Chocolate City

Front entrance of brick building with windows along the front, greenery in the foreground with New House sign at the bottom right corner, blue skies in the background.

Welcome to Chocolate City

    A Note from Current Residents: 

    Chocolate City is a brotherhood of MIT students and alumni who identify with urban culture and share common backgrounds, interests, ethnicities, and/or experiences. By cultivating a tradition of social, intellectual, character, and leadership development, the brothers of Chocolate City exemplify a high standard of excellence which is founded on continual growth. We seek to enrich the MIT and greater global communities by embodying the principles of our brotherhood.

    Most of the brothers of Chocolate City are not on a meal plan, meaning that they are responsible for preparing their own food. This can work in one of two ways: cooking in a rotation or opting to cook solo.

    A cooking rotation is comprised of 4 brothers who agree to cook dinner for one another all 7 days of the week. Each person in the rotation cooks dinner no more than twice per week. Note that cooking rotations do not cover breakfast and lunch; each bro in a rotation is responsible for preparing these meals on their own. The cost of a rotation is on average $100-$125 per month, per person. This fee covers the cost of groceries, which are ordered and delivered via Instacart. Over a 4-month semester, one can expect to spend $400 to $500 in a cooking rotation. Though this fee does not include the cost of preparing oneself breakfast and lunch, the total cost is still considerably smaller (by approximately 40-50%) than the most basic meal plan offered.

    Cooking solo is conceptually similar to a rotation, but instead of cooking dinner for 4 people twice per week, one would be cooking dinner for 1 person 7 times per week. Also, those cooking solo are naturally responsible for cooking himself breakfast and lunch 7 days per week. The exact cost of cooking solo varies from person to person, but still expect the total to be considerably less than a meal plan.

    It is important to note that one is still allowed to be on a meal plan if they live in Chocolate City. In fact, since New House does not have a dining hall, one is not required to be on a meal plan and can instead elect to do so. This is a popular choice among athletes, first semester freshmen, and those who have incredibly busy schedules.

    New House
    471-476 Memorial Drive
    Building W70
    Cambridge, MA 02139
    Tel. (617) 253-6561

    Visit the resident-managed website for more information about Chocolate City.

    Facility Information

    Capacity
    290
    Coed
    Yes (Chocolate City all-male, Juniper all-female)
    Room Types
    Singles 46%; Doubles 54%
    Room Cost per Semester
    $7,315 - $6,530
    Tax
    $35-95 (depending on the specific house)
    Dining Program
    Cook-for-Yourself Community
    Carpeting
    hallways
    Air Conditioning
    Yes
    Elevators
    Yes
    Shuttle Stop
    No
    Pets Allowed
    no pets (except fish)
    Style of Building
    suite/corridor style

      From the Residents

      Video, photos and quotes from real MIT residents.

      New House Living Groups

      All six physical houses are connected by the "arcade" on the first floor of the building. In addition, houses 1, 2, 3 and 4, and 5 and 6 are connected diagonally on the second through fifth floors. 

      The rooms in these six physical houses are divided into nine living groups, which, to make things confusing on purpose, are also called "houses”. New House is split into 9 different living groups: 5 cultural houses and 4 numbered houses. Click to learn more!