Residential Life and Housing

Apply for Housing

Because Barnard is dedicated to promoting an inclusive and respectful community, the College makes room and roommate assignments without regard to race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, religious practices, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, dietary preferences, physical abilities, and/or age.

 

Incoming First Year students

* Instructions for setting up your Barnard & Columbia computer login accounts are emailed to students by the Admissions office after enrollment is confirmed (it can take a week or more for accounts to be generated).   Applications are *NOT* sorted by submission date, so there is no need to worry if you have not yet received your account info to log in and submit the housing application!  

Room & Roommate Assignment information will be distributed via email on Tuesday, August 6, 2019. Please refer to our calendar for move-in dates.

 

Incoming Transfer & Domestic Visiting students

While the College always hopes to be able to assign as many applicants as possible, housing is not guaranteed for new transfer & visiting students*.

* Campus housing is only guaranteed for students who are part of the Spelman exchange or the VISP Program.

    Prioritization for housing depends on a combination of enrollment deposit date and geographic distance from campus. The number of spaces in singles and/or rooms that do not require participation in a more comprehensive meal plan is typically limited.

    Instructions for setting up your Barnard & Columbia computer login accounts are emailed to students by the Admissions office after enrollment is confirmed (it can take a week or more for accounts to be generated).   Applications are not sorted by submission date, so there is no need to worry if you have not yet received your account info to log in and submit the housing application!

    Room & Roommate Assignment information, pending the availability of space, are typical distributed via email in early August (or early January for the Spring). Please refer to our calendar for move-in dates.

     

    Visiting International Student Program (VISP)

    • Housing Application (will not be able to log in until you get your Columbia UNI*)
    • Deadline:
      • June 14, 2019, for full-year VISP students in the Fall
      • November 15, 2019, for VISP students starting in January
    • More info for new students

    While housing for students in the VISP program is guaranteed and students may request singles on their applications, most students will be assigned to shared multiple occupancy rooms (i.e. with roommates). Rooms will not be available in every residence hall, so we ask that students to please rank order all of the residence halls on their application. Some students may be required to live in Hewitt, which requires a higher cost meal plan.

    Room & Roommate Assignment information will be distributed via email in early January (early August for full-year VISP students). Please refer to our calendar for move-in dates.

     

    Rising-Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors

    Eligible returning students take part in the Room Selection process in early spring to secure housing for the following academic year. Students must be currently residing in on-campus housing (or have lived on-campus during the semester prior to leaving for an approved study abroad program) in order to be eligible to take part in Room Selection.

    Students who do not take part in Room Selection (or were not eligible) and wish to apply for housing should submit the online Housing Application, by no later than June 1, in order to be on the Non-Guaranteed Wait List. 

    Please note that while the College always hopes to be able to assign as many applicants as possible, housing is not guaranteed for students who do not take part in (or were not eligible for) the Room Selection process.

    Students who are currently living off-campus or requesting to return after a Leave of Absence should submit a Housing Application (see below).

     

    Students returning from Study Abroad (or from visiting Spelman College)

    Note: Only students who had been living in on-campus housing during the semester prior to completing an approved study abroad program are guaranteed housing (and/or may participate in Room Selection) for their return to campus. In order to receive the guarantee of housing, students must submit housing applications before the noted deadlines.

    Students who take a leave of absence before or during an approved study abroad program must request to Return from a Leave of Absence and are not guaranteed a housing assignment (see Student Requesting to Return from a Leave of Absence).

    Returning for Spring (i.e. abroad during the Fall)

    If there is a specific room/suite with a vacancy you would like to request to live in, please specify on your application. Application preferneces may be edited/updated through December 1. Please note that assignment to a specific requested room cannot be guaranteed.

    Assignment information is distributed via email in early January. Please refer to our calendar for move-in dates.

    Returning for Fall (i.e. abroad during the Spring)

    Elibible students will register to take part in the Room Selection process (which includes the Housing Lottery, disability housing accommodation requests, RA pull-ins, CU Greek & Special Interest Communities, etc).

    Students who did not live in campus housing before going to their Study Abroad program are not guaranteed campus housing. They may apply for the non-Guaranteed Wait List.

     

    Students Requesting to Return after a Leave of Absence

    • Housing Application (will need to log in with your UNI)
    • Deadline:
      • June 1 for the Fall
      • November 1 for the Spring

    Reminder: the deadline to submit the Request for Return form to the Dean of Studies office is also June 1 for the Fall and November 1 for the Spring.

    Please submit the application even if you are still waiting for official confirmation of your approved return (assignments will be held until return status is confirmed).

    Please note that while the College always hopes to be able to assign as many applicants as possible, housing is not guaranteed for students Requesting to Return after a Leave of Absence. Students Requesting to Return from a Medical Leave will receive extra consideration upon application for housing; however, housing is not guaranteed.  In cases where there is not enough space for all applicants, students are prioritized by geographic distance from campus.

    If there is a specific room/suite with a vacancy you would like to request to live in, please specify on your application. Please note that assignment to a specific requested room cannot be guaranteed.

    Assignments, pending the availability of space, are typically made in mid-August for the Fall and early January for the Spring. Please refer to our calendar for move-in dates.

     

    Non-Guaranteed Wait List / Commuter students / Moving back onto campus

    • Housing Application (will need to log in with your UNI)
    • Deadline:
      • June 1 for the Fall
      • November 1 for the Spring

    Because there are a limited number of rooms available, assignment to campus housing cannot be guaranteed. Students who previously lived off-campus or commuted (or did not participate in the Room Selection process) are the last students to be assigned, pending the availability of space. Students are typically prioritized by distance from campus.

    If there is a specific room/suite with a vacancy you would like to request to live in, please specify on your application. Please note that assignment to a specific requested room cannot be guaranteed.

    Assignment information is distributed via email in mid-to-late August for the Fall semester and early January for the Spring semester. Please refer to our calendar for move-in dates.