All UHR participants with an active application who have either not been assigned to housing during UHR, or have not confirmed a contract during UHR may sign up for the Wait List.
USC Housing Renewal (UHR)
To be included on the Wait List you will need to open your online application and click “Wait List SIgn Up” by the submission deadline.
When we reach your number on the Wait List we’ll contact you at your USC e-mail address to offer you a housing assignment. The offer will be for one specific space – unfortunately we cannot offer you a range of choices, nor can we contact you again later with a different housing space. You must make your decision based on the space available when we contact you.
You will have 24 hours to accept or decline the space. ·If you decide to accept the assignment, please log on to the housing portal at housingapp.usc.edu to confirm the space.
Once you have been offered a space, your name will be removed from the Wait List, whether or not you confirm a contract.
Yes. The UHR selection time you were assigned in February will be used to determine your place on the Wait List. As spaces become available, assignments will be offered to students in the order they appear on the Wait List.
We will begin to offer assignments to students on the Wait List in late March, after we have processed cancellation and reassignment requests from UHR housing contract holders.
Unfortunately, no. Wait List assignments are made on an individual basis and we cannot assign roommates together during the process.
If you decline the space that has been offered to you or if you fail to respond within the 24-hour time frame, your name will be removed from the Wait List. At that point you will have the option of canceling your application or allowing it to remain active as a continuing non-UHR student.
Assignments for continuing students will be offered according to application date, only after all Wait List candidates and transfer students have been offered a housing space. Unfortunately, there are no guarantees that we will be able to offer spaces to any continuing non-resident students.
Spaces will become available throughout the spring as contract holders cancel by the March and May deadlines. In addition, the housing assignments for students who accept Resident Assistant positions for next year will be placed in the regular housing inventory and available for Wait List assignments.
If you would prefer to not be on the Wait List and would like to cancel your application, please print out and complete the Cancellation Request form and turn it in at the main Housing Services Office in PSX as soon as possible. The sooner you can let us know, the faster we will be able to move through the Wait List.
We will continue to offer spaces that become available to students remaining on the Wait List until mid-August or until we have exhausted the Wait List, whichever comes first.
USC Housing has just under 7,000 undergraduate bed spaces in our inventory and prioritizes those spaces for new freshmen and rising sophomores. However, there are over 20,000 undergraduate students enrolled at USC — far more than we can house. The result is that 65% of undergraduate upperclass students live in non-university housing.
Sorry, no—UHR is only for current university housing residents. However, you can apply as a continuing, non-resident student in early February.
No, just make sure you apply by the application deadline. Selection times for the category you choose are randomly assigned and are not based on your application date.
Unfortunately, no. However, you can apply as a continuing student in early February. More information about applying as a continuing non-resident can be found here.
Yes, but you must do so by the deadlines. If you submit a cancellation form to the Main Housing Office in the McCarthy Way Parking Structure by 5:00pm on Friday, March 7, 2025 you will not be charged the $800 confirmation fee. If you submit your cancellation by 5:00pm on Thursday, May 1, 2025, your contract will be cancelled, but you will forfeit the $800 confirmation fee.
No, you’re OK. As a reminder that you’ll need to come back later to complete the rest of the steps, the portal lists your application status as incomplete up until you have confirmed a contract.
Those decisions are made solely by the Office of Residential Education.
Sure. Don’t select an assignment in the LLC category and you’ll be automatically entered into the General Lottery and issued a selection time.
The three most likely reasons for this are:
1) The student you are searching for is not eligible for UHR.
2) The student you are searching for is eligible for UHR, but has not yet applied. You can only search for students who have applied for UHR.
3) The roommate you are looking for has already requested you. In this case, you can’t request them, but should instead accept their request.
Accepted roommates are residents who have requested and accepted each other when completing their UHR applications. During the application process you can send another UHR applicant a roommate request. If they agree, then you both are accepted roommates. The same applies if you agree to another applicant’s request.
Roommates should be in the same class standing category (sophomores with sophomores, juniors/seniors with other upperclassmen and graduate students with other grads) and of the same gender.
You can only pull in (assign) accepted roommates (see above). You won’t be able to pull in students of different class standing category.
Yes! Each resident must confirm their own individual contract within 24 hours of the assignment being made. So, if you are pulled in, you’ll need to go back online and accept your contract. If you don’t, you will lose that assignment, although you will be free to assign yourself during your own selection time.
Because of the Sophomore Guarantee and the requirement that we have spaces for all sophomores, we can’t allow sophomores to pull in juniors/seniors during the Sophomore Lottery. However, you can request to get together with upperclassmen by filling out a group reassignment form beginning in March. During reassignment, there is no distinction between sophomores and upperclassmen and they can be place together if spaces are available to accommodate the request.
It is possible, though the process will take time and effort, and may not work out. The likelihood of success is dependent on space availability.
You should first go through UHR to secure an assignment for next year. The person(s) you wish to live with should apply for housing in February when the application for non-UHR participants opens. Then, If that individual is able to get a housing assignment, everyone involved should fill out a group reassignment request asking to be placed together. Reassignment isn’t guaranteed, but we’ll do our best to place you together. You can increase your chances for reassignment by submitting your request as early as you can, and being flexible in your preferences.
Yes. USC Housing has partnered with Off-Campus Housing 101 to provide students with listings of available rentals from private landlords in the North University Park area, around the main campus. All their listings are within the USC Department of Public Safety Patrol Zone and they offer customer support services to assist you with obtaining private rental housing
Contact the Housing Services Office by phone at (213) 740-2546 or e-mail at housing@usc.edu for more information.