Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I find a list of important dates and deadlines?
A list of important dates and deadlines can be found on the Room Draw Timeline page.
How can I access the Undergraduate Housing Portal?
On the login page, click on the blue “Yale - Student SSO Login” and you will be prompted to login with your Yale NetID and password. For further guidance, refer to the “Logging into the Housing Portal” training video.
I’m having trouble logging onto the Housing Portal. What can I do?
For best results when attempting to access the Undergraduate Housing Portal, we recommend you use Google Chrome as a preferred browser and that you use a computer rather than a mobile device. If you are receiving an error when you attempt to log in, it is likely a verification error – please clear your browser history and cache and try again. If issues persist, please reach out to undergraduatehousing@yale.edu with a detailed description of the issue and we will assist you.
Where can I find additional information about the suite configurations available to my class year in my college?
Housing inventory information for each college and draw will be available at the beginning of the group formation stage, which opens on February 20th.
Yale College Community Care (YC3) Resources
YC3 is a resource to help students gain skills and strategies around communication, stress, relationships and more. The suitemate and roommate agreements are templates students can use when forming a group and exploring living habits for next year.
Please note that YC3 does not make housing decisions but can help students brainstorm around common housing issues. To make an appointment with anyone on the team, please visit their website.
What happens if I miss the Intent Declaration deadline. Can I still declare my intent to live on campus?
Any student who has not registered intent to live on campus by the time Intent Declaration closes, and who is not required to live on campus, will be assumed to be living off-campus as outlined in the Undergraduate Housing policies.
Students who miss the Intent Declaration deadline and wish to live on campus can join the Housing Waitlist by using the Request Housing process in the Undergraduate Housing Portal. After the Room Draw process has ended for participating students, any remaining beds may be offered to waitlist students on a first-come, first-served basis.
I am not currently on-campus (Study Abroad, LOA or MLOA), but intend to return to Yale College in the fall. Can I still participate in the Housing Process?
If you are scheduled to return to Yale College in the fall, you may be included and participate in the housing process. To ensure you are listed as eligible, you must notify the Undergraduate Housing Office via email of your intention to live on campus and must also adhere to all Room Draw deadlines.
I am a rising sophomore, but am turning 21 before the first day of the fall semester. Am I required to live on campus?
If you are a rising sophomore and will be over 21 by the first day of the fall semester, or are married, you may request to move off campus for 2024-2025. To do so, please send an email to undergraduatehousing@yale.edu with your request and relevant information.
I previously registered my intent as on-campus, but have decided to live off-campus. How can I change my intent?
If you would like to update your intent during the Intent stage of Room Draw, you can do so directly in the Housing Portal. Students can update their housing status at any time during the Intent stage of Room Draw, which is open from January 16th – February 12th. After Intent has closed on February 12th you may request to change your intent from on- to off- campus by emailing undergraduatehousing@yale.edu to do so.
While students are able to withdraw before room selection without financial penalty, it is expected that all Yale College students will participate in the Housing Selection process in good faith, knowing that their peers are making important housing decisions based on how many students have registered intent to live on campus, and how many beds are available. If you are not truly planning to live on campus, please register your intent to live off-campus.
When is the deadline to make a request for a single gender bathroom?
Students can request a single gender bathroom during the Intent phase up until Intent has closed on February 12th. After intent has closed, students will no longer be able to request a single gender bathroom. Students seeking a single gender bathroom are encouraged to form a group and select a suite in their college that can organically provide the best bathroom accommodation within its architecture.
Am I guaranteed a single gender bathroom if I request one?
Placements for single gender bathroom requests are dependent on inventory and demand. While every effort will be made to meet all requests, placements are not guaranteed. During Group Formation, students should form a single gender group and be aware that the request may be fulfilled via one of the following routes: organically within their college’s architecture; via a dedicated, assigned bathroom; or, if you end up in annex housing or on the waitlist, via a single gender floor or room placement in that that phase.
I had previously revoked my single gender bathroom request so I could live with my friends, but am now interested in a single gender bathroom. Can I still request this?
Students will no longer be able to request a single gender bathroom after February 12th. Out of fairness to fellow students, the deadline is in place so all students can make appropriate plans during group formation. To help aide in satisfying your request, we encourage students to form a single gender group during group formation and select a suite in their college that can organically provide the best bathroom accommodation within its architecture.
I have an approved ADA accommodation. Can I still proceed through grouping and participate in suite selection?
If you have an approved housing accommodation, you have the option to either accept or decline this accommodation. Based on what your accommodation is and the inventory available in your residential college, accepting your accommodation may require that you form a group of a specific configuration or may require that you are placed pre-draw. Students will receive notification about what is necessary to guarantee their accommodation in the Housing Portal in mid-February. For additional information, please visit the Special Housing Requests and Accommodations page.
