All Room Draw applications are due by January 15, 2025. You will not be able to submit an application after the deadline. You must apply to the waitlist.

The rates for the academic year may be found at this link.

The floor plans for all graduate housing units, including the Meadows Apartments, may be accessed at this link.

If you are eligible to renew and choose to do so, you would be guaranteed your current unit. G1s, G2s, and G3s can retain, provided that the apartment is fully occupied. Families with children and committee members can renew.

You are not guaranteed to be successful in Room Draw, but your priority and the types of housing you request will influence the likelihood of success.

Priority in Room Draw is based on year of study, but housing is not guaranteed through room draw.

Exceptions to this are the members of housing committees, who have top priority in draw. Committee members will be among the first on the list, regardless of their year of study. Then, families with children have priority. Students do not receive additional priority for having a spouse or domestic partner.

• Lakeside Committee – Advocates for student body with a focus on the concerns of Lakeside residents. Provides events and services for Lakeside residents. Elected members receive housing priority.
• Lawrence Committee – Advocates for student body with a focus on the concerns of Lawrence residents. Provides events and services for Lawrence residents. Elected members receive housing priority.
• Meadows Committee – Advocates for student body with a focus on the concerns of Meadows residents. Provides events and services for Meadows residents. Elected members receive housing priority.
• Graduate College House Committee – Members organize social and athletic events and manage student dues to run the coffee shop, D-Bar, and GC laundry machines. Elected students receive housing priority.
• Graduate Student Government – Advocates for the interests of the student body. Areas include but are not limited to: facilities, social events, academic affairs, and student health. Elected students receive housing priority.
• Community Associates – full time graduate students who work part time with the Graduate School to assist with events and programs. This position must be applied for at the Graduate School. Successful candidates are selected by the Graduate School and receive a housing stipend and priority in Room Draw.

Families with children and committee members can renew. G1s, G2s, and G3s can renew, provided that the apartment is fully occupied. 

All current resident renewal contracts must start July 1.

Please see "Do I have to submit a renewal form?" for more details.

Only residents who have the intention of residing in the apartment for the contract year should renew their contract.  Renewal applications should not be submitted without the intention of accepting/signing the renewal offer.   

Students who will receive an automatic offer:

• G1s, G2s, and G3s in studio or 1 bedroom apartments
• G1s, G2s, or G3s with spouses or domestic partners in 2 bedroom apartments
• Families with children in any size apartment

Students who need to submit a renewal form:

• G1s, G2s, and G3s with eligible roommates in shared apartments (2, 3, or 4 bedroom apartments). Vacancies can be filled by naming any G1, G2, or G3 on the renewal form. 
• G1s, G2s, and G3s in the GC or Annexes, regardless of room type (students in singles in the GC or annexes must submit a renewal form to receive a renewal offer)

All eligible students participating in renewal must login to My Housing for Graduates to accept their contract offer. Renewal offers will be sent in mid-December 2024 and must be accepted by 5:00pm on December 27, 2024. Offers that are not accepted by the deadline will be canceled. If you are unable to submit a form, view an offer, or require assistance please contact us.

No. Only those who reject their renewal offer should apply for Room Draw.

Students with a spouse, domestic partner(s), can apply for housing together. Students must indicate their family status on the Room Draw application and enter family member(s) in My Housing. Supporting documents should be provided to the housing office. Possible documents include, but are not limited to, a marriage license, joint insurance policy, or statement from a joint bank account.

When applying for housing, families must meet the minimum/maximum occupancy requirements for the unit. A married couple cannot apply for a 4-bedroom apartment and a family of four could not occupy a 1-bedroom apartment.

Families with children have increased priority in draw. Please see “Who Gets Priority in Room Draw?” for details. 

Students must indicate their family status on the Room Draw application and enter their child’s name and date of birth in My Housing. A copy of the child’s birth certificate should be provided to the housing office

Students who are expecting a new child should contact Student Housing for details on how to apply.

Approved Hardship Housing requests will receive a housing contract, regardless of year of study. Students living off campus can also apply.

Applications are most often approved for financial hardship, but can be approved for other significant considerations, such as extensive on campus commitments.

The application requires financial information (including a recent tax return) and a brief written statement outlining the situation. This information will be kept confidential and all identifying details, such as names and addresses, will be taken out when the application is presented to the Graduate Housing Advisory Board for review.

Circumstances can change, and we do not keep any student’s financial information on file, applications must be resubmitted each year.

Students who require housing accommodations for a medical reason should apply.

Medical documentation is reviewed by the Office of Disability Services. The medical accommodation form and supporting documentation must be submitted by the deadline, listed on the application.

Students can be approved for chronic or acute medical conditions. We do not store medical information, applications must be resubmitted each year.

Apply for a different unit type with each of your preferences. Students are successful for a unit type first (1BR, 2BR, etc.) rather than a location (Lakeside, Lawrence, Meadows, Edwards).

We look at each student’s application in order of preferred unit type, if that type is not available we look at the next option. Location preference is secondary.

Detailed statistics for previous Room Draws may be found at this link.

Once eligible students renew their apartments, and units are held for the incoming class (mostly in the GC/Annex), the remaining units are placed into Room Draw.

The Graduate School provides us with an estimated number of new students.

Most of the held units are at the GC and Annexes. Some apartments are held to accommodate families and medical needs.

Since the deadline for new students to accept their offer from Princeton University is in late April, we work with an estimate so Room Draw can be completed in a timely manner.

Sometimes we need more information to move to forward, for example:

• We need to know how many students are renewing to know how many units will be available for Room Draw. 
• The Summer Housing Application is published after Room Draw offers are sent. Many students select their summer housing dates based on the start date of their room draw contract.
• We need to fulfill the housing offer guarantee for incoming students before we can start the waitlist.

