Fall Room Selection

Getting Started

Monitor your email for a room selection date and time. Your room selection date and time are determined by your roommate group and the day on which you completed the housing application including payment. Select your room by logging into the Housing Portal on your appointed date/time during the room selection period.

If you are interested in living with your friends next year, have those conversations prior to the room selection period so that you can setup your Roommate Group before room selection begins.

Room Retention

Room retention is an option for our upper-level students. This option allows upper-level students to apply to stay in their exact same bedspace from year to year. While every upper-level resident in an upper-level residence hall has this option, there are some specific reasons that a resident might not be approved for room retention. A unit must be more than 50%+ full for room retention.

So, what does that mean? If, for example, you are in a University Pointe 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom, at least two of the current residents must apply for room retention in order to have that request approved.

We believe that this policy is in line with our core value of care and fairness. While this might seem to go against this value in some instances, this policy will allow us to have more completely empty units for room selection, which will allow more of our students the opportunity to live with their preferred roommate group on campus!

Please note that even if a unit has more than 50% of its residents requesting retention, it may still not be approved. This is typically due to administrative reasons that include, but are not limited to, Living-Learning/Themed Community spaces, Athletic spaces, ADA spaces, etc.

Room Selection Timeslot Information

In order to make room selection an easier process and to accommodate more roommate groups together on campus, students with full roommate groups will receive earlier timeslots than students without roommate groups or with roommate groups that will not fill a complete unit. This will allow full units to be filled before individual rooms in units. We believe this will tie in our core values of inclusion, - allowing us to better make our residents feel more welcome in their Cardinal Home - service, - ensuring that we do everything in our power to meet our resident’s needs - safety, – empowering our residents to feel safer in their halls because they know their roommates - and learning – promoting a feeling of comfort and safety will contribute to a better learning environment.

For example, a University Pointe unit has four bedrooms. This process will allow a roommate group of four to be prioritized over a single person or a roommate group of 2 or 3 selecting that space. This will reduce the number of units taken by 1 or 2 people and allow for more roommate groups to have the opportunity to select a space together.

What constitutes a complete roommate group? A full roommate group consists of four total people who have accepted their roommate group invite request. Four-person roommate groups will be given priority over 2-person or 3-person groups for room selection purposes.

In order to receive a timeslot within the “Full Roommate Group” timeframe, each resident in the group must have accepted the invitation by a specific date and time, which can be found below. These dates and times correlate with our priority deadline for both upper-level and first-year residents, which can be found on our Room Selection Timeline. This means that if the invite was sent, but not accepted, the group will not be considered full. We will not close roommate groups after this date passes, but priority will be given to those who accepted their roommate group invitation prior to the stated date and time.

Priority Deadline for Roommate Groups:

• Upper-level Roommate Groups: February 1st by 1pm
• First-Year Freshman Roommate Groups: April 1st by 11:59pm

Room selection timeslots will be sent to your UofL email address about one week prior to your selection date. Please monitor your email closely to receive this information. When the selection date arrives, only one student per roommate group should log into the portal to select a space for the entire group.

Please note: While we strive to house as many full roommate groups together as possible, available spaces may not always accommodate your entire group as room selection progresses. During selection, Cards Nest will display all open spaces on campus, but you’ll only be able to assign roommates to spaces with enough available beds. If your group cannot all fit in the same unit, we recommend shrinking or disbanding your roommate group so everyone can select a space.

Want to View Your Assignment and Roommate(s)?

You may view your room assignment and roommate(s) by logging into the Housing Portal and navigating to "My Account." If you are not able to view a roommate name, this is likely due to one of two reasons: A. no one has yet assigned themselves into your unit or B. the roommate elected on the housing application that their information not be shared.

Want to Change Your Room?

Room change requests for the upcoming Fall semester will open for all students in June and will close prior to Fall move-in. This room change period is an open period, meaning students can log in at any time and see all available rooms at that time that they have the ability to change into. A full timeline can be viewed by clicking here. 

After move-in, room changes will typically open two to three weeks into each semester. This room change period is based on availability and is not done thorugh self-selection like the summer room change period. Monitor your UofL email for more information closer to that time. 

Room Selection Tips and Tricks

When you log into Cards Nest, you will only see what spaces are available at that exact point in time, and new available spaces can appear at any time. The Housing office cannot tell you exact availability because it changes so frequently. If you do not see a specific building/room style, that means it is not available at that time.

You will only be allowed to assign beginning at your specific timeslot. Anyone in the roommate group can assign the group to a space, so we recommend letting the person with the earliest timeslot assign everyone! Do not log-in early, as you will get a no access screen.

Be aware that while the system will show all open spaces on campus, you’ll need to assign each roommate individually during room selection. If there aren’t enough open beds in a unit for your full group, you’ll only be able to assign the number of roommates that fit in that space. It is the responsibility of any roommates who were not placed to log in during their own timeslot and select a space for themselves. We recommend shrinking or disbanding your roommate group if this occurs to ensure everyone can secure housing.

• Upper-level students, please note: In March, please remove yourself from roommate groups prior to selecting, as space for more than one person in a single room is unlikely.

Verify your roommate groups ahead of time! If you have anyone in your group who has not accepted the invitation OR already has a Fall assignment through Room Retention or LLC/TC acceptance, you will not have access to select your space. Please remove anyone from your group with an active fall assignment prior to room selection to avoid any unnecessary complications to your selection process!

Please note that cancelling an LLC/TC assignment will not allow you to participate in the Priority Self-Selection period. If an approved LLC/TC applicant denies their LLC/TC after assignment, they will be moved into an open space in one of our halls and will then be allowed to perform a room change during the approved period as noted on the timeline.*

If you do not participate in Priority Room Selection before it closes, you will be added to the General Room Selection period.

Cards Nest is cloud-based, so it cannot crash. If you are stuck on the white loading screen, please do not refresh as this will cause you to lose your place in the queue! The portal will probably run slowly for everyone on the day of, so please be patient!

Upon selecting or receiving an assignment on campus, you will have up to ten days in which to cancel your housing without incurring a cancellation fee. Learn more about our cancellation policy here.

*Subject to change.