Residency Requirement & Housing Eligibility
The University of Chicago has a six quarter residency requirement – all traditional first-year students (have never attended college previously) are required to live on campus during the first six quarters of enrollment. Students transferring from other colleges or universities are required to live on campus for their first three quarters of enrollment. Summer quarters do not count towards the fulfillment of this residency requirement, however quarters spent in study abroad programs do count towards the fulfillment of this requirement.
Housing & Residence Life does not offer on-campus housing for graduate/advanced degree-seeking students or married/family housing.
Housing Application & Assignment Process
The new student housing application generally opens within the myHousing portal in early May, closing at the end of June. Each student has the opportunity to provide responses to several lifestyle and living preferences within the application.
Incoming new students are randomly assigned to a residence hall and House. All of our halls and Houses are unique and engaging and we have found that most students quickly make connections in whatever residence hall and House they have been assigned. After each incoming student's residence hall and House has been determined, our housing assignments team reviews each student's responses to lifestyle and living preferences and uses those responses for room/suite mate matching. Not all new students will have room/suite mate(s), as on average between 25-30% of new students are assigned to single occupancy rooms. We strongly believe that that all students benefit positively from living with students of diverse backgrounds and to that end, new students are not permitted to request specific room and/or suite mates. While each student's lifestyle and living preferences are reviewed and considered during the assignment process, students should not expect exact matches to all their preferences.
All residence halls are co-educational. Room and suite mate assignments are generally made based on same biological sex, however gender inclusive housing is available for students who would prefer to live within the same room with students of opposite biological sex. Additionally, each residence hall offers at least one floor or section dedicated to single sex housing. Preferences for single sex or gender inclusive housing can be made within a student's housing application.
Specific Housing Accommodations
Students that require specific housing accommodations must initiate their request through Student Disability Services. We strongly encourage students seeking specific housing accommodations to engage Student Disability Services as soon as possible after accepting their offer of admission. Please do not send accommodation requests or medical documentation to Housing & Residence Life.
Examples of requests that should be made through Student Disability Services include, but are not limited to:
- Air conditioning
- Mobility issues that require an assignment on a lower floor or in a hall equipped with an elevator
- Single room
- Private or semi-private bathroom
- Access to a kitchen
- Any other specific request or need
FAQs
- Residence Hall, House, Room Type & Number
- Residence Hall Mailing Address
- Name & UChicago Email Address for Each Roommate
Students may edit their housing application responses up until the housing application closes. Once the housing application has closed, students will not be permitted to make any further edits. Students who do not complete a housing application will be assigned to any available space.
New student housing assignment details will be available in the myHousing portal in late August. The following details will be provided to each student:
Please refrain from reaching out to our office to inquire about the status of your housing assignment.
Most residence halls have communal floor bathrooms where each floor shares a common area bathroom containing individual toilets and shower stalls cleaned by housekeeping staff. There are three bathroom options available in each House: men, women and all-gender. Students may use the bathroom that is consistent with their gender identity. Some, but not all, Houses may also have single-user facilities, which do not have a gender designation.
Apartments and rooms in Max Palevsky Residential Commons have semi-private bathrooms that are shared amongst all occupants of the room. In these room types, the bathroom does not have a gender designation.