Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be sorted into a house, like in Harry Potter?
Well, that’s pretty much what happens at Harvard.
Housing at Harvard is not taken lightly. When I entered as a first-year, I remember filling out a long and detailed form about my advising and housing preferences. While some of my now-friends spent about five minutes filling out the form, I took the liberty to practice writing and wrote a five-paragraph essay. A little much? Probably. All jokes aside, while I’m not sure what happened on the back end after I submitted my form, I feel lucky to have been sorted into what (I think) is the best first-year dorm and house at Harvard.
Students are not required to live on campus after their first year, but Harvard’s housing system and financial aid are why 98% of students choose to spend all four years living on campus. Harvard’s houses aren’t just a place to live—they’re a home and community far cooler and nicer than I could have imagined.
In this blog, I’d like to overview the housing process at Harvard and why I love my house, Currier House, so much.
Housing as First-Years
Before first-years arrive on campus, they are asked to fill out a questionnaire about their housing and advising preferences. When I filled out the questionnaire, it included everything from what kinds of music I like and dislike to how many roommates I prefer. Students are then sorted into into dorms and dorm groups based on the responses!
My Massachusetts Hallers and I!
Coming into college, I was unsure how to feel about being randomly assigned to one or several roommates. However, while I’m not sure what Harvard did, it worked: my first-year roommate is still one of my best friends, and my first-year dorm (Massachusetts Hall) was the crème de la crème. Want to learn about Mass Hall? Read the blog I wrote about it!
Mass Hallers roasting marshmallows—it was a great time!
There are 17 first-year dorms, divided into four neighborhoods (Crimson Yard, Elm Yard, Ivy Yard, and Oak Yard), all located close to or in Harvard Yard: Apley, Canaday, Grays, Greenough, Hollis, Holworthy, Hurlbut, Lionel, Mass Hall, Matthews, Mower, Pennypacker, Stoughton, Straus, Thayer, Weld, Wigglesworth. Each dorm has its own setup and building, as well as resident proctors and entryways.
Since the first-year dorms are located in or near Harvard Yard, they are incredibly accessible. They are close to Annenberg—the first-year dining hall—and one another, which means first-years can easily visit one another to chat, work, eat, and hang out. They are also located right next to the Harvard Red Line (MBTA, or “T”) station, at the doorstep of the hustle and bustle of Harvard Square, and a few minutes walk from the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC, the main gym and athletic facility on campus). What’s not to love about the great location and facilities?
My friends and I working on a problem set together in our room.
Housing as Upperclassmen
Then, after the first year, that’s when the fun begins! Students can choose to form a blocking group of up to 8 people. This group then gets randomly sorted into one of Harvard’s 12 upperclassmen houses: Adams, Cabot, Currier, Dunster, Eliot, Kirkland, Leverett, Lowell, Mather, Pforzheimer (“Pfoho”), Quincy, and Winthrop. Each house has its own mascot, colors, facilities, buildings, traditions, House Committee, history, and so much more. Each house even has its own shield. Students will spend their last three years of college in these houses.
My blockmates and I right before Housing Day with our Currier posters.
For this reason, Housing Day, which happens every year in the spring, is one of Harvard’s biggest and most important traditions: students sit anxiously in their rooms the morning of, waiting for their dorm to be stormed, waiting impatiently to find out which incredible house they will live in for the remainder of their college years. On Housing Day, upperclassmen from each house rally in the yard, wearing house merch and face paint, wielding “Our House is the Best House”-themed posters, and even dress up as the house mascot as they prepare to storm freshman dorms to invite them to the house. It’s one of the biggest events at Harvard, as students from all houses come out to participate.
My blockmates, Currier friends, and I in the Yard on Housing Day. Go Currier!!
Many students at Harvard believe their house is the best house on campus. I’m here to tell you that Currier House is objectively, undoubtedly the best house on campus. Don’t think so? Don’t believe me? Read a little further and you’ll understand!
A Love Letter to Currier House, the Best House at Harvard
With four halls (Bingham, Daniels, Gilbert, and Tuchman), several common spaces, music practice rooms, an art studio, yoga/meditation room, and many more facilities, Currier House is unbeatable! Currier House is one of three houses in the Radcliffe Quadrangle (“the Quad”) and has some of the best-of-bests on campus. Here are some of them.
