How to Apply for Freshman Housing

2. Make sure your NetID and Password have been set up, and that you have set up, and are checking, your Northwestern email account regularly. You can activate your NetID (which was sent to you in your admissions information) at the incoming student login site.

To log in to the freshman housing application you will use your NetID and your password. NetIds are 6 characters long and contain both letters and numbers. Your password is the same password you use for your Northwestern email account, and it is case-sensitive.

3. Read over the entire Freshman Housing Brochure. You can either read it online or print it out.

4. Read over the Freshman Housing FAQ page. This is very important - the FAQ has all the information you need to successfully apply for housing, including a helpful chart showing all of the buildings that have space available for freshmen students.

5. Think about the kind of environment in which you want to live. Undergraduate Housing cannot make recommendations to you about where you should live. Instead, we recommend that incoming freshman ask themselves the following questions before filling out the housing application, and then read over the housing descriptions in the brochure and online to decide where to apply. Pages 5-7 of the freshman housing brochure give detailed information about each building. Many students print those pages out for a side by side comparison of the buildings - something that can be very helpful when trying to narrow down your choices.

In order to narrow down your building choices to just five, you should ask yourself:

• Do I want to live in co-ed or single gendered housing?
• What would be the best environment for me – a large (150+ occupant) building, a medium size (75-125 occupant) building, or a smaller (less than 60 occupant) building?
• Do I want to live in a Residential College or a Residence Hall and/or House?
• As a freshman, your classes will be held all over campus, however, we encourage our freshmen to ask themselves, what kind of amenities do I want to live near? Would I prefer to live closer to Norris University Center, main library, one of the fitness facilities on campus, such as Patten Gymnasium (across the street from our all-freshmen buildings, Elder Hall, Hinman House, and 610 Lincoln), Blomquist Recreational Center or the Henry Crown Sports Pavilion and Dellora A. and Lester J. Norris Aquatics Center (These two facilities are also known as SPAC), or to downtown Evanston? Does it matter to me?
• Would I prefer to live in a building where all of the occupants are freshmen, or do I want to live in a building with a mix of freshman, sophomores, juniors and seniors on my floor? Elder Hall, Hinman House, and 600 Lincoln are 'all freshman' buildings - all of the residents except for Community Assistants are freshmen. All other buildings listed on the application have at least 40% of their spaces reserved for freshmen.

6. Once you have thought about the kind of environment in which you wish to reside, it is time to start choosing buildings that are the best fit for you. Look at the chart in the Freshman FAQ page, read over the descriptions of the undergraduate buildings online, and in the online housing brochure.

All Residential Colleges have freshman spaces, as does the G.R.E.E.N. House at 2251 Sheridan and the Interfaith Living and Learning Unit in Foster Walker. You can visit the Residential Colleges web site to find general information, and a list of colleges. Please note that many of the Residential College websites are maintained by the colleges themselves and not by Northwestern administration, therefore pages provided and maintained by students do not necessarily represent official views of Northwestern University. If you plan to apply for a Residential College, the Substance-Free floor, or the Interfaith Living and Learning unit in Foster-Walker, you will be asked to write a few sentences about why you wish to be considered for these assignments, so start thinking over why you want to be part of that experience, and what you have to contribute to these communities.

7. Once you have completed steps 1-6, you will be ready to fill out the online housing application.

Information regarding where you were assigned will be emailed to you Northwestern email account during the first week of August. In the meantime, don't forget to keep checking the Orientation and Parent Programs web site for important information regarding your transition to college life.

Questions regarding Freshman Housing can be answered via email by our Freshman Housing Coordinators.