Room Draw Policies

Reclassification 

Students are assigned by default to the room draw associated with their academic year. If their academic year does not align with their original matriculation class, students may request reclassification to their matriculation class.
 
To request reclassification, a student must email undergraduatehousing@yale.edu during Intent Declaration. After Intent Declaration has ended, requests for reclassification will not be considered. 
 

Change of Intent after Deadline 

Students must adhere to all deadlines associated with the Housing Selection Process. 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. Please note that any student who fails to submit intent by the deadline and is required to live on campus, will be moved to the bottom of their respective draw. 
 
Students who miss the Intent Declaration deadline, and wish to live on campus can submit a request for housing via the Housing Portal. After the housing selection process has ended for participating students, any remaining beds may be offered to students who requested housing, on a first-come, first-served basis. 
 

FroCos

First-Year Counselors (FroCos) support first-year students in their transition to the academic, social, and cultural life of Yale College. FroCos are housed in one of the entryways for first-year students, either on Old Campus or in Benjamin Franklin, Pauli Murray, Silliman, Timothy Dwight. As such, FroCos receive housing assignments outside of the regular housing process and so, participation in Room Draw follows a different path. 
 
Students applying to be FroCos should declare their intent to live on-campus. Students who are not selected, or who decline/withdraw from the program, and do not intend to live on campus, will have the ability to withdraw from the housing process at that time. 
 
Students should be mindful when forming or joining groups and should communicate transparently with potential groupmates about their FroCo candidacy. Once a student accepts a FroCo position, they will be removed from any group they formed or are part of and remaining group members will be responsible for regrouping accordingly. 
 
Once a student is offered and accepts a FroCo position, they will be removed from the Room Draw process, and their status in the Housing Portal will update to Pending Room Assignment. FroCo housing assignments are typically released in the spring (April) once placements are finalized. 
 

Opt Out of Grouping

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 group formation or the remaining stages of the room selection process.
 
Before selecting this option, it is important that students note the following:
  • Opt Out of Grouping should not be used as a pathway to guarantee a single room.
  • Opt Out of Grouping is also not a pathway for students to guarantee an SAS Housing Accommodation.
    • When Group Formation opens, students with approved accommodations will see further information in the Housing Portal regarding their accommodation and how they should proceed.
  • Selecting this option is meant for students who truly do not have a preference as to where they are placed.
    • If being able to select your room and suitemates/roommates is important to you, it is not recommended to select this option.
  • Students will be assigned to a partially filled suite with students in their same draw (class year), and they will have suitemates and/or a roommate.
  • Upon selecting this option, students will see their status in the portal as Pending Room Assignment.

Students who opt out of grouping will receive email notification of their assignment, along with the names of any suitemates, after room selection has ended in April. 

Placeholders

Each college will have 1-2 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, reinstated student, student who opted out of grouping, or a student who requested housing outside of the room draw process to be housed in your college next academic year. Any group may opt to add a placeholder with the understanding that a student will be added to the suite at any point prior to or during the fall term. Each placeholder request must be reviewed and approved in advance of group formation closing. Students must submit a written request to undergraduatehousing@yale.edu to request approval for a placeholder. 
 

Oversubscription 

During group formation, students should be aware of the number of suites configured to hold their group size. In the case of oversubscription of a certain suite configuration (i.e., more groups of a certain size than there are suites of that size) a pre-lottery will be held to determine which groups will be able to select those suites. 
 
If there are also some undersubscribed suite configurations (more suites of a certain size than groups of that size), the groups with lower lottery numbers will be broken up and asked to reorganize into the undersubscribed configurations. This is most likely to occur in the sophomore draw. 
 
If there are no or insufficient undersubscribed suite configurations, students with low lottery numbers may not be able to secure on-campus housing during the Room Draw. In these instances, a student may submit a request to be placed in housing when it becomes available, or they may choose to move off-campus.  
 

Annex Housing

Pre-set annex housing (McClellan, Arnold Hall) will be divided up and pre-assigned to specific residential colleges in advance of room selection. Annex housing is limited and is not guaranteed. If made available, students will be able to view and select these rooms during room selection. 
 

Withdrawing from the Housing Process

Students may choose to withdraw from the Housing Process at any time, but should be mindful of deadlines that may result in associated fees. Students who withdraw from the process after a given deadline will incur a financial penalty. This applies to all students participating in Room Draw, including students in groups of one, or those who have opted out of grouping. 
 
To withdraw from the housing process without financial penalty, students must submit a written request to undergraduatehousing@yale.edu before room selection begins for their class year:
  • Sophomores and Juniors: Requests must be made no later than 5:00PM on Tuesday, March 24th
  • Seniors: Request must be made no later than 5:00PM on Wednesday, April 1st

Withdrawal requests received after these deadlines will be subject to the following fees:

  • A student who withdraws after the above deadline, and does not select a room, will be assessed a $200 fee for leaving their group.
  • A student who selects and confirms a room, and subsequently withdraws and relinquishes that room will be assessed the standard one-quarter relinquishment fee as outlined in the Undergraduate Financial Regulations. 

Post Draw Housing Requests 

Any student who has not secured housing at the end of room draw, and still desires to live on campus may submit a request for housing via the Housing Portal. As space becomes available, students are assigned to vacancies first within their residential college. If no spaces remain there, assignments may be made in annex housing and/or across the residential colleges. 
 
Please note the following important information: 
 
  • The request form will be available in the portal after the intent declaration period closes. 
  • Students in the housing request queue are not eligible to participate* in the room draw process and will not have access to form, join groups, or participate in room selection.  
  • Students will be assigned to partially filled suites and will have suitemates and/or a roommate. Submitting a request for housing does not guarantee assignment to a single room. 
  • Students may be placed in Annex housing if there are no available spaces in a residential college.  
  • When submitting a request for housing, students will have the opportunity to provide additional relevant information to aid in their placement. Please note that while requests related to placements will be considered, they are unlikely to be met.  
  • Upon submitting your request, you will see your status in the housing portal as Pending Room Assignment.
  • Historically, in recent decades, there has been room for every student who wishes to live on campus. 

*Students who have submitted a housing request by Friday, April 10th will be eligible to participate in a short open selection period. Students in this category will be given the opportunity to join, form groups, and select a housing assignment with other students in the housing request queue. This short open selection period takes place after the room draw process has concluded for all students. 

Changing Rooms within Suite after Room Draw 

In-suite room changes can be made via the Housing Portal. Changes can be made after Room Draw has completed for all participating students. See the timeline for more information. 
 
Requests for in-suite room changes received after the room switch period will not be reviewed until the Fall 2026 move in period has concluded. 
 

Filling Empty Rooms 

Any and all available beds within the college can be filled at any time. In the event that, after all room draws have been conducted, there remain one or more empty rooms or suites, this space will be made available for assignment to students without other housing. Should a bed become available due to a student taking a leave of absence or study abroad, that empty bed may be assigned according to the needs of the college. 
 

Housing Agreements 

Once a student has participated in the room draw and selected a room, they agree to abide by all Yale College Housing Regulations. As such, they are subject to housing fees as outlined in the Undergraduate Regulations. A student who participates in room draw in the spring but who later relinquishes the room they have accepted should be aware of the associated relinquishment fees listed in these regulations.