Housing Selection FAQs

The housing application opens February 10 at 9 a.m. on ResLife Online.

The housing application is due March 12 by 4:30 p.m. If you miss the deadline, you will not be able to participate in the housing selection process. Students who miss the housing application deadline should sign up for the housing wait list which opens on March 12 after 4:30 p.m. 

You can find a roommate using the ResLife Roommate Finder. The ResLife Roommate Finder is an opt-in online group that helps current resident students find a compatible roommate/suitemate(s). Once you join the ResLife Roommate Finder, you can begin your search or make a post.

You will pick your room online at your assigned date and time depending on your selection number and what type of room you want. View the Housing Selection Timeline.

You will have to give someone you trust your information and ask them to choose on your behalf at your assigned time.

Housing selection is only open to current students. Your requested suitemates/roommates all need to be current students. Once housing selection is over, you can make a request to live with a new student on the Room Change Waiting List.

If you miss the deadline or do not pick a room during selection, you will be considered to be withdrawn from the process. If you still wish to live on-campus, you can sign up on the Housing Wait List. The Housing Wait List opens March 12 at 4:30 p.m. on ResLife Online.

Your chance of getting a specific room type or residence hall depends on the popularity and demand for that type of housing. The housing that students select before it is your time to pick a room will directly impact what housing is available at your selection time. Because of this, there is no way to predict in advance what will be available when it is your room selection time.

Based on housing selection trends over time, we can share the residence halls and room types that are typically available to students by class year.

The Office of Residential Life will host a housing showcase on Tuesday, February 25 from 8 p.m. - 10 p.m. Please go to any upper-class residence hall lobby anytime during the open house hours.

We cannot hold a space for a student who is not going to be on campus. You can work with your roommate(s) to find someone who will graduate or leave the University in December, and we can work on “swapping” you into the spot when you return in the spring.

You must fill out the roommate part of the housing application regardless of whether you are signing up with someone specific or not. If your roommate leaves housing for any reason and you have a space in your room, we will use your roommate preferences to find you a new roommate.

Residential Life does not collect a housing deposit. Current students are welcome to participate in the process.

We use the following information to determine your housing selection number.

Your housing selection Student Type is determined by your time at the University.

• “First-year” = Entered the University in the fall or spring as a first-year student (this includes students who transfer as a first-year student).
• “Upper-class”= You are in at least your second year at the University or you began either semester as a sophomore, junior, or senior transfer.

Earned Credits are those that you have already gotten credit for at the University according to the Registrar's Office as of the close of business on March 12, 2025.

Housing Tiers are based on your time at the University and how many earned credits you have.

Housing Selection Numbers determine the order in which rooms are chosen and are assigned randomly within your housing tier. Housing selection numbers will be available to students on ResLife Online and by email no later than 4 p.m. on March 13.

For doubles and suites, your group selection number will be the average of the selection numbers of all of the students who want to live in the room.

The University does not require anyone to live on campus. If you are interested in moving off-campus, you are encouraged to contact the Office of Student Financial Services to determine how your decision may impact your financial aid package.

There is no special form to fill out if you want to live off campus, you just don’t sign up for housing. You should check with the Office of Student Financial Services to see if your financial aid package may change.

Merit scholarships are not reduced when a student moves off-campus. Merit scholarships include Trustee, Presidential, Founders, Transfer Achievement, Cardinal Scholarships, and Honors. If you are interested in moving off campus, you are encouraged to contact the Office of Student Financial Services to determine if your decision may impact your financial aid package.

You must make sure that you've filled out your FAFSA form. If you have questions about your FAFSA form, please contact the Office of Student Financial Services.

The Board of Trustees typically approve the costs in their meeting at the end of March. You can view current costs of attendance on the Student Accounts website.

Commuters will be eligible to participate in the housing selection process as long as there is space available. After applications are due, we review the number of resident and commuter student applications versus the spaces that are available on campus. If the number of applicants, both residential and commuter students exceed the number of available spaces, we use a lottery system to determine which commuters will be eligible to participate in housing selection and choose any spaces that are available once current residents are housed.

Commuter students will be emailed by 12 p.m. on March 13, 2025 to confirm if they can participate in the housing selection process.

In the unlikely event more students sign up for housing than we have space on campus, our first obligation is to house current resident students who would like to return.

Absolutely! Commuters who are eligible to participate in the process can sign up to live with current resident students during the housing selection process.

The University provides housing accommodations on campus for full-time students who are between the ages of 17 and 23 at the start of the Residence Hall License (including current graduate and pharmacy students). Requests for age exceptions may be submitted in writing to the Assistant Dean of Students.

Eligible graduate and pharmacy students will participate in regular housing selection process and sign the same Housing License.

Eligible graduate and pharmacy students will select housing in the same housing selection process as other undergraduate students. Please review Room and Building Options for an overview of the housing available in the process.

The housing selection process is for returning students who wish to live on campus for the upcoming academic year. Incoming first-year and transfer students apply for housing in a separate process and are assigned to housing during the summer.

