Orchard Hall

Current students who receive an email with the invitation offer:

• If you receive an invitation, log on to www.eLiving.psu.edu and select “View Invitation” under My Contracts. 
• Select your invitation to view all housing options. Not all options may be available based on when you are invited into the process. 
• Select the housing option you desire and click ‘Continue’. 
• Add a friend’s Penn State Access ID who you want to receive a Housing and Food Service (HFS) Contract offer and click ‘Continue’. It's not required to add a friend, and not all housing options allow for a roommate. 
• Review your selection and click ‘Create Contract’ to be offered the HFS Contract for your selected housing option.
  • If a roommate was listed, this student will also be offered the HFS Contract. 
• To accept the HFS Contract offer, select the Shopping Cart icon and view the offer. 
• Click the ‘Begin Acceptance Process’ button to view and read the HFS Contract and Terms, Conditions, and Regulations (TCRs).  Check mark the box to indicate that you have read and agree to abide by the TCRs.  Type your name to electronically sign the HFS Contract. Click the ‘Accept Contract’ button.  All done!

You are not obligated to live on campus until you accept the HFS Contract; once accepted, the HFS Contract cannot be cancelled (unless you are no longer enrolled at Penn State).

Online Room Selection (or self-assigning) is an option for current students and select first-year groups to log on to eLiving and choose the specific room in which they'd like to live. This option may not be offered to all groups or at every campus; students who are not able to participate in Online Room Selection enter contract preferences and are assigned by staff.

Timelines for Online Room Selection vary but usually occur in mid-spring for the fall semester. A second selection period may be offered in early summer if additional housing options become available.

Students who are able to participate in Online Room Selection will receive an email reminder with more detailed instructions before their selection period begins. Selection periods are also found in the Contract Summary in eLiving and posted online.

View Online Room Selection dates for your campus.

No, the Request Housing process in eLiving is specific to current first-year and upperclass students. Incoming first-year and transfer students can choose on-campus housing, if available, when they accept their offer of admission through MyPennState or can add their name to the On-Campus Housing Waitlist afterward. Find out more information about the incoming first-year process.

If you are interested in another housing option, you can add your name to one Housing Option Waitlist in eLiving once they are available. Adding your name to a Waitlist does not guarantee that you’ll be reassigned to that housing option. Waitlists may not be available for all housing options.

There are two types of Waitlists:

• "On-Campus Housing Waitlist" is for students who did not participate in the Request Process and want to live on campus
• "Housing Option Waitlists" display after a student accepts a HFS Contract and is interested in another housing option (such as a Living Learning Community, single room, etc.)

When you log on to eLiving and choose Waitlist from the Contracts menu, you will see the appropriate Waitlists based on your campus and contract status.

Students who have an accepted HFS Contract are eligible to enter only one Housing Option Waitlist. As staff processes cancellations and vacancies occur, we will move students from the Waitlist into that specific housing option.

For example: I have an accepted double room, traditional residence hall HFS Contract. I’m interested in a suite, so I add my name to the "Nittany Hall Suites Waitlist". When a suite is available for me, staff will move me to a suite option. If online room selection is available to me, I'll be able to choose a suite instead of a traditional residence hall.

You can remove your name from a Waitlist at any time by unchecking the box of the Waitlist you'd previously selected.

Yes! All residential campuses welcome students to live on campus beyond their first year. Many students find the greatest convenience is saving time – to and from classes, activities, events, clubs/organizations, recreation and study, meetings, common and green spaces, dining, bookstore, project collaboration, faculty offices, and so much more! We do have space for you to #LiveOn. There are also many Living Learning Communities (LLCs) created especially for you!

Students will need to Request Housing during the housing process timeline. 

Mailboxes are located in the Student Union Building on the ground floor near the Housing and Food Services office; packages can be picked up at the office between 10:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. Please be prepared to show your id+ Card or mobile credential to pick up your package.

When you receive a package and it's ready for pick-up, you'll receive an email from eLiving saying that a package is waiting for you. Please wait until you receive this email before trying to pick up a package; additional processing time is required once packages are dropped off from the shipper.

For the 2021-2022 academic year, students can Request Housing beginning October 15 through at least January 31. The Request Period will be extended if upperclass space is still available.