Current Undergraduate Students

Current Residential Students

Current residents must reapply for housing annually. Residential students are guaranteed housing for the upcoming academic year if they participate in Housing Selection (see below) during the Spring semester.

Current residents who miss the Housing Selection deadline(s) for the upcoming academic year are welcome to complete a Housing Application for the current or future academic year. Once submitted, they will be added to a housing waitlist. Waitlist offers will be made throughout the summer and into the academic year, as space permits.

Current Commuter & Off-Campus Students

Current commuter, off-campus, and readmitted undergraduate students are welcome to complete a Housing Application for the current or future academic year. Once submitted, they will be added to a housing waitlist. Waitlist offers will be made throughout the summer and into the academic year, as space permits.

Additionally, during the Spring semester actively enrolled undergraduate students are welcome to participate in Housing Selection (see below), which guarantees on-campus housing for the upcoming academic year.

In order to participate in Housing Selection, you must be an actively enrolled (Spring) student at UMBC.

Newly admitted students should review our Undergraduate and Graduate application pages.  Individuals seeking to be readmitted/re-enroll at UMBC for the Fall semester, are invited to complete a Waitlist Housing Application.

Application Questions

• While there are questions on the application about your housing preferences, the application does not determine where you will live. You will have the opportunity to pick your room during Room Selection (Step 3).
• If you plan to live in a Gender Inclusive housing and/or form a Gender Inclusive Group, you must indicate that preference/need on your housing application.

What is a Housing License?

• The housing license is a contract.
• Students must complete a housing license in order to participate in Housing Selection.
• The term of the license is for the entire academic year, both Fall & Spring semesters.
• Students that submit a license and change their mind or cancel their assignment prior to the start of move-in will be assessed a cancellation fee. For more information about cancellations and petitions, please review the Housing Procedures.
• You can only form a roommate group with those students who have completed the same license as yourself (ex. a student who completes the Walker Application cannot live with someone who completes the Residential Life application).

Reservation Fee Information

• Students must pay a $200 housing reservation fee in order to participate in Housing Selection.
• The housing reservation fee is mandatory. Students with significant financial need are welcome contact Residential Life.
• Payment must be in the form of Credit Card or ACH.
• The reservation fee money will be applied as a credit toward your first housing bill.

This step is optional, as students may apply for housing and select a room as an individual.

Benefits of Forming a Group

1. You know who you will be living with for the upcoming year.
2. If your selection time is in conflict with your schedule, another member of your group can pick your room.

Roommate Group Requirements

• You may form groups of 2 or 4.
• Students participating in Walker Housing Selection may form groups of 3, but will need to contact the Management Office in advance due to limited 3-bedroom apartments.
• You can only form a roommate groups with those students who have completed the same application as yourself (Walker Avenue or Residential Life).
• Due to the different housing selection cycles, current residents are not able to request incoming freshmen or transfer students as roommates during the Housing Selection process.
• Groups that do not meet size requirements and those with students who did not finalize their housing license will be considered incomplete, and may be split into individual groups of 1. 

How to Form a Roommate Group

• Students interested in forming groups, should do so in the housing portal.
• Attend a Roommate Social, hosted by RSA
  • March 6 at 7 p.m.- Walker Roommate Social in the Apartment Community Center
  • April 10 at 7 p.m.-  Residential Life Roommate Social in the Apartment Community Center

Roommate Search Function

The Roommate Module in the housing portal allows you to search profiles of students with the same sex assigned at birth and same approved application and housing license type (Walker Avenue or Residential Life). You can filter based on sleep habits, room condition, allergies, and more to find a match.

Gender Inclusive Group Formation 

In order to form a Gender Inclusive Group and find other students who want to live in Gender Inclusive Housing, you must indicate interested and commitment to Gender Inclusive Housing on your Housing Application.

Selecting your room is completely optional, but strongly recommended.

Your selection time will be sent to your UMBC email at least two days before the start of the selection period.

Selection times are assigned based on your group’s average completed credits and the selection process in which you are participating, times are not prioritized by group size or class year. If you are not part of a group, your time is assigned based on your completed credits. If students are part of a roommate group, their group’s average credits will be used to determine the time (ex. Student A has 45 credits and Student B has 15 credits, their Group Average is 30 credits and they will select with other groups/individuals that also have a 30 credit average). 

Some students/groups may not receive a selection time if demand for housing is higher than the amount of available spaces. Students who did not receive a selection time but met the other requirements are still guaranteed housing, and will be assigned to housing by the Residential Life Assignments team over the summer. Typically, groups with lower individual or group credit averages may not be issued a selection time.

The group leader must log into the housing portal during the assigned selection time to pick a room from the available inventory. Some buildings or communities may not be available for you to select, as they may be dedicated for first-year students and/or Quarantine & Isolation housing. Students have until the conclusion of the selection period to log-in and pick a room.

After selection closes, students/groups that did not select will be assigned by Residential Life during the summer.  Again, Residential Life cannot stress how important it is that students pick a room.  It’s better to pick something and contact our office after selection to see if a change can be made, then to not select anything and be assigned in the summer to whatever spaces remain.

Resources

• Housing Selection Assistant Tool
• Housing Selection FAQs

Walker Avenue Information Sessions

• Housing Application & Selection Overview Webinar
• Roommate Group Search & Formation Webinar
• How to Select a Room Webinar Recording

Residential Life Information Sessions

• Housing Application & Roommate Formation Overview Recording
• How to Select a Room Webinar Recording
  • Presentation Slides