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Housing & Conference Services

Living At McMaster

Residence Room Self-Selection

Residence rooms are determined by a self-selection process.

All students guaranteed residence and who submit an application and make a $600 deposit before 4:00 p.m. ET on June 2, 2025, will be placed in a time slot lottery.

Main Campus residence students will select their own residence space with the first time slots opening in late June and ending mid-July.

Go to the Housing Portal

What is Residence Room Self-Selection?

Students select their own residence space through the Residence Room Self-Selection process.

Students will receive an email with details about their residence room selection time slot. This will tell them when they can log onto the Housing Portal to choose their residence room. Students will have five days to complete their selection once their time begins.

The first time slot will open in late June and the last time slot is expected to close in mid-July.

Steps to Complete Room Self-Selection

  1. When your time slot opens, log in to the Housing Portal with your MacID and password. Groups of students will receive the same time slot, so for the greatest selection choose your room as soon as possible.
  2. Click Undergraduate Residence on the top menu.
  3. Click Continue to select your term: Residence – Academic Year Sept 2025 to April 2026.
  4. Select the room and bed space you want to live in. If you are unable to click on a space, it is already filled.
  5. Confirm your selection by clicking “Submit”.
  6. You will be able to see your booking confirmation such as building, room type, and roommate(s) information (where applicable) on the Residence Assignment page.

Things to keep in mind when making your room selection:

  • Please keep your budget in mind as you pick your room. You can view the fees per student of different room types here.
  • Students who have been accepted to a Living Learning Community will be able to select room types from their designated LLC building and floor.
  • Move-in weekend is August 23 and 24, 2025.

Troubleshooting

  • Try to log in to Mosaic to ensure your MacID and password are working.
  • Reload your page or use a different browser.
  • Clear your cache or browsing history.
  • If these steps do not resolve the issue, please contact resadmissions@mcmaster.cawith “Self-Selection Error” as the subject line.

Website Traffic Volume

Due to the volume of traffic on Self-Selection appointment days, students may need to let the website fully load before making their room selection.

Room Visibility

Factors that may affect what rooms students see are as follows:

  1. Involvement in Living Learning Communities (LLCs): Students will only see rooms that match their LLC’s residence building and floor.
  2. Accommodation Requests: Students will only see rooms that match their accommodation.
  3. Roommate Requests: Students will only see rooms that match the eligibility of both roommates.
  4. December Break Stay status: Students will only see rooms that match the eligibility of their December Break Stay decision.

Room Self-Selection Frequently Asked Questions

You will still be assigned a room by our Residence Admissions & Leasing team. You will be notified via email when your room assignment is available for viewing on the Housing Portal.

You and your confirmed roommate request will both be entered into the same time slot lottery. The roommate with the earlier time slot will choose the room you will live in together. Once the room is chosen, both students will need to log back into the Housing Portal to complete the meal plan selection step.

Make sure you discuss the room type you prefer before making a selection.

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