Christina Commiskey skipped a class last year so she could wait in line for several hours to sign up for the residence hall she wanted.

Commiskey, a psychology sophomore, lives in Shaw Hall this year and said it was worth the wait for signing up.

"It's really the best place to live on campus," she said.

The on-campus housing sign-up process for the 2006-07 school year begins Jan. 20 for a student's current single room. Students can sign up for other room options on various days during the next two-week period.

The schedule distinguishes sign-up dates among double and single rooms, residence halls and a student's class level as of Jan. 1.

Students who wish to remain in the same room have the first option to sign up, said Pam Willis of the University Apartments/Hall Assignments Office.

"It's to try to give the students what they want," she said. "They get to keep their own room, and not all universities do that."

Because of the planned renovation for Snyder and Phillips halls this summer, students currently housed in those halls will be able to select another hall earlier.

"We try to give those students displaced a little heads up from other students, because it's not really fair," Willis said.

Students who wish to have a different room in their same hall will sign up at about the same time as displaced students from Snyder and Phillips halls.

The double room sign-up for any hall on campus begins Jan. 26. Last year, Shaw Hall had the highest demand among residence halls for returning students.

Students such as Commiskey have lined up at Shaw Hall in the past to improve their chances of living there.

"They have it pretty organized at Shaw," Willis said. "They have lines and provide beverages to the students. We've done it for so long that we kind of got it down."

The last dates to begin signing up are reserved for single rooms, with seniors and juniors having first choice over underclassmen.

There will be 1,200 single rooms available in fall 2006, Willis said.

Commiskey thought the schedule was a good way to conduct the process, even though she had to wait in line to get her room.

"They go by seniority, so it's fair," she said. "It just takes a while."

But political science senior Libby Rounds said she'd like to see the process done on the computer.

"It seems like there should be a better way to simplify it," she said.

Students currently sign up at the residence hall they want to live in.

"They can come in at any time and change rooms," she said, adding that students have 14 days from signing up to cancel their housing contract. "There's still a lot of changes going on throughout the semester, but we still have plenty of space."

Willis said how fast a residence hall fills up depends on student demand for that hall, which can vary each year and with each hall.