How do I apply for an accommodation?
Housing Accommodations are granted solely by the Student Accessibility Services office. The deadline for housing accommodation requests is January 25, 2024. Please refer to Student Accessibility Services website for additional information.
I am a rising junior/senior with an approved medical accommodation for next year. Is my housing guaranteed?
Students participating in the junior/senior draw should note that an SAS accommodation does not guarantee on-campus housing. The option to use an SAS accommodation or not only comes into play if on-campus housing is available and secured.
Students participating in regrouping are encouraged to review the remaining available, undersubscribed suites/sizes and form a group that will meet their accommodation and provide a better chance at remaining on-campus.
I submitted a request for an accommodation after the deadline. Will I still receive my housing accommodation?
While requests for accommodations will be considered after the deadline, the accommodation cannot be guaranteed to be met if a request was not received by the deadline.
I do not have a group. Can I be placed into housing and not participate in room draw?
If you are planning to live on campus but prefer not to participate in grouping, you can opt out of the remaining stages of room draw by selecting to Opt Out of Grouping. If you select this option you will be assigned to a bedroom by the Housing Office and you will not participate in any further stages of room draw.
If I opt out of grouping and request to be manually assigned, when will I know my housing assignment?
Students who select to Opt Out of Grouping will be assigned to available housing after Room Draw is complete. You will receive email notification of your assignment, along with the names of any suitemates, after room selection has ended in early April.
How do I create a group?
Students can create a group in the Housing Portal. After logging in using your NetID and password, click the “Room Draw” link in the highlighted gray title bar. Scroll down and click the “Continue Housing Process” button and you will proceed to the Group Formation landing page. You can create a group by clicking on the “Create Group” button at the bottom of the page.
How can I make changes to my group (add a member, change group size, change group leader, etc.)?
Students may make changes to their group within the Housing Portal. After logging in using your NetID and password, click the “Room Draw” link in the highlighted gray title bar. From here, navigate to the Group Formation page where you will see your group’s information.
On this page you will see options to edit, delete and add members to your group. You will also see options to make one of your groupmembers the new group leader, remove group members, and send group members a message.
If you are looking to add members to your group, you will need to adjust the desired group size by clicking on “Edit Group”. You will then be able to search for and add additional group members.
How can I see the floor plans?
Students can view available suite information along with their college floor plans within the Housing Portal. Navigate to the Group Formation landing page. On the left-hand side of the screen will be a link “List of All Available Suites”. Click on the List of Available Suites link to view a full roster of available suites and a link to college floor plans.
What if the number of members in my group does not match my desired group size?
Students will not be able to proceed to lottery and will be disbanded if the number of group members does not match their desired group size. Students can adjust their desired group size within the Housing Portal.
I do not have a group. Can I be placed into housing and not participate in room draw?
Students can utilize the “Suggest Roommate” or “Suggest Roommate Group” tools within the housing portal to identify other students not yet in a group or groups that still need additional members.
Alternatively, if you are planning to live on campus but prefer not to participate in grouping, you can opt out of the remaining stages of room draw by selecting Opt Out of Grouping. If you select this option, you will be assigned to a bedroom by the Housing Office and you will not participate in any further stages of room draw.
What happens if I don’t form or join a group?
In order to be eligible for room selection, students must create or join a group. Students who do not form a complete group at the end of group formation, along with students in disbanded and oversubscribed groups, will be relegated to regrouping. Any student who is not part of a group when regrouping closes will not be able to proceed in the housing selection process.
I am a junior. Can I form a group with my friends in the senior draw?
No. Students can only group with other students participating in the same draw. Juniors can only draw with juniors, seniors can only draw with seniors, and sophomores can only draw with sophomores.
I am sponsoring a student transferring from another college. Am I required to group with them?
Yes, sponsoring a student who is transferring from another college comes with the expectation that you will be in a housing group with that student. Failure to group with your sponsored student may lead to the rescinding of the transfer approval.
I see a “Placeholder” student. What is this?
Each college will have a couple of placeholder students rostered in the group formation process. These students may or may not be visible in your draw, depending on your class year. Each placeholder student represents an incoming transfer student or a Y-VISP student to be housed in your college next academic year. Any group may opt to add one of these students, and should know that by doing so, you understand that a student will be added to your suite over the summer. Each placeholder request must be reviewed and approved in advance of group formation closing.
How can I add a placeholder to my group?
If placeholders are available to your draw, they can be found by utilizing the Suggest Roommates or Search for Roommates by Details tools. You send a request to add a placeholder to your group like you would with any other student. Please note that each placeholder must be reviewed and approved in advance of group formation closing. Please write to the Housing Office at undergraduatehousing@yale.edu to request approval for a placeholder.
My friend is on the housing waitlist. Can I add them to my group?