Transfer Students Requesting a Current/Returning Fisher Student as a Roommate

Incoming transfer students who wish to live with a returning student may be assigned to housing during the housing selection process. To participate in this process, incoming transfer students must:

• Enroll and complete the housing application in ResLife Online by 4:30 p.m. on March 12, 2025. The returning student housing selection process begins after this date.
• Request to live with a returning student when completing the housing application. All roommate requests must be mutual and confirmed.
• Request to live in a double room when completing the housing application. Due to the limited number and popularity of 4-person suites in Founders Hall, only 4-person groups consisting of current/returning students may participate in suite selection.

Incoming transfer students who wish to live with a returning student may be assigned to housing during the housing selection process if they enroll and complete the housing application by 4:30 p.m. on March 12, 2025. The returning student housing selection process begins after this date.

In order to participate in the housing selection process with an incoming transfer student, returning students must:

• Complete the housing application in ResLife Online by 4:30 p.m. on March 12, 2025.
• Select the incoming transfer student as a roommate when completing the housing application. All roommate requests must be mutual and confirmed.
• Request to live in a double room when completing the housing application. Due to the limited number and popularity of 4-person suites in Founders Hall, only 4-person groups consisting of current/returning students may participate in suite selection.
• Select to be the group leader. This means the returning student who is participating in the housing selection process will select the room for the group.

All housing tiers are eligible to live in Founders Hall, however that does not guarantee a room will be available in Founders Hall when it is your time to pick a room.

Yes, you must have a full group of four to select a suite or connecting room.

Need a Roommate or Additional Suitemate?
If you need help finding a roommate, join the ResLife Roommate Finder using your network login credentials and begin your search. If you and another student wish to live together, you both need to request each other on the Room Type and Roommate Preference Form.

Single rooms in Founders Hall are considered individual rooms, not connecting rooms. Because of this, single rooms cannot be selected as a group of two. When you choose your single, you will be able to see who has selected the neighboring room in ResLife Online. 

Single room selection (particularly in Founders) is very completive and selecting a single room that connects with a specific person is very unlikely.

In addition to submitting your housing application, you must choose “single room” on your Room Type and Roommate Preference Form by March 12, 2025.  The number of single rooms on campus is limited.

You are the group leader for a single. Checking the “group leader” box allows you to choose a room online for yourself.

As singles are sized for one person, they cost the same as a space in a double room. All of the St. John Fisher University housing options are the same rate.

If you do not receive a single during the selection process, you will choose a double room, and then Residential Life will place you on the Single Room Change Waitlist for a single room. If you do not select a room during double room selection, you will be considered to have withdrawn from the housing selection process.

Students are ordered on the wait list in housing selection number order. As rooms become available over the summer, we will offer them to the next student on the wait list.

If you get a single but not in the building in which you would like to live, you can sign up on the Room Change Waiting List and request your preferred residence hall.

In addition to submitting your housing application, you must choose “double room” on your Room Type and Roommate Preference Form by March 23. 

The group leader chooses the housing assignment for the group from their online account. Please choose someone responsible.

You do not have to have a roommate to choose a double room. During the process, it is likely that you will receive a roommate either through someone signing in with you or through consolidation. Consolidation means when two students of the same gender do not have a roommate, we move the person with the higher selection number in with the person with the lower (or better) selection number. Although your room may change, your residence hall will not. Residential Life will email you when a consolidation happens.

If you do not have a roommate at the end of housing selection, you will be assigned someone from the waiting list or a new transfer student.

Need a Roommate?
If you need help finding a roommate, join the ResLife Roommate Finder using your Fisher Google account, and begin your search. If you and another student wish to live together, you both need to request each other on the Room Type and Roommate Preference Form.

In addition to submitting your housing application, you must choose “suite” on your Room Type and Roommate Preference Form by March 18. You also need to choose a group leader for your group.

If you do not choose a suite you will be reset to choose during double room selection. You will need to contact reslife@sjf.edu and tell us who the roommate pairs will be and who will act as the group leaders by 4:30 p.m. on March 21 so we can assign you a date and time to choose a double room.

The group leader chooses the housing assignment for the group from their online account. Please choose someone responsible.

Refer to the Room and Building Options page for more information.

For specific information about parking, please call (585) 385-8025 or visit the Safety and Security website.

The Fisher Dining Services website has information about all the available meal plan options.

All students living on campus in the residence halls must select a meal plan.

Please see the Student Accounts website for estimated costs.

When students complete the housing application and sign the Residence Hall License, it is a commitment to live on campus for the academic year.

Withdrawing from Housing

Before Selecting a Room

Please email reslife@sjf.edu to request to withdraw from the housing selection process before selecting a room.

After Selecting a Room

Students who participate in the housing selection process and select a room have until June 1, 2025 to withdraw from housing in ResLife Online. Students who cancel their room assignment will be charged a $250.00 Residence Hall License Release Fee.

After the June 1, 2025 deadline, students may request to be released from the Residence Hall License if faced with an extraordinary medical or financial situation that occurred after the License was signed. If a student's request is denied, room and board charges will still apply.

2025-2026 Housing License [pdf]