The housing process has officially begun at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC). Whether you’re a freshman and this is your first time at the rodeo, or you’re an upperclassman checking up on Residential Life (Res Life) policies,  here is the basic information you need to know to stay on track:

Tuesday, Feb. 3 kicked off the housing process when students received a preliminary email alerting them of the impending process and initial housing deposit. The $200 deposit for housing was due on Feb. 13, 10 days following the notification of the payment. 

Another note for freshmen to keep in mind is that McMahon rates run higher than those for McKeon. The rate for a single room will be $17,605 per semester for the 2015-2016 academic year. The rate for a double room will cost $15,065 per semester, costing $3,180 more than a double or triple room in McKeon Hall, which will cost $11,885. These rates are subject to change, though the Office of Residential Life doesn’t anticipate these rates changing for the 2015-2016 year. 

Both new and returning residents to McMahon have been placed in Overflow Housing if they failed to meet the deposit deadline. Jenifer Campbell, director of Residential Life, explained that in addition to students who failed to meet the deposit deadline and any who may fail future deadlines, “any student who didn’t participate in core programming or [has] sanctions relative to the student conduct process” will be placed in Overflow Housing. Students in Overflow Housing are unable to personally select their rooms or roommates, though they still participate in an online lifestyle survey and are still guaranteed housing for the 2015-2016 year. “We assign [housing to] those students normally around the middle of July,” Campbell added. “We try to do the best match.” 

Phase Two of the housing process began on Feb. 18. During this time, students completed an online housing application available at my.fordham.edu. Through the application, residents sign a housing agreement and provide basic personal information such as graduation year. As noted in the housing manual sent to students, this phase concluded on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 6 p.m.

Phase Three is the group formation process. Beginning on Monday, March 2 and lasting until the following Friday, March 6, residents must make the decision of whom they want to live with for an entire academic year. This process is new for rising sophomores, who, for the most part, had been assigned roommates by the Office of Residential Life. 

In the event that students find themselves in a position of not knowing who they want to live with, there will be a roommate mixer. Campbell explained that “it’s an opportunity for folks to mix and mingle and figure out if they can be roommates and form a group.” The roommate mixer will take place on Thursday, February 26.

Also during phase three, students must also designate which type of apartment they wish to live in. Offered in McMahon for the 2015-2016 year are, as outlined in the housing manual, three-person single apartments, four-person double apartments, four-person partial apartments (one double and two single rooms) and six-person double apartments. As a way to streamline the process, each group will designate a group leader who will create a group page on my.fordham.edu, adding group members and designating that group’s desired room.

Phase Four of the room selection process begins Monday, March 9 and is the the actual room selection process, in which groups are able to select the actual rooms they will be living in. It is important to note that this process isn’t available to freshmen until March 12. As Jenifer Campbell explained, “This last phase basically goes through according to class standing from rising seniors, then juniors, then sophomores.” This means that the rooms available to the Class of 2018 will be those left over following the room selections of upperclassmen. Groups will either luck out and receive their first choice of room or, due to either room or group conflicts, will be placed by the Office of Residential Life over the summer.