during phase 1 of renewal. 

Other students who need extended living should choose "extended living" as their first preference on the living preferences page of the application. Housing staff will ensure an assignment in Pearce Ford Tower

Then, during phase 2 of choose your room, students may try to make their own changes in the housing portal if they'd prefer Meredith or Zacharias Halls. 

View Residence Halls

For the purpose of room selection, priority is based on classification and Living Learning Community or Honors College membership, for students who want to live in an Honors hall.

After students have chosen to stay in the same room for next year, everyone else can select their room based on their classification. (Hours are calculated by adding your cumulative earned hours to your current Spring enrolled hours).

  • "Rising seniors" - students who will have 90 or more hours by the end of the spring semester
  • "Rising juniors" - students who will have 60 to 89 hours by the end of the spring semester
  • "Rising sophomores" - students who will have 30 to 59 hours by the end of the spring semester
  • "Rising freshmen" - students who will have 0-29 hours by the end of the spring semester
  • Hilltopper Hall will not be available to select for the 2024-2025 academic year.
  • Pearce Ford Tower, Meredith Hall, and Zacharias Hall will be the extended living halls (remaining open during Thanksgiving break, winter break, and spring break)
  • Hugh Poland Hall will be all-female.
  • Pearce Ford Tower will be co-ed by section, and will offer double occupancy and private room options. 

We hate to see you go, but if you need to cancel your fall housing assignment, please send an email to hrl@wku.edu.

Please include:

  1. Your full name
  2. WKU ID Number
  3. State that you would like to cancel your fall housing

Please review the cancellation policy for additional information.

Between March 2 & March 10:

  • You will be able to renew between March 11 & 31. Once you do, you will receive a timeslot to enter the Housing Portal to claim a space for next year.
  • You will not be able to squat in your room after March 1.

 

After March 31

The deadline to renew your housing and select your room is March 31st. If you missed this deadline, you can still renew your housing, but our staff will select your room based on availability.

To renew your housing after the deadline, please do the following: 

  1. Login to the WKU Housing Portal via my.wku.edu

  2. Select "Apply for Housing" from the top menu

  3. Select "Academic Year 2024-2025"

  4. Complete the Application

If you are under 60 credit hours:

You will be assigned within 3-5 business days.

If you are over 60 credit hours:

You will receive a housing assignment in August, or if space is available, sooner.

For those students who opted into a hall waitlist, HRL will reassign after March 31st if and when space becomes available that meets your request.

Students are encouraged to re-enter the Housing Portal often to check room availabilities until March 31st to see if a desired room becomes available. 

If we are able to meet that request and reassign, we will remove you from other similar hall waitlists so we can meet the requests of other students.

We work on waitlists all summer long, so please be patient as we work through those requests. 

Anyone reassigned from a waitlist will receive an email with the new assignment.  

 

 


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 Last Modified 2/19/24