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Move-In Email Archive

On-campus Living Tips for Incoming Hokies

Residential Experience Campus Countdown

Each summer, Virginia Tech Residential Experience helps incoming Hokies prepare for fall move-in through a series of interactive emails. Incoming Hokies can follow along with the series in their vt.edu email for helpful Hokie Hints about life on campus — from living with roommates to fire safety, laundry, trash, and more.

The information provided in this email series is archived on this website — check back weekly for updates.

Please note: There is a giveaway tied to the email series. It is exclusively for incoming students in the fall class of each year through their vt.edu email. If you're part of the class of 2029, be sure to check your inbox for more information and chances to enter the Fall 2025 Campus Countdown Giveaway.

Email: Wednesday, June 4

Hokies — the Campus Countdown for the class of 2029 starts this June! Follow along with our interactive email series this summer to prepare for on-campus living and win Hokie-themed merch.

Each Campus Countdown email will include helpful videos, links, and resources about the Residential Experience to help you prepare for your move to campus life. Keep reading to learn more and take the survey in this email for your first entry!

If you have ever wondered what happens when you lock yourself out of your residence hall or worried about roommate disagreements, this email series is for you.

Here's How it Works

  • Each week, you will receive an email covering important topics related to on-campus living at your vt.edu email address.
  • Read our helpful Hokie Hints, then fill out the survey attached to the email to earn one entry into the giveaway.
  • You earn one entry for each email survey completed.
  • Winners choose their prizes on a first-come basis, starting with participants who complete the most surveys.

The Residential Experience

At Virginia Tech, our priority is to ensure every student that calls our campus home has the best experience possible.

We have four offices dedicated to YOUR on-campus Residential Experience. Each office has a specialized function, from work orders to mental health, designed to help you. Learn more about these offices on Instagram or click the links above for contact information.

At Virginia Tech, the Residential Experience includes:

  • Housing Services.
  • Residential Well-being.
  • Student Affairs Facilities and Operations.
  • Living-Learning Programs.

Get Ready to Move-in and Win

Do these four things to prep for move-in and learn more about the Campus Countdown

  • Complete your New Student Checklist, the essential incoming Hokie to-do list, at the link below. Have you checked off all the steps?
  • Check your vt.edu email often — housing deadlines, Campus Countdown updates, and tips for living on-campus at VT
  • Get to know FERPA: You’re in charge of your records now! FERPA is a federal law that says only you (the student) can decide who has access to your info. Want someone to have access or communicate with VT for you? You’ll need to set them up with permissions. Look under “June” on the Checklist for more info!
  • Follow @vtresidential on Instagram to stay informed about your on-campus experience

Email: Tuesday, June 10

Hey Hokie!

It is time for New Student Room Selection - the process through which YOU select your on-campus home!

Almost all Virginia Tech students choose their own residence hall and room, with a few exceptions covered below. Keep reading for:

  • Room selection tips, with or without a roommate group.
  • How to select you and your preferred roommate living together.
  • Text and video walkthroughs for room and roommate selection.
  • How to handle housing accommodation requests.

Take the survey in this email to earn another entry into our summer giveaway series!

Your Room Selection Timeslot

Your time slot is the exact day and time you will select the building/room you’ll live in and your roommate using the StarRez Portal.Time slots are given based on the order in which students signed their housing contracts and cannot be changed.

  • Check your vt.edu email address regularly — that is where you will receive your time slot.
  • The email will also state the deadline for you to choose your room. If you miss the deadline, you will be manually placed!
  • If you cannot find the email, you can also see your time slot in the StarRez Portal.

Room Selection and Roommate Group Tutorials

There are text and video tutorials with step-by-step instructions on selecting a room and creating a roommate group! It is highly recommended that you review these materials before your room selection time slot.

Once you (or the group leader of your roommate group) completes the steps in the walkthrough and selects a room, you are finished with the process and cannot make changes. The assignment is set and can only be changed by the Housing Services office.

Roommate Groups and Room Selection

Planning to live with a friend this fall? Follow these steps to make sure you end up in the same room!

A roommate group, which can only include two people, allows two students to go through room selection together.

  • Make sure your roommate group is created and verified in the StarRez Portal — unverified groups won’t be pulled into the same room. If you change group leadership, reverify.
  • The roommate with the earlier room selection time slot should be the leader!
  • Only the group leader can make the room selection and the other roommate should not login.
  • When the time slot opens, log into the StarRez Portal to select

Living-Learning Communities

  • When searching for roommates, if you are not in an LLC, leave the LLC roommate questions on “any.”
  • If you are in an LLC, select “yes.” If you are in an LLC, your roommate must be in the same LLC.
  • Our system cannot pull one student in the LLC and one student who is not in the LLC to a roommate group.
  • LLCs have specific buildings/rooms designated for them. Only LLC students can be in those rooms.
  • If your LLC has houses, roommates must be in the same house

Groups Not Selecting their Own Room

Some students will not select their own room. Check your vt.edu email for more info.

  • Students who sign their housing contract late in the process/close to the deadline.
  • Students who get a time slot and don’t select a room during it.
  • Members of the Corps of Cadets.
  • Athletes on the Athletics Roster.
  • Students whose SSD accommodations require specific placements.

Consider disability-related and access needs

Helpful Hokie Resources

  • Complete your New Student Checklist, the essential incoming Hokie to-do list. Have you checked off all the steps?
  • Check your vt.edu email each week for more on-campus life tips, important housing information, and chances to win our summer giveaway!
  • Get to know FERPA: You’re in charge of your records now! FERPA is a federal law that says only you (the student) can decide who has access to your info. Want someone to have access or communicate with VT for you? You’ll need to set them up with permissions. Look under “June” on the Checklist for more info!
  • Follow @vtresidential on Instagram to stay informed about your on-campus experience.