Even though it is early February, students and the Residence Life staff are preparing for housing for the 2014-2015 school year.

Students had the opportunity to begin paying the $200 fee to reserve housing on campus Dec. 2.

The first batch of students will be able to access the housing system Feb. 10 at 9 a.m.

Joshua Lawrie, assistant director in the Office of Residence Life, said the process for housing sign-up varies for different people.

For freshmen coming to the University for the first time, the payment dates decide when they are put in the housing system and how the priorities are considered.

“First-year students make a preference of five to seven buildings, and are allocated based on payment date,” Lawrie said.

Returning students signing up for housing do not get placed based on their date of sign-up.

Sarah Waters, director of Residence Life, said returning student sign-up is based on the number of credits earned and their class standing.

“Continuing students need to pay the $200 and that’s when we give them a sign-up time,” she said.

Another difference between returning students and first-year students is that returning students physically get to pick the specific room they want to live in.

Students gain access to the system in groups of 20 to 30 people, Waters said.

“I believe we have it broken into about 15-minute increments with 20 people eligible every 20 minutes,” she said.

Freshman Nicole Busdeker said she thinks the specific times students are given for sign-ups make the process seem stressful.

“It’s kind of pressuring,” she said. “Am I not going to get the [residence hall] I want?”

Busdeker said she likes the first-come, first-served process for incoming freshmen better.

If students did not pay their $200 housing fee before the cut-off date, they will still have the opportunity to sign up for housing, Lawrie said.

“They will be able to go back into the system Feb. 19 and they will be able to pick housing then, too,” he said.

Lawrie said the rooms that go the fastest are generally the suite-style.

“I think it just depends on what students are looking for,” he said. “It’s about that community piece.”

Kreischer and Harshman tend to be the ones that have the most open rooms for the longest amount of time during the sign-up process.

“It tends to be more where out first-year students go, which is Kreischer and Harshman and those are also bigger,” Lawrie said.