Columbia University Housing

New in 2009

The following information is NEW for 2009-2010 for Room Selection. This information will be updated throughout the Room Selection process, so please check back to this section over the upcoming weeks. However, please note that any additional information will not affect your Registration status.

• The floor plans for Harmony Hall have been updated. In particular, the smaller rooms on floors 5 and 6 have actually been converted to coed bathrooms, and thus will not be used for student space.

• Harmony Hall on 110th street between Amsterdam and Broadway is a new option in this year's housing lottery for students participating in General Selection. The addition of Harmony's eight floors offers 76 single and 6 double rooms, which will increase the number of singles available to our students. Each floor community has a newly remodeled kitchen/lounge area and two bathrooms.
  

• The Same Room/Same Suite policy has been eliminated. All students who wish to reside in Housing must go through the Room Selection process.
  
  
• 30 point groups of all seniors will pick before 30 point EC Exclusion Suite groups.
  
  
• Groups of five seniors have the option to pick into an EC Exclusion Suite during their appointment time.
  
  
• Sophomore groups in Suite Selection can participate in Sophomore Pair Up. This gives you the option to split into groups of two and pick into corridor-style doubles or drop to General Selection. This process is a part of each group's appointment time during Suite Selection. Update: Sophomores in groups of odd numbers will be notified during their appointment time that they have the option to select into a half-double at their appointment or drop to General Selection.

• RAs can only bring in one RA Rider this year, instead of filling an entire suite with RA Riders. Thus, the suites with the RA and his or her RA Rider will be available to select into during Suite Selection. RAs that live in corridor buildings can have one RA Rider on their floor. These spaces will be indicated in the Space Held Out of Lottery section on Friday, February 27, 2009.
  
  
• For the Fall of 2008, Housing had an increase in demand that exceeded their inventory. As a result, approximately 30 students were housed in Barnard and University Apartment Housing this year. For 2009-2010, new layouts creating 30 doubles (and eliminating 30 singles) in Watt, McBain, and Ruggles will be made to meet this demand. Please visit the floor plans of these buildings to see these changes.

Helpful Hint for Rising Sophomores

To have the most options, we advise you to form a group with one other student and register for Suite Selection. All groups in Suite Selection will be able to drop down to General Selection (for example, if there are not any suites left to choose, if their group size does not match the remaining suites, or if they simply do not want to live in any of the remaining suites), but groups and individuals that originally decide to register directly for General Selection are not able to change to Suite Selection at any point.

Please read the following scenarios to understand our suggestion:

1. Suppose that you are a rising sophomore and you select General Selection as an Individual. You were hoping for a single, but there weren't any single rooms left at your appointment time. You will have to select a half-empty double, and you will have to room with someone that you do not know. If you had chosen during Suite Selection, you would have been able to live with a friend during the year.

2. Suppose that you are a rising sophomore and you select Suite Selection with a friend. You received an amazing lottery number, and you and your friend decide to try for singles. You are allowed to just skip your appointment time in Suite Selection and be automatically dropped down to General Selection. You will receive a General Selection appointment time based on your shared lottery number and you can select individually online.