Despite the opening of two new residence halls on the university's campus, not all upperclassmen looking for on-campus housing for the 2013-2014 school year were able to find a room. 

According to Craig Allen, director of Housing and Residence Life, about 320 students were not assigned housing. These students were either unable to find a room during their randomly generated time slot or chose not to assign themselves to any rooms available. 

Allen said more rising sophomores and juniors tried to get on-campus housing this year compared to last, a possible response to the opening of two new sophomore residence halls.

"One of the most plausible explanations is that because we have more availability, we had more interest," he said. 

Allen said the names of the 320 students were moved to a waitlist. Housing and Residence Life will hand-place them into rooms as they become available over the coming weeks.

Roughly half of those students are rising first-year students, he said, and with university policy requiring two years of on-campus residency, their priority guarantees them a room.

The remaining students on the list are rising sophomores and juniors like sophomore computer science major Zach Sherrard.

Sherrard said he was given an 11:50 a.m. time slot on the third day of sign-ups but received an email from housing at 10:45 that morning stating all rooms were taken.

"I was livid when I got the email," he said.

Sherrard explained that living off campus is not an option for him, and he will rely on Housing and Residence Life to assign him to a room through the waitlist process.

"That's really my only option," Sherrard said. "Worst case, I'll probably find something temporary off campus."

Kyra Lindholm, a sophomore English major, encountered a similar experience. 

Lindholm said before her 4:40 p.m. time slot on the third day of sign-ups, she had already heard from friends that there were no rooms left.

"I found that incredibly surprising and frustrating considering [TCU] had built two new dorms for next year," she said.

Lindholm, a member of the swim team, said she was shocked because she didn't think her time slot would have made it difficult to find a room.

She said she was ultimately able to find a room on campus by talking to an athletics housing administrator. 

"Overall it worked out, but I know some people who are being forced to live off campus because there are no vacancies," she said.

Allen said he estimates about half of the rising sophomores and juniors who remain on the wait-list will be assigned a room on campus by August.

The good news, he said, is that the number of rising first-year students on the waitlist is significantly smaller than last year, meaning the upperclassmen on the list have a better chance of eventually receiving an on-campus room assignment.