2021-2022 Housing Information (First-Years)

May 25, 2021

Dear First-Year Student,

Greetings from MIT Housing & Residential Services (HRS)— we hope you’re as excited as we are for the start of your journey at MIT!  Each of our residence halls have their own unique community, and choosing where to live is one of the most exciting decisions you will make during your time on campus!

MIT’s residential experience encourages students to make connections with their peers outside of the classroom.  All first-year students are required to live on campus in one of MIT’s ten available residence halls.

We’re writing to share some helpful details as you think through your on-campus housing options for the 2021-2022 academic year.  As a starting point, please visit the Guide to Residences website to help you explore each residential community.  Make sure to check out the Interactive Introductions to the Institute “i3” videos posted to each house page which are created by current residents just for you to showcase their community!  

Here are some key dates to keep on your radar:

  • Sunday, May 23 at 12:01 am ET: First-Year Housing Lottery Application opened within your MyHousing portal (MIT credentials required).
     
    • Go to http://myhousing.mit.edu
    • Scroll down to the Undergraduate Fall 2021 Header
    • Click on “Class of 2025 - First Year Housing Lottery Application”
    • Read and complete every page of the application and click “submit”.
  • Sunday, June 13 at 11:59 pm ET: First-Year Housing Lottery Application closes.
     
  • Friday, June 25: First-Year Building Assignments shared with students via email.
     
  • Wednesday, August 4: First-Year Room Assignments shared with students via email.
     
  • Saturday, August 28: First-Year Move-in (please note several program exceptions)

Teams at HRS and across the Division of Student Life are committed to ensuring your housing assignment and move-in experiences are easy and welcoming!  Here are some ways we’re helping to do that:

  • All applicants are given equal weight; it does not matter when you submit your housing application as long as it’s received by 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, June 13.  Building placements are made according to a lottery process, so don’t feel rushed to complete the online form— take your time when evaluating the housing options and be honest when sharing your living preferences.  You can also amend your submitted preferences at any time before the deadline--just be sure to click through the entire application and hit “submit” at the end to ensure your changes are saved.
     
  • In collaboration with the Office of the First Year (OFY), HRS will host live Q&A sessions on Slack to help answer any housing-related questions that you may have.  To join the conversation, please visit the Orientation 2021 Slack workspace during the following dates/times: June 3 and June 8 from 4:00 to 5:00 pm ET; June 11 from 9:00 to 10:00 am ET.  You will receive information from OFY about how to access the Slack workspace.
     
  • Careful attention is paid to students’ room assignments to help ensure a positive living experience. A unique feature of MIT’s residential system is that student Room Assignment Chairs or “RACs'' coordinate individual room assignments in each building along with members of their house team.  Each house approaches room assignments a bit differently and information about each house’s room assignment process will be posted to the Guide to Residences website in the near future.  

We hope this information is helpful!  Please know that this is the first of many communications that will be sent from our office to your @mit.edu email address about housing.  We hope you’ll check out one of the upcoming Slack Q&A sessions if you have any questions.  You’re also welcome to reach out to our team via email at residence@mit.edu or telephone at (617) 253-2811.  

Stay tuned for additional information in the weeks and months ahead. We look forward to seeing you on campus in August!

Sincerely, 

RICH HILTON 
Associate Dean and Director for Residential Services and Operations 
Housing & Residential Services

TASHA COPPETT
Associate Director of Residential Services
Housing & Residential Services

P.S. Already thinking about what to pack?  Take a peek at some suggestions on our website.