No. Students on the waitlist cannot participate in the housing process and so, do not have access to the room draw housing portal. Once room selection has concluded for participating students, any remaining beds may be offered to students on the waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis. Waitlist placements will begin in April once room selection has concluded.
My friend is on the waitlist. Can I add a placeholder and request that they fill that spot?
Placeholders can only be used if they are available to your class draw and are not intended for students to use as a placeholder for a friend on the waitlist nor can we guarantee that a student from the waitlist will be placed into your group. Placeholders are meant to be used by students who are having trouble filling a group and understand that the spot could be filled by a transfer student, Y-VISP student, reinstated student, waitlist student, etc.. There is no guarantee nor a mechanism for students to request how that spot is filled. Students should take this into consideration before requesting a placeholder.
Group formation has ended, and my roommate has decided to live off-campus, can I still go through the lottery?
If a member of your group requests to be removed from the room draw process after group formation has closed, the Undergraduate Housing team will take steps to ensure all suites are fully filled. This may mean that a group is redesignated to the correct group size (i.e. a quad that loses a member may be designated as a triple) if possible. Or a “placeholder” may be added to the group so that the number of assigned members aligns with the original group size. After room selection has concluded for participating students, this spot will then be filled by the Housing Office with an incoming transfer student, a Y-VISP student, or a student on the waitlist.
When will I know if my group’s suite size is oversubscribed or if we made it through to lottery?
Students will receive communication from the Undergraduate Housing Office informing them of their group’s status.
Students participating in the sophomore draw will receive this notification on February 29th; students participating in the senior and junior draws will receive notification on March 5th. For more information, please review the Room Draw Timeline.
My group was disbanded and now I must regroup. How can I see what suite sizes are still available?
Students of disbanded groups can log onto the Housing Portal to see available undersubscribed suite configurations as well as other students who are participating in regrouping.
How does Annex housing work?
Depending on where the numbers land after group formation and oversubscription, a preset amount of annex housing spaces will be pre-assigned to residential colleges, as needed, prior to the draw.
Annex housing is limited and is not guaranteed. If made available, students will be able to select these rooms during room selection.
Can I request to be placed in Annex housing?
No. There is no process nor mechanism for annex housing. If annex spaces have been made available, students will be able to select these rooms during room selection.
My friend is on the housing waitlist. Can I add them to my group?
No. Students on the waitlist cannot participate in the housing process and so, do not have access to the room draw housing portal. Once room selection has concluded for participating students, any remaining beds may be offered to students on the waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis. Waitlist placements will begin in April once room selection has concluded.
I don’t see a placeholder student available on the regrouping portal. Can I request to have one added to my group?
Students should make every effort to work with the other students participating in regrouping in order to fill their suite accordingly. Students can utilize the search functions in the portal to help find students still needing to join a group. Placeholders will only come into play if students are truly unable to fill a suite due to there not being enough students to fill the group.
What happens if I’m in a group size that’s oversubscribed at the end of regrouping?
If there are group sizes that remain oversubscribed after regrouping closes, a pre-lottery will take place and groups will be randomly disbanded.
For sophomores, students who are disbanded after regrouping will be randomly assigned to available beds in their college draw after room selection has concluded.
For juniors and seniors, students who are disbanded will be designated as off-campus. Juniors and seniors who are designated as off-campus can opt to join the waitlist if they still wish to live on-campus.
I missed the deadline to regroup. What can I do?
Any student who is not part of a group when regrouping closes will not be able to proceed in the housing selection process and can opt to join the housing waitlist via the Housing Portal.
Regrouping has ended and my roommate has decided to live off-campus, can I still go through the lottery and room selection process?
If a member of your group requests to be removed from the room draw process after regrouping has closed, the housing team will take steps to ensure all suites are fully filled. This may mean that a group is redesignated to the correct group size (ie a quad that loses a member may be designated as a triple) if possible. Or, a “placeholder” may be added to the group so that the number of assigned members aligns with the original group size. After room selection has concluded for participating students, this spot will then be filled by the Housing Office with an incoming transfer student, a Y-VISP student, or a student on the waitlist.
How do I select my room?
Room selection will take place within the Undergraduate Housing Portal. Students will be notified on March 25th informing them of their assigned room selection appointment. At the beginning of your appointment, the group leader will log onto the housing portal to select a suite from the available inventory and assign rooms to all members of their group.
How long will I have to select a room?
Each room selection appointment will last for 15 minutes, during which time the group leader can select a suite and assign beds to all groupmembers. Students will continue to have access to the room selection portal from the beginning of their appointment time until their suite selection has been finalized or room selection has ended.
Once a suite has been selected, there is a hold on that suite for 10 minutes, during which the group leader must assign all group members to a bedroom and finalize their selection.
