Step 1 — Sign the housing contract
Once you activate your Porter account and pay your enrollment deposit, the Housing Gateway opens. Sign the housing contract there. It is a binding agreement for the full academic year (both semesters), not month to month — read the cancellation terms before you sign, especially if you might commute or study abroad. The date you complete the contract sets your room-selection priority, so doing it early genuinely matters for getting the hall and room type you want. First-year students are generally required to live on campus; exemptions (living with family within a set distance, age, marital or parental status, veteran status) are requested through Housing.
Step 2 — Preferences and a roommate
In the Gateway you rank living communities (first-year halls, academic and interest living-learning communities, substance-free, quiet), room types (traditional double, suite, single, apartment-style for older students), and a dining plan. Complete the roommate-matching profile honestly — sleep schedule, tidiness, guests, study habits — and either let the system match you or search and send a request to a specific person to form a verified roommate group. A mutually confirmed group selects a room together.
Step 3 — Room selection and assignment
Room-selection time slots go out in the spring, ordered by contract date and class standing. At your slot you (or your roommate group's leader) pick an available space in real time; if you miss it or nothing you want is open, you can join a waitlist and Housing places you. First-year assignments are often made by Housing from your preferences rather than self-selected. You will get your assignment, your roommate's contact info, and what the room includes over the summer.
Step 4 — Before and at move-in
You will choose a move-in appointment (staggered to manage traffic), get a packing list and the prohibited-items list, and coordinate shared items with your roommate so you do not both bring a microwave. At check-in you document the room's existing condition — do this carefully, it protects you from charges at move-out. Room changes after the term starts go through a request process that opens a couple of weeks in; roommate conflicts start with your RA, who can mediate or help arrange a move.
Questions?
See the full staff & office directory for any phone number or email. Because this is a fictional parody site, addresses and phone numbers are illustrative and do not reach a real university.