Improvements to Room Selection 2020

October 25, 2019

On October 25, Columbia Housing announced that Room Selection is getting a major upgrade: the entire process will be online in Spring 2020. 

This comes as a collaborative initiative among Columbia Housing, Residential Life and the Residence Hall Leadership Organization (RHLO) to modernize and simplify the Room Selection process. The change will give students more options and flexibility, reduce stress around the selection process, and just make things easier.

Key points shared with the residential community include: 

  • All of Room Selection will be online and in real time.
  • Regroup will no longer be required: Groups will automatically pick the number of rooms or suites needed to accommodate their group size.
  • Group size will be expanded to a maximum of 10.
  • Lottery numbers will be categorized by class seniority, so it's easier to understand your ranking.
  • The timeline will be extended to allow for more time to form groups and register, and there will be a longer selection period. The overall process will still take place from the end of February to the end of April.
  • Barnard seniors can still choose to live with Columbia students in the residence halls, based on previously set guidelines.
  • The process for special living communities like fraternities and sororities, Special Interest Communities, and the LLC will not change and will still take place separate from general Room Selection.

The team has been working together every step of the way, reviewing details of the process and sharing with groups like the student councils and Housing Advisory Committee to hear feedback. Testing is underway and assessing feedback received. RHLO will hold an information session for students on November 19 to go over key changes and answer questions.