Frequently Asked Questions

Residence Life housing process includes a lottery based on semesters at Oberlin. Students can form roommate groups in order to sign up for desired housing type. If students miss the lottery then they are placed based on preferences provided in their application. First Year housing options can be found here. 

Residence Life staff reviews housing registration information and matches students based on their housing preferences. We consider habits and patterns (e.g., bedtimes, noise/activities in the room, and room cleanliness) as well as musical taste, academic interests, and other shared personal information. We work to put students together who have similar preferences, interests and habits. We do honor mutually requested roommates regardless of preferences.

We do not take requests for specific buildings or sides of campus. We also do not place athletes from the same team together unless they mutually request each other as roommates. We believe that all of our communities are great places to live and that each student will have an enjoyable experience in the living environment they are assigned to.

Each student will receive an email with instructions on how to find out where they are living and who will be their roommate(s) for the year. Housing assignments are for an entire academic year unless a student requests and is approved for a room change.

After housing assignments have been completed, students will be notified via email about thier assignment and roommate information. Students can also log into the Housing Portal to review their assignment and roommate information. 

• Fall assignments are typically sent in mid-July to early August.
• Winter Term assignments are typically sent beginning at the end of December. Later arrivals will receive their assignments in mid January.
• Spring assignments are typically sent in mid to late January. 

Spring 2026 Early Arrival

Should a student only need an early return to campus for the Spring semester, there is no need to register for Winter Housing. Rather, the department should complete the Spring Early Arrival Registration.

Register for a Spring 2026 Early Arrival here. Students must be logged into their Oberlin email account to access the form.

Regular Spring Move-In: Sunday, February 1, 2026 (begins at 12:00 p.m.)

Early Arrivals: January 30, 2026 & January 31, 2026*

*Arrivals before January 28 must be requested through the Winter Housing Application.

Individual Requests

Residence Life is offering some opportunities for students living in campus housing this spring to return to the Oberlin Campus up to two days before their scheduled move-in date.  
1. are registered for the Spring 2026 Semester, 
2. have made the required payments for the Spring Semester, 
3. are not living in OSCA locations or off-campus, and  
4. have a special circumstance or are participating in a certain group/opportunity making it important for them to be permitted to arrive earlier than the scheduled move-in dates.

Each student is provided with the following:

• A single bed frame and a mattress. Most beds are bunkable or loftable. The mattress is "twin, extra long" (36"x80"). Please note that traditional twin-fitted sheets are too short. You will need extra long twin sheets.

• Desk and desk chair

• Built-in chest of drawers or movable dresser

• Built-in closet or movable wardrobe

• Built-in bookcase or movable bookshelf

• Lighting - rooms have general room lighting, but desk and floor lamps are not provided

• Window coverings, usually blinds

• WiFi

Bedframes can vary by building or room. Most of the beds are wood with square feet. If you are considering putting risers under the feet, check that they can accommodate the large legs - or wait until you get here and know what your bed looks like. Bed risers are allowed for non-loft able beds and will elevate the bed frame about five or six inches while still providing a solid and safe footing on the floor (these commercial products are made of plastic and less likely to scratch the floor).

You are responsible for providing your own (extra long) sheets, blankets, pillows, pillowcases, and towels. Bring warm blankets. Between midnight and 6:00 a.m., building temperatures are kept at approximately 62 degrees in the winter. Electric blankets are not allowed because of the danger of fire. Bedspreads are not provided.

The Office of Residence Life provides a list of items prohibited and acceptable alternatives for some items. A full list can be found here.

Unfortunately, most of the residence halls are in use during the summer by groups who rent the facilities for a variety of conferences, sport camps, theater workshops, etc. The Admissions Office conducts several campus tours every day. You will be shown a typical double room on this tour, but access to all buildings is not possible. An average double room is approximately 220 square feet. Some rooms are larger, others are smaller. Some rooms are square, others are unique in shape.