Students on housing committees have priority in draw. For example, a G3 on a committee would be successful ahead of a G1.

Families with children have high priority in Room Draw. For example, a G5 with two children will likely be near the top of the list.

No, success is based on unit type (1BR, 2BR, 3BR, etc.), not apartment location (Lakeside, Lawrence, Meadows, Edwards).

The list of students who were successful in Room Draw will be posted before the end of the business day on January 24, 2025. Contract offers are issued on a rolling basis starting January 27, 2025. Not all offers will be sent this day. All students on the successful Room Draw list will receive their contract offers by early May.

While we strive to offer everyone their top preferences, unfortunately it is not always possible. Students who want a different unit can reject their housing offer, look for off-campus housing, or accept their housing offer and wait until the room change period in the fall to request a room change. If you wait for the room change period, there is no guarantee that your preferred unit type will become available.

Students have seven days after the offer is issued to accept the contract. If the offer is not accepted in this timeframe, it will be cancelled. You will receive a notification to your Princeton email when you receive a contract offer. If you are traveling, please check your email at least twice a week.

You will receive your housing contract via your University email account. You will have seven days to accept it. Follow the prompts in the email to go through the steps to accept the contract.

It takes time to inspect, clean, and make necessary repairs after move out. Since many graduate apartment contracts end on June 30, not every unit can be ready July 1.

If you need continuous housing, and you are successful in Room Draw, we can work with you to ensure there are no gaps in housing. This may require you to move multiple times. 

Apartments must go through our turn over process. Minor maintenance issues start to compound over the years. This leads to larger repairs being needed and a worse experience for the resident. If no work is done, it can leave students moving into units needing cleaning or repairs. Some repairs may be difficult or not possible while the apartment is occupied, such as replacing countertops or carpeting.

Students who are not successful in Room Draw, but applied by the deadline, are automatically added to the waitlist based on draw number. Students near the top of the list are likely to get a housing offer; although we cannot make any guarantee. Students further down the list, are less likely to get on campus housing and it will take more time. We recommend using the the off-campus housing website to explore local housing options. 

Students who are waitlisted in Room Draw, but applied by the deadline, are automatically added to the waitlist in order of lottery number. Students who are on the waitlist will have their position maintained based on lottery number. Waitlisted students will have the opportunity to expand their preferences for unit types (please refer to the next FAQ entry below).

There is no guarantee of housing for waitlisted students, and we encourage anyone on the waitlist to consider off-campus housing.

Waitlisted students should email Angie Rooney, Associate Director for Student Housing Occupancy Management, at [email protected]. These students should indicate:

1. If they would like to change their unit type preference and if so, to what unit type(s).

2. If they would like to receive a Graduate College offer.

3. If they would like to remain on the waitlist and keep their indicated unit type preference(s). Students should be aware that choosing this option could result in a longer period on the waitlist and is based on availability of a preferred unit type.

4. If they would like to be removed from the waitlist completely.

The waitlist will not open until May 1, and placement from the waitlist is not guaranteed. We encourage anyone who is not already on the waitlist to consider off-campus housing; see the above FAQ tab for details.

Yes. We have an off-campus housing website. This tool will help connect with local landlords and potential roommates.

Listings on the off-campus housing website are reviewed prior to publication. If you have questions about off-campus housing, please reach out to The Service Point at 609.258.8300 or via [email protected].

You have 10 business days after the date of your contract acceptance to cancel your contract without penalty. After 10 business days, a fee may apply.

There is a $300 cancellation fee. This fee can be waived if you are canceling your contract for an academic purpose, medical reason, change in family status, or other extenuating circumstances. If you are not sure if you qualify, please contact us to review your eligibility.

Yes. Students can submit an ‘Intent to Vacate’ form through My Housing. Rent can be prorated to the day.

There is typically a $300 cancellation fee for ending a contract early. This can be waived for academic or medical reasons, or due to a change in family status (birth of a child, marriage, etc.) The fee can also be waived if you move out after the end of the academic year.

All graduate apartment contracts have a mandatory end date of June 30th. Regardless of the day of the week, move out is June 30.

Hundreds of students are moving out, and hundreds more looking to move in as soon as possible. Most units are scheduled to be occupied in the weeks immediately following move-out, and we need time to inspect and prepare the apartment.

We strongly recommend making move out preparations, such as scheduling a truck/van rental, getting boxes, or scheduling movers, at least 4 weeks in advance.

Students who need another month to finish their degree can apply for an academic extension. The application must be completed with a letter of support from the student’s advisor or a member of their FPO committee and received by the deadline on the application. These applications are reviewed by the Graduate School. Students who need more than one month must apply for summer housing at the Graduate College, look for a temporary change in resident opportunity, or make other arrangements.

Our ability to accommodate this type of request depends on the current demand for housing and the current housing processes.

Following Room Draw, we are obligated to address waitlist applications in order of draw number or applications date. If the person you want to pull in is near the top of the waitlist, we will do our best to accommodate these requests, but we cannot make any guarantee.

During the fall semester, there is a room change period. Students can apply to move to another unit or fill a vacancy.

Contracts cannot be directly transferred from one student to another.

No furniture can be left in the apartment or transferred to the next resident.

The turnover of an apartment may require a variety of specialized labor such as carpentry, painting, plumbing, or electrical work. Furniture left in the apartment creates significant obstacles for proper inspection and maintenance.

Maintenance needs to be performed quickly and the move in processes needs to be consistent.

Reaching consensus between the current and future resident about which items should be be kept and which should be removed potentially creates further complication.

Any furniture left in the apartment after move out will be removed at the previous resident’s expense.