Currier’s food is way too good.
Currier House is widely known for its incredible food. Despite being a 10-15 minute walk away from the yard, Currier’s food and amazing dining hall staff still managed to attract students from the river to come to Currier for the food. It’s not just people from the river: students in the neighboring Cabot and Pfoho dining halls also come to eat at our dining hall!
Check out this lemon pie topped with lemon slices and berries that was served at Currier!
Except on specific days, Currier House welcomes all students to eat in the house. And, Currier dining hall’s special events—including the Audrey Bruce Currier (ABC) dinner, holiday dinners, faculty dinners, and several other themed and special dinners—as well as amazing dining hall staff make it an incredibly delicious, memorable experience every day (shoutout to all of Currier’s dining hall staff!).
ABC dinner at Currier is fantastic!
Who wouldn’t want to make fresh açai bowls, caramel-dipped apples, ice cream bowls topped with berries, and personalized cups of hot chocolate? I can always count on Currier’s food and dining hall staff to make my day a little bit sweeter after a long day at school or work.
Açai bowls? I'll take them any day.
Currier has a living, breathing botanical garden in the house.
“Timete arboreum”—fear the tree. Currier’s iconic mascot is the tree, and that’s very fitting: Currier has previously been recognized as one of the houses most dedicated to sustainability and environmentally conscious facilities, AND it has far more indoor plants and green things than any of the other houses. For one, there is a whole botanical garden WITH a running fountain under a greenhouse rooftop in our dining hall. With plants like the fiddle leaf fig, ZZ plant, philodendrons, and money tree, Currier gets quality air purification and greenery. The botanical garden is also beautiful! Meticulously curated and cared for, the botanical garden thrives day and night while students sit around it, eating, chatting, or hanging out. The botanical garden is a quintessential part of Currier and provides a relaxing backdrop of rushing water whenever I need a nice place to work or relax.
Go green! The indoor garden is one of my favorite things about Currier.
Currier also has green spaces spread throughout the house—in hallways, in the lobby, and in common spaces. How many plants do we have? That’s a great question because I don’t know. If we consider the succulent-making workshop, upcoming floral arrangement workshop, and the sheer number of plants Currier residents have historically had (a few years back, one student in Currier House volunteered to take care of 50+ plants over the winter break for other Currier students), it must be a lot!
Need to cook? Currier’s 52 kitchens got you.
Do you like cooking? Do you like baking? Or, do you need a fridge or microwave? If so, then Currier is perfect for you. Across Currier’s 4 halls exist 52 kitchens—more than any house at the college. In practice, that means every floor has its own kitchen, decked out with a large fridge and freezer, microwave, stove, and oven. How’s that for a place to cook?
Wonder what it’s like to live in a single? You don’t have to wonder in Currier.
Currier has some of the most and largest singles and suites of all the Houses at Harvard. Around 80% of Currier’s rooms are singles (crazy!), and each of the suites has its own common rooms, complete with a couch, en-suite bathroom, and coffee table. My single is large enough to comfortably fit 2–3 air mattresses in addition to my bed. That’s a lot of space—and most of Currier’s singles are the size of mine! Our rooms are also incredibly well-lit with tall windows, perfect for plant dads like me who have plants in every corner of the room.
Currier’s community is unparalleled.
Currier’s residents are some of the kindest, most genuine, funny, and good people around. Every time I return to my house, I feel at ease knowing that my friends will be just a few steps away in the dining hall, playing Super Smash Bros. in the Fishbowl (a massive open space with a projector), or playing pool or foosball in the hall next door.
My blockmates and I after climbing the Beehive Trail at Acadia National Park.
Not to mention, Currier’s House Committee (HoCo) is awesome: we have some of the coolest merch, and we have FOOD DROPS!
Currier House is the Best House
As students have written in the past (i.e. Denzel, and Mayowa), Currier House truly is an amazing house. In my eyes, it will always be the best house. All I can say is, I’ll for sure be graduating a proud Currier House alum this spring!
Harvard’s residential life has been incredible, and I wouldn’t trade it for any other!
A huge shoutout to everyone in Currier, from my friends to the dining hall, house staff, tutors, and more. You’ve made Currier an awesome house—I couldn’t have asked for a better place to live.
