After a month of student anticipation and anxiety, on-campus apartment assignments were mailed out Monday as UB officials said the new online application process was a success.
In previous years, apartment applications were done in person, on a first-come basis, and students would camp out for hours to secure a spot.
"The online application process was very successful, we ended up having few problems with it," said Michael Koziej, assistant director for University Residence Halls and Apartments.
The only issue, Koziej said, was a technical one. Students had to use Internet Explorer because other browsers weren't allowing the online application to complete.
"This wasn't really an issue because the application wasn't date or time sensitive," Koziej said.
Koziej said roughly 1,100 students applied for a spot in an on-campus apartment and 900 of those were done using the online application. Last year, less than a thousand students applied overall.
About 300 students were not given immediate offers and were placed on a waitlist, Koziej said.
"Inevitably, a number of the people who were given offers right away will not sign the agreement card in acceptance, and those on the waitlist will get their turn. Last year every person on the waitlist was offered housing," Koziej said.
Students have until March 21 to sign their agreement card. If they do not sign it, their offer is rescinded.
Several aspects of the new process remained the same. Each student was given a lottery number based on how long they have lived on campus, and the lower numbers meant it was more likely for a student to get top choice.
The lottery numbers for each potential roommate were added together, averaged, and then housing was assigned accordingly.
"This year we tried to be more accommodating to returning students through consolidation and offering them more options," Koziej said.
Many students said they were mostly pleased with the online application process.
"The online process provided more time to do other things instead of worrying about where I'm going to live next year," said Katarina Wexler, a sophomore majoring in business.
"Completing everything online at home instead of waiting in line in an office was so much simpler and more practical," said Amanda Castros, a sophomore legal studies major.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
