A roommate group is a virtual link between students who wish to live together. Everyone in the roommate group MUST have a signed housing contract. To help navigate the process in the Housing Portal, follow this step-by-step How to Create a Roommate Group Guide.
New Students
When we make a new student’s initial housing assignment, we look for a verified roommate group, and then make an assignment based on the preferences set on the contract with the earliest signed date.
While we try to accommodate all roommate groups, please be aware that a roommate group is simply a request and is not guaranteed. If your roommate group is not placed together, it is most likely due to one of three situations:
- One of the members in your roommate group requested to be in a Learning Community
- Learning Communities have dedicated spaces for incoming students who meet the eligibility requirements. Learning Community preferences override all other requests on a student contract, due to the academic nature of the request.
- We did not have enough vacancies with two spaces in one room
- The steps in this process were not completed to create a verified roommate group
If you aren’t initially placed with your roommate request, but still want to live together, there will be a room change process on StarRez available Thursday through Sunday during June and July as well as during the school year. While the room change process is open, you are able to search for vacancies around campus to move to.
Returning Students
If you are a returning student, participating in Recontracting, please know that forming a roommate group DOES NOT automatically move a person into your room. You need to pull them in after the roommate group has been verified. If you are requesting a new ISU student as a roommate, you must pull them in to your current room first before searching for a new space.
If you have questions about how to do this, please contact our office at housing@iastate.edu.