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3. Unassigned List

Waiting List for Room Assignments

We’re excited that you’ve chosen to live in the University Residence Halls! Be sure to take advantage of the vast array of resources and services available to you as you begin your time on-campus at the University of Wisconsin – Madison.

You’re likely visiting this page because you received an email from us indicating that you are currently unassigned and will receive an assignment at some point over the summer as we get cancellations. The information below will provide answers to some of the most common questions we receive from students and their families about being unassigned.

I thought I did everything I was supposed to do. Why did this happen?

You definitely did everything you were supposed to do. We try to keep our process as fair as possible. This means that based on our random process any student can wind up being “unassigned” (a.k.a. placed on the "wait list") until we get more cancellations over the summer. Typically we receive 200 cancellations over the summer so we want to make sure our numbers are high enough to accommodate this attrition. Poor planning on our part and increased vacancy would mean higher costs for students and their families which is something we want to do our best to avoid.

Does being unassigned mean I’m less likely to be assigned to any of my hall choices?

No. In fact, students who are initially unassigned do as well or even better in being assigned to one of their top choices as students who started with a permanent assignment. Every day throughout the summer, we look at the spaces we have available to come up with the best possible assignments for students who are unassigned.

How long will I have to wait for an assignment?

The wait can be as little as one week or it can be right before the halls open in August depending on where you are in order on the unassigned list. The order for the unassigned list is determined by the date your contract was returned. We also check on a daily basis for students who may be not be attending UW-Madison based on data we see related to Admissions and SOAR. We follow up with these students right away to keep our assignment process moving as quickly as possible.  We will assign you based on your preferences as best we can and you will receive an email once you are assigned.