The Office of Residence Life will do a virtual tour of your room so you can see the layout and ask questions. Information concerning tour sign ups will be sent out during the summer. 

The Office of Residence Life understands that some students may have medical conditions that require special housing and or dining accommodations. Students with physical or medical conditions or disabilities can usually be accommodated in college housing and dining.

Requests for accommodation in housing and or dining should be made through the Office of Disability and Access.

At least one community refrigerator and microwave is provided in the kitchen/kitchenette areas of each residence hall.

Students can bring a Mini Refrigerator that doesn't exceed (10 amps and 5 cubic feet). A limit of 1 mini-fridge per single, double, or divided double, 2 mini fridges per quad. Woodland Suites and On Campus houses and Apartments residents may not bring a microfridge as their is a full fridge provided. Woodland Singles are provided a mini fridge and can not bring another. 

Due to voltage concerns in the residence halls, students are not permitted to bring microwaves. 

A mini fridge with a microwave combination unit is available to rent from Bedloft. This microfridge is Energy Star-rated with a special switching system that saves energy and eases electrical draw, preventing breakers from tripping. This is the only micro-fridge allowed in the residence halls. For additional information visit Microfridge Rentals.

Students are not permitted to bring or install a personal A/C unit. 

Buildings with A/C: Dascomb, Kahn, Lord/Saunders, Noah, South, Talcott, Woodland, Firelands, and Union/Goldsmith Townhomes

Disability Accommodation: Students needing air conditioning for a disability accommodation must work with and be approved by the Office of Disability and Access.

Students can have fish or other aquatic animals(can only survive underwater) in a maximum aquarium size of twenty gallons.

No other animals are permitted in residential spaces, with the exception of animals approved for disability accommodation through the Office of Disability Resources.

Visiting friends and family are also not permitted to bring animals into the buildings. 

On-campus housing, Firelands, and Union/Goldsmith rooms have electric locks that can be unlocked using the assigned student's Oberlin ID card or their Mobile-ID.

Most On-campus Houses and Apartments (formerly Village Housing) houses have physical keys. Keys are available for pickup in the Residence Life Office during business hours (Monday-Friday 8am - 5pm) and from Campus Safety outside of business hours. 

The Mobile ObieID Card is available to all enrolled students and current employees. Tap your iPhone, Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy, or other eligible Android phones at readers across campus to conveniently access your ObieID. For more information, visit Mobile ObieID Card.

For your protection, as well as the college's, you must complete the RCR (Room Condition Report) to check the condition of your room when you move in. The RCR will be listed an Inventory in the housing Portal. You must check each item listed on the RCR, as you are responsible for the condition of everything in your room. Review the RCR, which is available online through the housing portal (again listed as Inventory), and note any discrepancies you see. Student and professional staff will check your space when you move out, and any changes in the condition of the space may result in charges to your student account.

Students will receive additional information and instructions about completing the RCR at the beginning of the semester. 

To register for OSCA, you should fill out the application for housing on the OSCA website and the housing application with ResLife. There is no guarantee that you will get housing in OSCA, seeing as it is based on a lottery.

Information on OSCA can be found here.

Please complete the Housing Application, but indicate that you are planning to take a leave. If you are not sure that you will get into the program you want or that your leave might not be approved by the time of housing selection, you should go through the selection process.

Student on Study Away during the Fall semester will be able to apply for spring housing starting at the end of October. The Housing Application and Selection Process is a virtual experience for all students. 

Students on Study Away during the Spring semester can participate in the Student Housing Selection Process. The Housing Application and Selection Process is a virtual experience for all students. 

Go ahead and select housing. If you decide not to come in the fall, your roommate can request another person for a roommate (before June 30) or someone else will be assigned to the space. If you wish to live together in the spring and your roommate has a vacancy, you and your roommate should place your names on the Request Roommate Form in December when the form opens as a requested roommate. We are unable to hold spaces and we will not force a student to relocate in order to accommodate your request for a roommate.

