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Hi, my name's Brooke and I am a video Intern
in MU's Res Life Marketing Department. As a student, I've been through the Housing Process
at Mizzou and I'm here to share all the ins, outs, and need-to-knows before you officially
select your room. I know picking out a room sounds easy, but there's more to it than filling
out paperwork and "poof"... magically getting what you want. You probably already received
our Housing quick start guide which gives you an overview of the steps in the process.
So let's dive in and I'll tell you more about it.
Before you can pick a room, there are
some crucial steps you must complete. The first official thing you need to do is pay
your enrollment fee to the University. You MUST do this to move on to the next step.
Then, you have to sign your housing and dining contract and pay a $325 prepayment and a $25
processing fee. Contracts goes live on our website in late-March or early-April.
The number of contracts is based on the projected size of the incoming freshman class and so we tend
to run out of them by mid-May. Sign up early or join the wait list if all contracts set
aside for freshman are gone. It's always a tight fit to get everyone in the halls,
but IF you sign a contract, you will DEFINITELY get a space in a hall. Your contract gets
you into ROAR, which stands for Residents Online Access to Rooms. This is where you
get to pick your room on the day ROAR becomes available to you. When you log on to ROAR,
you will have to select a Learning Community or FIG before you pick a room. So you have
some research to do, my friend. We'll get you more info about ROAR later. These are the most essential steps.
But, we're not done yet... Just getting started in fact. While you're waiting for April
to come around, you need to learn about our housing process and do some research.
[music]
When you sign your Housing and Dining Contract,
you will also be choosing your dining plan. So, you are going to need to research dining
plans and choose one that fits your appetite. You can check them out at dining.missouri.edu
[music]
We designed our housing process so that you
search for a space in a room based on your interests or academic goals. This is why you
choose a Learning Community or FIG before you choose a room in ROAR. So, this means,
housing at Mizzou is about figuring out which Learning Communities or Freshman Interest
Groups fit you best because your room and hall are located in the Learning Community
or FIG you choose. When you select one, you are also selecting the other. So you need
to check out all the GLCs, TLCs, and FIGs and come up with a big list of great options
you are excited about. You will also need to know if some of your selections require
a certain math score in the ALEKS assessment exam. Every student should go to the math
placement website and take the ALEKS survey, which will tell you if you need take your
ALEKS assessment in March or early April. If you do need to take it, be sure to complete
the assessment by the due date so your score will be recorded in time for you to ROAR.
Once you've finished this video, go watch our FIG and Learning Communities video. It
goes into more detail about what they are, how they work, what they do and what to expect
once you've chosen one. Because there is limited space in each community, you will need a long
list of different FIGs and Learning Communities so when your top choices are filled, you have
a strategy for how to deal with that.
[music]
You might be wondering why I said you need a strategy for WHEN your top choices are filled. Think
of it like buying tickets for a concert. Tickets go on sale at a certain time. People line
up outside the box office hours before it opens. They want the best seat in the house,
right? For some people the best seat might be in the middle, for others it's the aisle,
but we all know all of the seats disappear fast. In our system, you will be selecting
a GLC, TLC or FIG and a room during ROAR, which "opens" and "closes" at certain
times. It's like the box office, BUT, everyone doesn't get to access ROAR at the same time
because it totally crashes our servers. We separate the students into four groups and
the day you ROAR is based on your application date to the University. You won't have access
to ROAR before that time. Much like you would want to know your preferences before you get
to a box office to purchase tickets, you will need to know all your preferences and have
back-up plans before you ROAR. And there are so many more options than just center or aisle,
balcony or floor. These are options you have to live with, so for real, do your research! ROARing
is kinda tricky, so be sure to watch our video that takes you through ROAR step by step.
Strategy and preparation are KEY on this one. So, the ROAR video is also a MUST WATCH!
[music]
At Mizzou, choosing your living space isn't
about what kind of bathroom you will have or who your roommate is. I know that those
things are also important to you, but they should be secondary choices. Take it from
me: I've been through this before and I had a great living experience in my hall freshman
year. It's the people in your hall -- your community -- that make the difference. And
I've got more to share with you. So, be sure to check out the other videos in this
series. We want you to watch them all so you really know what is going on before you sign
up for a room. That way, you don't get surprised and disappointed. Our Roommate video tells
you all about how roommates work when selecting Learning Communities and FIGs in ROAR and
all the pro's and con's to whether you decide to choose "random" or "pre-select" who you
are roomin' with. This is not a video about what it's like to live with a roommate, we
have videos for that too, they're called roommate stories. Additionally, we have a mythbuster
video for our bathrooms, so you can learn about how opposite day they are from the '80s!...
And in early summer, we will post a Movin' to Mizzou video to get you packed and ready
to go, and follow the rules at the same time! You can watch all the videos I just mentioned
on our website, our YouTube channel, and in the online Housing Step-by-Step guide. If
you have any questions we didn't answer, ask them on our Facebook page at MU Residential
Life, or Tweet us and we will get back with you within a day. This way others can read
the questions and answers too! So now, go check out my next video about Learning Communities
and FIGs.
[music]
Seriously, what are you waiting for? Go watch the video. Do it now.