First-Year Students

application process

• Complete Your Housing Application

  Before you can access the housing application, you need to pay the $400 College of Charleston enrollment deposit.  

  The housing application (for both fall and spring semesters) opens February 1 at 9:00 a.m. If you just paid your enrollment deposit, you'll be able to take these next steps within 12 hours after making your deposit.

  To apply: 

  • Log into MyPortal and click the MyHousing/Dining tile. (Make sure you use your alphabetical username - not the original username with numbers.) 
  • In the MyHousing/Dining portal, click the Apply for Housing/Meal Plan button.  
  • Pay the $50 housing application fee.  
  • Complete your housing application. Designate your housing emergency contact, answer profile questions, select a meal plan and electronically sign your housing contract. (For students under the age of 18, your parent or guardian will also be required to electronically sign the housing contract.) You will also learn about renters insurance.
  • You will be able to search for roommates starting February 15. Complete your housing application first!

  If you are trying to access the portal and see a message that says, “Service is temporarily unavailable. We are sorry for the inconvenience. The system is experiencing higher than expected usage. Please try again later.” this means that the portal has reached the max number of users it can handle at one time. Please wait a few minutes and then refresh your browser. This might take some time, especially right when the housing opens.

• Find a Roommate

  One of the first connections college students make is with their roommate. It’s natural to feel nervous about sharing a room with someone new! Campus Housing is here to help with a state-of-the-art system where you can search for roommates and message them directly. 

  To find a roommate, first complete your housing application. Starting February 15, return to the MyHousing/Dining portal and click on the Search for Roommates page to search for potential roommates. You can search by their name or a keyword (like a shared interest) or by how they responded to certain profile questions. You can also have the portal suggest roommates based on how you answered your profile questions. Keep in mind that only students who have completed their housing application will show up in the search function, so you might not see as many results early on.

  Remember, you are not required to pre-select a roommate, but the College does not match you with one. If you do not form a roommate group ahead of room selection, your roommate will be whomever you select into a room with. 

  The importance of profile questions – and honest answers 

  Within the housing application, you were asked several profile questions that our system can use to suggest a roommate for you. It is important that you fill out these answers honestly. Family members will not be the ones living in your new room!  

  The questions cover areas like sharing items, cleanliness, bedtimes, noise, and the relationship you’d like with your future roommate. Answer these questions based on who you are today, not who you think you will become in college. Trust us, if your room is a mess now, that won’t change with your busy college schedule. Just be honest since this will help you avoid future conflict!

• Form a Roommate Group

  Have you found your future roommate? Form a roommate group April 1 - May 15.

  Once you find other student(s) you want to live with, one of you will create a roommate group for others to join through the MyHousing/Dining portal. To select one another, both students need to have completed the housing application.  

  Roommate groups can be two to eight people. (Even numbers are best and groups of two give you the most flexibility for room selection.) You can form a roommate group between April 1 and May 15. After that, no one can be added to or removed from a group and any students not in a group will select spaces individually.  

  Log into the MyHousing/Dining portal and return to your housing application. Go to the Form Roommate Group page and then Create Group to start a new group or Join Group to join an existing group (you'll need the group name and password). 

  Reminder: You must complete your housing application by 11:59 p.m. Eastern time on May 1, 2025. But, you may return to your completed application to search for a roommate and form a group until May 15. 

• Select Your Room

  Other schools assign students to rooms. But, at the College of Charleston, YOU get to select your own residence hall and room. Room selection for first-year students takes place in June.

  In June, you will select your room based on the date you completed your housing application – please complete your application as soon as possible! If you are in a roommate group, your date/time will be based on the earliest completed application date in your group.  

  Please read all email from Campus Housing carefully for details about your specific date and time to start room selection, as well as other important instructions and deadlines. You may also review the basic steps of room selection to get ready for this exciting day!

  Honors College Selection

  • Honors College students who wish to live in Berry Hall select first. (If you are in a roommate group with fewer than 50% Honors students, you will select in the next phase.) 
  • Honors ELLC students are assigned rooms and do not participate in the room-selection process. 

  Selecting a Private Bedroom

  There are an extremely limited number of private bedrooms available on campus. Students who want to try to select a private bedroom should not join a roommate group.

  Students who are not in a roommate group can select a private bedroom if one is available. If a private room is not available, you will live with whomever else selects into your same room during room selection.