Students interested in Living Learning Communities should complete the Housing Application. As part of the application, students will have the opportunity to preference specific LLC areas. Once LLC areas have been selected, the corresponding questions will appear in the Housing Application.  

After the room freeze at the start of each semester students may complete the LLC applications for their desired community as part of the room change process. If they meet the requirements of the LLC they wish to live in they will be considered to move into the space if vacancies exist in the community. 

Yes. The On-campus Houses and Apartments (formerly Village Housing) orientation takes place through Blackboard and must be completed within the first 3 weeks of the start of the semester.

Students who have not selected a housing assignment by the end of the spring semester will have assignments made for them based on vacancies that occur during the summer. We will try to honor the preferences submitted on your Housing Application. Please be aware that:

All students are assigned housing before the opening of residence halls for the fall semester and most will receive assignment information in late July to mid August.

It is possible that students could be assigned as residents in a Living Learning Community space they do not identify with or overflow space in lounges. These students will be expected to move to traditional housing as soon as space becomes available.

Students with permanent approval from the Office for Disability and Access for their accommodation do not need to re-register with ODA. However, they must still complete the Housing Application. To verify if you have a multi-year approval, please review your ODA accommodation by going to https://oberview.oberlin.edu/ and searching for AIM. Once in AIM, you will see your accommodation and approved time frame. 

Students can view their housing accommodation eligibility by logging into the ODA online portal through OberView. Once logged in, select “My Eligibility” from the left-hand menu.

Students with accommodations who are interested in participating in LLCs, living in specific residence halls, and/or forming roommate groups are encouraged to do so. While accommodations do not apply to requested roommates, the Office of Residence Life will consider all details of a student's application while making placements to meet students' approved accommodations.

Students with permanent approval from the Office for Disability and Access for their accommodation do not need to re-register with ODA. We recommend that students with accommodations register for housing as soon as possible. Placements cannot be made for students with accommodations until the Housing Registration has been received.

Additional information about applying for disability accommodations and the risk of declining an accommodation placement made by the Office of Residence Life is available on the Housing & Dining Accommodations page.

The Office of Residence Life housing process uses a lottery system based off of the numbers of semesters in residence at Oberlin. Students are randomly assigned a time slot for housing selection. Groups will be assigned based on the student with the most semesters in residence. Groups may only select housing in which all students in the group are eligible for. 

For LLC Communities the lottery system determines slots by semesters completed and LLC Application Scores. Students will be able to select spaces in the communities they completed applications for. All members of the group must have completed the required LLC application for that community. Previous residents may be given a priority to live in the community again should their application reflect a strong commitment to ensuring the community continues to grow and function on campus. 

Each residence hall has washers and dryers. Laundry is included in the cost of room and comes at no extra charge.

The College and the Office of Residence Life does not insure and is not responsible for loss or damage to personal property for any cause. Students are encouraged to confirm that their property is covered by their family's homeowner's or renter's insurance or to carry personal property insurance.

If you lost your ID card (room accessible with a student's Obie ID card), please visit the following site for information about what to do: https://idcard.oberlin.edu/manage/lost
 

From 8:00am-8:00pm, a student will need to contact Campus Safety at 440-775-8444 for assistance with getting into their space.  If a student is locked out during RA duty hours (8:00pm-8:00am), the student will contact the RA on duty to let them into their space. Residents in On Campus Houses and Apartments will need to contact Campus Safety for assistance at all times.  

All students receive their mail via the mail room in Wilder Hall (Student Union Building). More information can be found here.

Yes! Students are welcome to stay on campus for breaks and our residence halls will remain open. Limited meals and minimal campus services are available. Students will need to fill out the associated break housing form, which is available online. Please note that a fee is associated with Winter break, Winter Term, and Summer Housing.

Oberlin College uses AVI to provide our on campus dining experience. The Office of Residence Life manages Meal Plan selection and changes in the Housing system. More information about AVI can be found here.