New Online Housing Selection Process
We are excited to announce that this spring we will be moving the housing selection process online. Our desire it that you will be able to select your housing from the confines of your room or smart phone. During our first year of transition we will do our best to inform and educate you on the process. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.
Current students select housing during the spring semester for the following academic year; this is referred to as the Housing Selection Process. In February, information will be sent to each student who will be in their third, fourth or fifth year at Wheaton via the College Post Office (CPO). Rising second year students will receive their housing information through CPO at a slightly later time.
The Housing Services Office will hold several informational meetings about the new online housing process and will be available as a resource for students who need assistance navigating the Housing Selection Process. Based on their preferences and year in school, students apply for a housing option by the appropriate deadline. Each student is assigned a random, computer-generated number within his/her class. Housing groups receive a housing appointment date & time, based on their group's housing average (individual housing numbers added together and divided by the number of people in the group). During their appointment time, groups or individuals will log into the Wheaton portal where they will select their housing for the following year. Each current student's housing assignment is confirmed via email in mid-July. Students may cancel their housing assignment until five weeks prior to the first day of fall/spring semester classes; if cancellations are made after this time, a $250 cancellation fee will be assessed to the student's account.
Click here for an instructional video regarding the Housing Application Form
Housing Information Meetings
March 18 at 4:00pm, Science 145- Campus houses and 5-person apartments (Optional)
March 19 at 10:30am, Barrows- Rising 3rd, 4th, 5th year students (Required for off-campus applicants, optional for on-campus applicants)
March 19 at 7:00pm, Blanchard 339- Rising 3rd, 4th, 5th year students (Required for off-campus applicants, optional for on-campus applicants)
March 21 at 10:30am, Barrows- Rising 2nd year students (Optional)
Housing Application Deadlines
March 21 at 11:59pm- Applications are due for houses and 5-person apartments (rising 3rd, 4th, 5th year students only)
March 27 at 11:59pm- Applications are due for off-campus permission (rising 3rd, 4th, 5th, year students only)
April 4 at 11:59pm- Applications are due for on-campus apartments and rising 3rd, 4th, 5th year students wanting McManis-Evans
April 5 at 11:59pm- Applications due for rising 2nd year students
** You will know by April 1 if you have received off-campus permission or not. Please do not sign a lease prior to this time. A signed lease is a legally binding document. If you sign a lease prior to receiving off-campus permission and your group does not receive off-campus permission you will be financially responsible to the landlord and to Wheaton College.
Housing Forms
Home Application 2013-2014
Medical Exception Application 2013-2014
Apartment Assistant GRA Application 2013-2014
Housing Policies related to Study Abroad 2013-14
Frequently Asked Questions About the Housing Selection Process
How does the Residence Life Office figure out the number of students who are permitted to live in off-campus residences?
The number for off-campus permissions are based on projected enrollment and past years' data. At the time of Housing Selection Appointments (typically in March and early April), however, the projected enrollment for the following academic year is still somewhat unclear since students have not yet registered for fall semester classes (the best predictor of enrollment). Thus, a conservative number of off-campus permissions are granted during Housing Selection Appointments; more off campus permissions may be granted at a later time as the projected enrollment becomes clearer. Students who don't receive off-campus permission at the time of their housing appointment may sign up on a waiting list for off-campus permission.
What if the person I chose as my roommate has decided not to return to Wheaton?
If no roommate is found by the student/group, Housing Services will make an assignment–either a continuing student, a student who is returning to Wheaton after being gone, a new transfer student or a consortium student. Students who know they are not returning to Wheaton for the next year should not participate in the Housing Selection Process.
What if I want to live with someone from a different class?
Students are welcome to live with students from classes other than their own. The housing average of the group will determine when the housing selection appointment will take place. For example, if the group's housing average falls within the range of numbers for upcoming 3rd year students, the appointment will take place within this group. However, if the group's housing average falls within the range of numbers for upcoming 2nd year students, the housing selection appointment will take place within this group. Second-year students may not apply to live in campus apartments, houses or off-campus, even if the other students on the housing application are 3rd or 4th year students.
What if I have a medical condition that requires a specific housing accommodation?
Anyone with special needs/disabilities related to campus housing are required to make their specific needs/disabilities known, in writing, to the Assistant Director of Residence Life, by completing a Medical Exception Application and submitting the necessary paperwork (detailed on the Medical Exception Application) by the deadline (typically mid-February for the following academic year). The Medical Exception Application is available in the Housing Services Office.
How and when will my housing assignment be confirmed?
Continuing students' housing assignments are confirmed via Wheaton College email in mid-July. Students may cancel their housing assignment without penalty if they do so at least five weeks prior to the first day of classes for the fall/spring semester. Students who cancel their housing assignment after this time will receive a $250 fine, assessed to their student account.
May my group apply for more than one housing option?
Third and fourth-year student groups may apply for only one house size (based on occupancy number). For example, a group of ten women may apply for the Kilby House, but at the time of their appointment, the Kilby House may have already been selected by a group with a lower housing average. However, if another 10-person house is still available, they may select this house at the time of their appointment. Groups that qualify for and accept a campus house or 5-person apartment may not apply for other housing options (including 2 & 4-person apartments, residence halls or off-campus permission).
Groups will not be allowed to drop or add members after the house application deadline (doing this would change the group's average and, potentially, their placement in the house selection process). Second-year student groups may apply for either McManis-Evans/Williston or Fischer/Smith-Traber. They may not submit two separate applications, one for upperclass halls and one for freshman/sophomore halls.
What can cause changes of housing assignments after the Housing Selection Appointment?
Reasons for a change include:
- Your roommate decides not to return to Wheaton.
- Your or your roommate have not pre-registered for fall-semester classes before April 30, resulting in the inactivation of your housing assignment and/or ineligibility to select housing.
- You or your roommate have not paid your Student Accounts bill before May 31.
- A change is made in the number of rooms available in a given building due to unexpected shifts in enrollment.