Students who have not finalized their suite selection at the end of the 15-minute appointment window, will still retain access to room selection. However, they will not have exclusive access to the portal, as the housing group with the next timeslot will also have access.
Will I be able to see all available suites in my college during room selection?
During a room selection appointment, students will only be able to see suites that correspond with their confirmed group size. For instance, a group of six will only be able to view and select rooms that are part of a sextet. You will not be able to see suites that have been previously selected or any suite that is “held” by another group still finalizing their selection.
How will we be able to assign rooms if we won’t know our suite until our room selection appointment?
All members of your group must be assigned to a bed within a suite before you can finalize your suite selection. If you’re unsure about room assignments within your selected suite, it is recommended that you just move forward with assigning beds to all suite members. There will be an opportunity to make room changes within your suite after room selection has concluded.
Can I appoint a proxy for room selection?
Students will not be able to have a proxy select a room for them. Room selection is completed through the housing portal which is CAS protected and linked with individual student identities. Only the Group Leader will be able to make a suite selection and assign bedrooms.
If you are the group leader and will be unavailable during your assigned room selection appointment, you may assign another student in your group to be the leader in the Housing Portal. Students can make these changes any time before their room selection appointment. Please note that students will not have access to reassign group leaders once their timeslot becomes active.
How can I change our Group Leader?
Only the group leader may reassign another student in their group to be leader. If you are the leader of your group, you can make this adjustment within the Housing Portal. After logging into the portal using your NetID and password, navigate to the “Room Draw” tab in the gray navigation bar, scroll down and click “Continue Housing Process”. From here, scroll to the bottom of the page where your group information is outlined. Find the group member you’d like to assign as leader and click the “Make Leader” button. Click “Yes” to confirm the adjustment.
What if I am a group of one and cannot make my assigned room selection appointment?
Students will have access to the room selection portal from the beginning of their appointment time until either suite selection has been finalized or room selection has ended. If you missed your room selection appointment and room selection is still underway, you should log in to the Undergraduate Housing Portal as soon as possible and finalize your selection.
Do all members of the group need to be present during room selection?
The group leader is responsible for selecting a suite and assigning beds to all group members. Students must place all group members into a bedroom and confirm their suite and room selection to secure their selected housing.
If you are the group leader and will be unavailable during your assigned room selection appointment, you may assign another student in your group to be the leader in the Housing Portal. Students can make these changes any time before their room selection appointment. Please note that students will not have access to reassign group leaders once their timeslot becomes active.
My group missed our room selection appointment. What can we do?
Students will have access to the room selection portal from the beginning of their appointment time until either suite selection has been finalized or the room selection period has ended. If you missed your room selection appointment and room selection is still underway, you should log onto the Undergraduate Housing Portal as soon as possible and finalize your selection.
What happens if I or one of my group members decides to withdraw from housing just before or during our room selection appointment?
Because all members of a group must be placed in a room for a suite selection to be finalized, you are officially contracted for your on-campus room next year at the start of the room selection period, Wednesday, March 27th. If you would like to withdraw from on campus housing without financial penalty, you must make this request in writing to undergraduatehousing@yale.edu no later than 5:00PM on Tuesday, March 26th.
Upon processing your request, your group size will either be reconfigured to match the updated group size, or a “placeholder” may be added to the group so that the number of assigned members aligns with the original group size. After room selection has concluded for participating students, this spot will then be filled by the housing office with an incoming transfer student, a Y-VISP student, or a student on the waitlist.
How can I switch rooms after room selection?
In-suite room switches will be allowed after room selection has concluded, April 3rd, up until the end of the spring term, April 26th. During this time, students will be able to swap rooms using the Housing Portal.
Requests for in-suite room changes received after the end of the spring term will not be reviewed until the Fall 2024 move in period has concluded.
How do I join the waitlist?
The waitlist for Fall 2024 housing will open on February 13th. You can request to be added to the waitlist directly through the Undergraduate Housing Portal.
When will I know if there’s housing available for students on the waitlist?
Waitlist placements will begin after Room Draw is complete, in early April.
Can I see my status or my position on the waitlist?
Because placements are offered to students within their Residential College first, before being offered to any other students, it is not possible to report on waitlist position.
Can I request a single gender bathroom if I’m on the waitlist?
When submitting a request to be added to the waitlist, you will have the opportunity to provide additional relevant information to the Housing Office to aid in your placement. You may make this request at that point. Please note that while requests related to waitlist placements will be considered, they are unlikely to be met.
Can I request to live with other people on the waitlist or join a group with a placeholder?
Students on the waitlist cannot participate in room draw and will not have access to form or join groups. When submitting a request to be added to the waitlist, you will have the opportunity to provide additional relevant information to the Housing Office to aid in your placement. You may make this request at that point. Please note that while requests related to waitlist placements will be considered, they are unlikely to be met.