House and Room Assignments

You have multiple opportunities to rank which building you would like to live in. Your first opportunity is when you are accepted to MIT through the first-year building preference form. Once you live on campus, you are also eligible to participate in the fall building switch lottery or change your rankings through the spring housing intent process. We try our best to place you in your first-choice residence. Building demand changes from year to year, so it is not possible to know what your personal chances are for being placed in your favorite building. Once your building placement is announced, your information is forwarded to your building’s room assignment chairs to be assigned a room.

Room assignments are determined by individual house rooming action plans (more below). Once the student room assignment chairs (RACs) receive building rosters, they follow in-house processes to place students in room. RACs forward placements to Housing & Residential Services and Residential Community Life, and then placements are announced by Housing and Residential Services. 

If you wish to move to another room in the same building or living group you should contact the room assignment chair (RACs) in your residence hall. Responsibility for making room assignments and changes in room assignments within an MIT undergraduate residence hall is usually delegated to the student government of that residence in consultation with the house manager and the head of house. No assignment is final until approved by Housing & Residential Services.