RPS to award residents for ‘coolest’ dorm rooms

“You wanna be on top?”

Students may not have what it takes to be “America’s Next Top Model” and strut their stuff in front of Tyra Banks, but Residential Programs and Services is giving students the opportunity to “be on top” with Indiana’s Next Top Cool Room.

The contest encourages students to show off their creativity and personality through the setup of their dorm rooms.

“The rooms should be original and creative but not be cluttered,” said sophomore and RPS marketing assistant Matt Little.

Registration is now open on the RPS Web site and will remain open until Oct 22. But interested participants are encouraged to sign up early because the first 200 registries will receive a special prize package.

Indiana’s Next Top Cool Room is open to all students living in the residence halls. Students living in the on-campus apartments are not eligible with a few exceptions. Residents of Mason and Hillcrest apartments can participate, since these apartments are a part of the Ashton Center and Collins LLC, respectively, said RPS assistant director of marketing and communications, Pamela Strong.

Each room will be judged on three categories: appearance, such as cleanliness and organization; creativity, including theme and the use of space and
furniture, and other, such as the students’ enthusiasm about their room.
In addition, the room should be visually interesting, Strong said.

Strong was a judge for past Top Cool Room contests and said it is amazing what students are capable of coming up with. She explained how one group of contestants transformed their closet into an entertainment center and set up a wireless doorbell for their room.

Students will also be asked to share their experience about living in the residence halls and why their designs and artwork represent themselves, said senior and RPS marketing assistant Kristi Hewitt.

There will be up to 20 first place and 20 second place winners but only one grand prize winner.

“This is the first year we are doing a grand prize,” Little said.

The grand prize winner will be randomly selected from the pool of contestants that earned a perfect score. The name picked will receive a GPS car navigational system, Hewitt said.

First and second place winners, as well as the first 200 participants, will receive prize packages, which mostly include free food from the contest’s sponsors. A complete list of prizes can be found on the RPS Web site.

Judging will begin on Oct. 27 and continue until Nov. 4. Each campus neighborhood has two designated days for judging.

Although the judging is done by neighborhood, the winners are completely based on overall scores, and individual neighborhoods do not come into play, Strong said.
Winners will be announced on Nov. 10 and the top designs will be featured on the RPS Web site as well as other RPS publications.

More information about Indiana’s Next Top Cool Room as well as the link to register can be found on the RPS Web site at
www.rps.indiana.edu/coolroom.cfml?action=intro.