>> [MUSIC] Hi, my name is Andrew,
and I'm a student tour guide at
the University of Oklahoma.
A couple of my fellow tour guides and I,
are going to tell you a little bit about
how housing and food works at OU.
As a student living on campus here in Norman,
Oklahoma, you are sure to find your home
>> away from home.
>> Students can enjoy the very best the university
has to offer by living in the heart of campus.
All incoming first-year students are
guaranteed an on-campus housing experience.
After your first year,
we have plenty of housing options,
so no need to leave campus.
Here's what you can expect,
a combination of convenience and communities.
You will be able to get to class easily,
and find community through
the many program and opportunities in each residence.
What really sets OU apart from
other institutions is how
unique our residential community is.
Students have the opportunity to preference
which location and floor plan they will live
in and which roommates they will live with.
>> Let's dive in.
>> In Couch and Walkers Centers,
also referred to as the Towers,
residents have a suite-style of room.
In this style of room,
students share a semi-private bathroom
with their roommate and two other suite-mates.
Located on the bottom of
Walker Center, we have Xcetera,
which is a convenient like store with
a variety of snacks and basic necessity products.
Couch Center has Couch Express where
students love to enjoy a good sandwich or soup.
All of the furniture is movable and adjustable to allow
residents to individualize their spaces
in these 12-story towers.
Cross Village is our 1,200-bed complex,
featuring a range of amenities,
including a fitness facility and a black box theater.
The OU housing option consists of four,
four-story buildings that feature
a mix of residential units,
communal kitchen spaces fit with an oven and stove,
three study areas on each floor,
laundry on each floor, elevators,
courtyard between the complexes
for students, and outdoor seating.
Cross Village offers units with one, two,
and four bedrooms, all fitted
with full-size beds and desks.
Each unit has a full-sized refrigerator,
microwave, and kitchenette,
and not to mention a state-of-the-art dining area
fit with several restaurants.
But we'll get to that later.
The residential colleges are
living-learning communities committed to
providing an intimate and supportive
housing experience for OU students.
Each college allows students
to have their own neighborhood,
and create unique traditions and identities,
stimulate creativity, and
build lasting memories and lifelong relationships.
The colleges have their own dining hall,
creative common space,
game room, library,
courtyard, and classrooms.
They offer five different rooms styles ranging
from single rooms to three-bed with living and bath.
Headington Hall is located on
the corner of Lindsey and Jenkins,
and it's operated by the OU Athletic Department.
It houses 380 students,
both student-athletes and non-student athletes.
Each person will either have
their own bathroom or share
a bathroom with one other person,
depending on which type of unit you live in.
There's no reason to live off-campus
>> after freshman year.
>> There are also other options for upperclassmen to live
in on-campus apartments or the residential colleges.
With so many options,
you will find your home away from home,
and start to build community
right when you get on campus.
>> After hearing about all of
these amazing housing options,
I know you're probably thinking,
what is the housing application,
and how can I complete it? Hi guys.
My name is Jill, and I'm super excited to go
over all of this information with you today.
The housing application is where you will list
your preferences for location and floor plan,
and where you will select
your meal plan and future OU roommate.
You will complete your housing application
after you've been admitted to OU.
Because this is a non-binding application,
you can fill it out even while you're still in
the process of making that final college decision.
Every year the housing application opens in late fall.
To find out more about openings and deadlines,
you can visit ou.edu/housingandfood.
After you've figured out where you are hoping to live,
the next thing you are probably thinking
about is how to find a roommate.
Here at OU students can request
up to three roommates within the housing application.
There are three main ways that you can
select that roommate through the housing application.
The first main way is through mutual selection.
If you know someone coming to OU,
maybe someone from high school or
a summer camp or online
that you know you want to live with,
you can search for each other in
the housing application with your OU ID.
If students list each other's information
through the housing application,
our housing office will make sure to
pair students together who want to live together.
On moving day, we hope that you're
excited to start that OU journey together.
The next way to get a roommate is to not list
anyone within that housing application.
This is often referred to as going potluck.
Even if you don't select a roommate
>> or multiple roommates for requested floor plan
>> option within that application,
>> OU will work to pair you with someone who has
a similar profile and room preferences as you.
You will get your new roommate information,
summer before you move in.
Hopefully, you'll have a new best friend on moving day.
The last option is what I like to call
our E-Harmony of roommate's selection services.
Built into the OU housing application is
a questionnaire that students will
complete that asks you questions like,
do you like to get up super early?
How many hours a week do you plan to study?
Do you keep your room messy or clean?
My advice is to answer these questions honestly,
because the OU system will match you with
other individuals who had similar answers to you.
Once you have your roommate and housing selection,
we know you're counting down the days
>> until you move in.
>> Here at OU we provide
a full-service moving experience for
all students living with us in the residence halls,
residential colleges, and Cross Village.
Assigned move-in dates and times are
emailed to incoming students mid-summer.
Be sure to keep an eye on that OU email.
We're so excited to see you on campus,
but we can't forget to tell you about
one of my favorite topics, food.
Take it away Juliana.
>> Hello everyone. My name is Juliana.
I get to tell you about all the amazing food options
we have on campus.
With more than 20 restaurants,
a benefit of living on campus is
the variety of dining options for students to enjoy.
This gives you the flexibility to eat on
campus when you want and where you want.
Let's talk about foods.
Whether you're picking up a cup of coffee
in Cross Village on your way to class,
enjoying your grab-and-go options in the union,
or visiting the many on-campus dining halls,
you're sure to find your favorite foods.
Plus OU has a registered dietitian here on campus
to help with any food allergy-related concerns.
When completing your housing application,
you will also select your meal plan.
Your students meal plan is a balance
between meal points and meals.
Everyone pays the same flat rate,
but it is up to you how you want it to be balanced.
Meal points are a debit balance on
your Sooner Card account that last the entire semester.
Each meal point equals a dollar.
Each time you use a card,
the amount of your purchase is
deducted from your balance.
Points are great for grabbing a snack or
a cup of coffee on the way to class.
If you don't use all of your points
by the end of the fall semester,
that's fine, they'll roll over into the spring.
However, the end of the spring semester,
any remaining points do not roll over into
the summer nor following fall terms.
Meals are used at campus dining halls
based on your housing assignments.
They are what you use that are all you care
to eat locations on campus like
Couch Restaurants or the dining halls in
the residential colleges and Headington Hall.
Once you're in, you can spend
as much time there as you'd like,
sit down, study, and have
several different plates of food.
Meals reset every Sunday morning at 12:01 AM.
Then any unused meals do not roll over
>> from week to week.
>> For example, if you choose to have
eight meals every Sunday,
you'll have eight new meals to use during the week.
When selecting your meal plan,
you'll pick a balance between these two.
For example, you can have as many as 12 meals a
week accompanied by 250 points for the semester,
or as low as six meals a week with
750 points for the semester.
If you like to sit down and have
a hearty meal at least twice a day,
you may want to have more meals.
If you're a snacker, you may want to have more points.
However, OU housing and food
understand that this is a whole new experience to you,
and your eating habits are going to
depend on your schedule.
So there is a two-week grace period at the beginning
of each semester to change your meal plan if needed.
If you run out of points or want more meals per week,
there's also an option to add
both of these at an additional cost.
Now that we've gone over how meals work at OU,
I hope I didn't leave you too hungry.
We understand there's lots
for you and your family to discuss,
so I encourage you to explore
OU's housing and food website.
Here you'll find more information about costs,
the application, floor plans,
and anything, and everything else.
We are so excited you're
considering joining the OU family.
Boomer. [MUSIC]