Welcome to your new home away from home!
The information below is designed to answer any questions you might have about living on campus at Wilkes University. If you have a specific question and cannot find the answer here, please feel free to contact us at 570-408-4350 or reslife@wilkes.edu.
Transfer students are not required to live on campus, but should you choose to join our residential community, we are more than excited to welcome you! Below are steps for completing your applications. Please note that all residential students are required to select a meal plan. Find out more about meal plans and dining on campus on the Dining Services page.
In order to receive housing accommodations for the 2024-2025 academic year, you will need to complete a housing application. This application will require you to affirm the Housing & Dining Contract. Once you complete the application, you will receive a copy of the Housing & Dining Contract sent to your Wilkes University email address. Applications for housing will be available by April 15, 2024 and are due by June 13, 2024 for full consideration of preferences. Applications will be accepted for folks admitted to Wilkes after this date, but we may not be able to meet the housing preferences listed in your application.
HOUSING AND DINING CONTRACT (.pdf)
Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to complete your housing contract.
- Log in to the Housing Self-Service page external website.
- On the new screen, select the Application tab on the side menu bar.
- Select 2024-2025 Transfer Student Housing Application (Fall 2024).
- Follow the flow of the application, starting with an electronic signature and completing all questions, including selection of a meal plan.
- When your application is complete, select Submit. You should receive an email confirmation. Save this email in the event there is an issue with your application!
Wherever possible, we will attempt to honor any requests for housing types for transfer students. In addition, we typically will try to pair transfer students with other transfer students or returning students to assist with your transition to the Wilkes community.
If you are interested in selecting housing with several of your fellow students, you will need to create a roommate group before the deadline of July 19, 2024. Provided that roommate requests are mutual (i.e. you send a request to a fellow student and it gets accepted), then we will house that group together.
Please follow these step-by-step instructions on how to create a roommate group.
- Log in to the Housing Self-Service page external website.
- On the new screen, select the Roommate & Room Selection tab on the side menu bar, then Select Roommates.
- Search for your desired roommate(s) with a simple First Name/Last Name and email address search. Your desired roommate will NOT show up if they have not completed their housing application. Check with them to ensure they have completed this step if you do not see your desired roommate when searching.
- Repeat these steps for all desired roommates.
All requests will be sent via email to your fellow students. Requests will need to be accepted in order for the roommate group to be formed. Make sure that you check back to your housing portal to ensure your roommate requests have been accepted. All roommate groups must be finalized on or before July 19, 2024!
- You are not required to form a roommate group in order to be housed. In fact, most transfer students join us at Wilkes University without having a pre-determined roommate group. That is perfectly normal. For all of our students, if there are issues with your roommate, the Resident Assistant (RA) staff will help you work through them.
Students seeking a gender-inclusive roommate group or housing assignment should contact Residence Life at reslife@wilkes.edu to discuss this option.
Residence Hall Amenities and FAQs
- 1 twin bed (mattress and bed frame)
- 1 desk
- 1 desk chair
- 1 dresser
- 1 armoire or closet, depending on the room
- Everything that a student finds in a room must stay in the room. Furniture may not be moved from the room, as there are no available storage spaces.
Mattresses in our residence halls are extra-long (36"x80"). Extra-long sheets are the best choice to ensure a good fit!
The Office of Residence Life has partnered with DormCo. to provide our students with a convenient, affordable way to purchase extra-long sheets and bedding items. Proceeds from this program go to the Inter-Residence Hall Council and are used for programming in the residence halls. Please visit the RHL website external website for more information!
The following appliances are permitted in our halls:
- Alarm Clock
- Coffee Maker (automatic)
- Computer
- Desk Lamp (non- halogen)
- Fan
- Microwave
- Radio/ Stereo
- Refrigerator (5.0 cu. Ft. maximum)
- Television
Students are not permitted to bring the following:
- Crock Pots
- George Foreman Grill
- Halogen lamps
- Heating coils
- Mini grills
- Toaster Oven
Roommate Survival Check List
Listed below are a few common sources of roommate problems. Roommates should discuss these issues at the beginning of the semester, thereby avoiding communication breakdowns during the school year. Roommates must remember that compromise is essential and only by communicating with each other will roommates solve any problems.
- Daily schedule — sleeping times, quiet hours, TV viewing, mealtime, study conditions
- Housekeeping — making beds, vacuuming, picking up clothes, interior decoration
- Locks and keys — getting locked out, leaving the door open
- Visitation — friends in the room, parties, privacy, overnight guests
- Personal habits — exercising, watching tv while studying, etc.
- Phone use — taking phone calls in the room and what that is okay.
- Sharing — territorial imperatives, saying “please,” respect for other’s property
- Moods — grouchiness, silliness, depression, taking things out on your roommate, early morning person
- Values — prejudice, religion, philosophy, politics
The relationship you develop with your roommate will have a significant effect on your experience of residence hall living. Each residence hall student has the right to expect the following from his or her roommate:
- The right to read and study in one’s room without unreasonable noise and other distractions
- The right to sleep without undue disturbance from guests of roommates, noise, etc.
- The right to expect that a roommate will respect one’s personal possessions
- The right to live in a clean environment
- The right to free access to one’s room without pressure from one’s roommate
- The right to entertain guests with the expectation that guests will respect the rights of the host’s roommate and other hall residents
- The right to be free from intimidation and harm
- The right to discuss grievances
A resident student must accept the responsibility for confronting other residents when those residents have violated his/her rights. If a student has difficulty in doing so, the Residence Life Staff will gladly assist in such matters.
Residence Hall Policies FAQs
Residential students are permitted to have visitors. All residence halls are locked 24 hours a day. Only residents of the building can gain access with their ID card or front door key. Visitors must be escorted at all times and residents are fully responsible for the behavior of their visitors. Additional information about the visitation policy is available in the Student Handbook.
In order to maintain our facilities and manage air quality for students with allergies, pets (other than fish in a 10-gallon or smaller tank) are not permitted in the residence halls.
In support of student health and safety, smoking and vaping are strictly prohibited in all buildings on campus. Smoking outside of University buildings must be a minimum of 6 feet from any entrances.
First-year students are permitted to bring a vehicle to campus. Students may park only in the lot assigned to them. Parking permits are required and applications will be available during Summer Orientation. We suggest parking at Ralston Field your first year! Parking is NOT guaranteed and students should not bring a car to campus if they are not issued a parking permit. Please visit our Parking Services page for more information.
Yes! All full-time undergraduate students in their first two years at Wilkes University, who do not commute from the home of their parent or legal guardian, must reside on campus. Students who have been at Wilkes for more than two years may reside off campus. A commutable distance is defined as being no greater than 50 miles away from campus.