When you check-in
When you arrive at your designated check-in area, you will be directed to the check-in location for your building. You will be asked for your Husky Card or another form of photo ID to receive your room and mailbox keys.
The Husky Card is your key card for access to your building. If you don’t receive your card before you move in, you will need to obtain one from the Husky Card Account & ID Center (Husky Card Office), located on the ground floor of Odegaard Undergraduate Library. Please check their current operating hours.
What you will receive
Keys: You will be given your room and mailbox keys when you arrive to your building. The keys are assigned to you uniquely; avoid switching keys with a roommate. Report lost or stolen keys to your front desk immediately.
Red emergency backpack: New residents are provided with a red emergency backpack when they first check into their residential community. You will receive this at check-in if applicable. This comprehensive kit includes water, food rations and other emergency supplies. The contents will remain viable for several years. Please keep your red emergency backpack for as long as you live with us.
What to bring/what not to bring
You’ve just received your University of Washington (UW) housing assignment and have many questions. You can start finding answers by looking at the web page for your building. There you can take a virtual tour, view a floor plan, and get information about the furnishings included.
We recommend you coordinate with your roommates so you don’t bring duplicates of larger items. The less you bring, the more space you’ll have in your room.
- Bedding
- Sheets, blankets, comforter (extra-long twin), pillows and pillowcases
- Towels
- Study lamps (LED)
- Surge protector and extension cord
- Residents in apartments should bring kitchen supplies (i.e., pots, pans, utensils)
- Toilet Paper
- Cleaning Supplies
Appliances you can bring
- Refrigerators 4.4 cubic feet or less
- Television (Note: you will need an Apple TV, Roku or Amazon Fire Stick to access Husky TV)
- Blenders and mixers
- Hot-air popcorn poppers
- Rice cookers
- Hot pots and coffeepots, which must be placed on noncombustible surfaces such as ceramic tile
- Enclosed coil grills
- One 700-watt maximum microwave oven per room (no other appliance may be used at the same time
- Instant Pot
- Air Fryer
- Electric Kettle
Examples of prohibited items
- Halogen lamps
- Space heaters
- All open-flame appliances (e.g., fondue pots)
- Open-coil appliances (e.g., toasters, toaster ovens)
- Full-size appliances
- Multiple appliances that exceed the usage limits of your room
See the housing agreement for details on what is prohibited.
Refrigerators and microwave ovens
You may rent a small micro-fridge (microwave oven and refrigerator) from Collegiate Concepts Inc. (CCI). Arrangements for payment and delivery may be made directly with CCI. Complete information is provided on their website. Alternatively, you may choose to bring your own refrigerator (4.4 cubic feet or less) or microwave oven (700 watt maximum), one per room. We recommend that you coordinate with your roommate(s) before buying or ordering a refrigerator for your room.
Linens
Residence hall beds are extra-long, and XL twin sheets fit best. Residential Life Student Leadership has partnered with On Campus Marketing (OCM) to make sure our students have an easy, affordable way to purchase bedding and campus living needs. Please visit On Campus Marketing for more information and to place an order. Purchasing items through On Campus Marketing directly benefits residents, as our Residential Life student leadership teams receive money from each purchase made that is used to plan fun events for students living on campus.
Things to consider
Email communication: You are responsible for reading the information sent to your mailbox, posted on your room door, and/or sent by electronic communication to your UW email account by HFS. HFS will send most correspondence to applicants and residents via their UW email accounts. Please note that if you forward your UW email to a different account, it may be filtered, refused or treated as spam. HFS is not responsible for emails not received. To ensure delivery of emails from HFS to your email inbox, add hfsinfo@uw.edu, deskservices@uw.edu and wrproc@uw.edu to your email address book or list of approved senders
Obtain personal property insurance: You are encouraged to insure your personal belongings. Check with your family’s insurance policy to see if your possessions are covered under that policy or if you can get renters insurance added. If not, you may wish to purchase insurance offered by an independent company.
Authorize release of your information (FERPA): The Family Education Right and Privacy Act (FERPA) prevents us from releasing your information, including how much you owe on your housing account, to anyone other than yourself without your authorization. You may authorize HFS to release information about your housing account (e.g., to your parents/guardians) by supplying their names on your HFS student profile.
Note: HFS will not release room numbers to any unauthorized person including friends, parents and relatives.
Shipping items prior to move-in
Packages can be sent to your residential community up to seven days prior to your scheduled move-in. You can find your mailing address on your building's webpage. Please consider that the residence halls will receive thousands of packages around move-in. Bringing items with you when you move in will help you avoid the lines and waiting associated with package pickup.
You will receive a notification to your UW email from HFS Desk Services when your front desk receives your package. Please make sure to add deskservices@hfs.washington.edu as an accepted sender in your email. Upon move-in, any packages that were not previously delivered to your room will be available for pickup at your residence hall’s front desk. Check the contact us page for your desk's contacts and location.
When you arrive at your designated check-in area, you will be directed to the check-in location for your building. You will be asked for your Husky Card or another form of photo ID to receive your room and mailbox keys.
The Husky Card is your key card for access to your building. If you don’t receive your card before you move in, you will need to obtain one from the Husky Card Account & ID Center (Husky Card Office), located on the ground floor of Odegaard Undergraduate Library. Please check their current operating hours.