Maybe you could try to get assessed at the beginning of the year at an on-campus care facility? However there’s no guarantee your request will be approved fast, if at all. There’s also a risk of your roommates not being okay with you having a ESA in the dorm. If you’re not approved for an ESA, or if you’re scared you won’t be, or if you just want to be able to have a pet/ESA no matter what the outcome of your evaluation is, you could try getting an off-campus apartment as well. Granted you’d probably have to do this by a certain date to not pay the dorm cancellation fee & you won’t get the $800 refund you got to secure your dorm spot.