Residential Life

Alert: Winter Recess Office Closure

The Admissions & Financial Aid Office will be closed for winter recess from Friday, December 20, 2024 at 5:00PM ET through Tuesday, January 2, 2025 at 9:00AM ET. We will reopen with normal business hours on January 2 for phone calls and emails, and on Monday, January 13 for regular drop-in visitors.

Last Updated: December 20, 5:00pm

At Harvard, you'll meet friends in expansive libraries and historic classrooms. You'll uncover cozy reading nooks, stumble across sun-kissed lawns, and discover the joys and frustrations of roommates and late-night study sessions. As you grow more familiar with the faces and places around you, you'll begin to recognize something else: a feeling of belonging. Make yourself at home.

First-Year Students

Life in the Yard

First-year students live in dorms with shared suites adjacent to Harvard Yard and eat the majority of their meals in Annenberg Hall. This is a place of far-ranging conversations where you'll get to know fellow new students. The dorms are grouped into larger clusters called Yards (Crimson, Elm, Ivy and Oak). Here, you'll engage with your peers during the many activities designed for first-year students.

Our Dean of Students team in the First Year Experience Office arranges first-year dormitory assignments. We place first-years in suites with other first-year students, allowing for plenty of opportunities to socialize and bond. Dormitories have a wide variety of rooming arrangements that range from doubles to larger suites. Some have their own bathrooms, but most students share a bathroom with other suites. There are very few singles available.
In addition to having suitemates, each first-year is part of a group called an entryway, which consists of 20 to 40 students who share a floor or section within their dormitory. A first-year proctor lives in each entryway and, provides academic, personal, and social guidance, as well as planning events and activities. Each entryway is part of a dorm, which is in turn, belongs to one of four Yards; these nested communities help to create a robust support network for new students.

Dean of Students Office

From student-led social events to campus-wide traditions, the Dean of Students Office is here to enhance your experience.

Learn more about the Dean of Students Office

Upper-Level Students

A House Away from Home

The Residential Community system is one of Harvard's best known traditions. In the second semester of your first year, on Housing Day, you'll receive your sophomore year residential affiliation to one of Harvard's 12 Houses. Each House accommodates between 350 and 500 students. Alternatively, you can join the Dudley Community, which serves a small community of undergraduates including Visiting Undergraduate Students, Dudley Co-Op residents, and off-campus students. The Houses and the Dudley Community help create close-knit communities within the broader College. You will be introduced to your unique residential community during Sophomore Orientation.

Learn more about the 12 Houses

Dining

Meals are the backdrop to some of the College's most rewarding experiences: sharing stories, debating ideas, forming friendships.

Learn more about undergraduate dining

House Renewal

Harvard’s House system is one of the most unique features of our undergraduate experience. Ensuring its excellence and vitality in the 21st century is critical to our educational philosophy. Harvard is undertaking a major renewal of the Houses creating a home where students can bring together their academic, social, and personal passions and pursuits. This program is proceeding smoothly with the sixth House (out of 12) now in renewal.

Watch the video about Winthrop House Renewal

Cambridge & Boston

Boston and Cambridge combine New England charm with modern innovation, an impressive culinary scene, and youthful energy. We'll help you make the many opportunities that surround you a part of your residential experience.