We’re Closing Rooms (+ Alternative Options)

Goodbye Rooms, hello prep books for all your subjects 👋

Rooms will be closed effective Monday, March 4, 2024.

A lot of thought went into this decision that we’ll explain below, but first we wanted to thank Calix Huang for building Hours and the Fiveable team for all the love that went into Rooms.

A special note from Calix:

Thank you so much to everyone who’s used Hours/Rooms in the last 3.5 years! It’s crazy to think that it’s been so long since Hours started, but it’s still one of my favorite projects I’ve ever worked on. Whether you were the first user or came in more recently, I’m so grateful to have had your support through this journey.

Here’s a shoutout to the friendships that were made in Rooms. We know it’s been a special place for many of you and hope you stay connected to each other.

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If you're looking for a Rooms alternative, we recommend:

• https://studyverse.live/
• https://www.lifeat.com/fiveable
• https://www.studytogether.com/
• https://www.studystream.live/focus-room

Candidly, these platforms will be much better for group studying because they are actively investing in improvements.

—> Origins of Rooms + new lessons

We originally acquired Hours and built Rooms to expand upon the community vibes students love at our Cram Events (happening in a few months btw). Group studying was especially pressing during COVID to help students connect with each other at a time when everyone was home alone.

There is still a strong group of students that love studying together online (shoutout to the Discord crew!) and we acknowledge that studying together can be more fun + motivating. This is especially true during high urgent times (like before a big test), which is why we host live Cram events.

But a lesson that became clear to us is that, in a regular school week, most students prefer to study alone because they can focus, personalize their process, and just get it done.

—> What we’re focusing on

We heard from students that they most urgently need help with their next test. Since most chapter and unit tests are during regular school weeks, we’re leaning into these study needs in a big way ✨

We’re adding more prep book content, creating more practice questions with varying difficulty levels, expanding key terms, and streamlining our user experience. Our focus is to make sure students have the right content at the right time.

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We've created an experience dedicated to preparing for a test tomorrow with Cram Mode, where you get unlimited access to guides + practice for every subject we cover. It also includes Cram Events to help you prepare before the exams in May.

We’re excited for this next chapter, and hope that you join us.

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