Wait List
If you are not able to draw a room, after all available rooms are selected during the Sophomore and Upperclass Room Draws, you must apply to the wait list. You may voluntarily place your name on the waitlist rather than select a room, although the Undergraduate Student Housing Office recommends that you draw a room if there is availability.
Apply for the Wait List
Log in to My Housing for Undergraduates and select the “Wait List Form.” Be sure to complete the form clearly indicating your interests.
Prioritize Your Room Preferences
On the form, state your room preferences (i.e. suite or single) in priority order, and add a roommate if you want. In the comments section, note your dormitory choice(s), desired square footage and any other items on your wish list.
How the Wait List Is Ordered
Your original room selection time in the Sophomore Room Draw or Upperclass Room Draw determines your rank on the wait list. If you did not enter a draw, your name will be added to the end of the list in the order your application was received.
All wait listed students who apply by the deadline are guaranteed housing, although specific accommodations cannot be guaranteed. Sophomore wait listed students will be assigned to their Residential Colleges by (TBA), and juniors and seniors will be assigned to rooms and suites in July.
Cancellation fees
If you applied to the wait list, you are subject to the rules and charges that apply to the cancellation of a housing contract. You have two weeks from the time you are notified of your assignment to cancel without penalty. If you cancel after two weeks, a cancellation fee will be charged to your student account. If you cancel after classes have begun, Princeton University reserves the right to charge one half of the semester’s rent.
Room Improvement
Juniors and seniors, who participated in Upperclass Room Draw and had draw times in the bottom quarter of their class, may upgrade or “improve” their room selection. If you satisfy both of these conditions, you are eligible for reassignment to a room that becomes available after room draw and before (TBA). The Associate Director for Student Housing Occupancy Management and Systems will make your reassignment if an appropriate room is available.
If you dropped down to a group in the bottom quarter of your class, you are not eligible for room improvement.
Apply for Room Improvement
Log in to My Housing for Undergraduates and select the “Room Improvement” application. Complete the form and submit it before the room improvement deadline.
Prioritize Your Preferences
On the form, state your room preferences (i.e. suite or single) in priority order, and add a roommate if you want. In the comments section, note your dormitory choice(s), the minimum square footage you will accept, and any other items on your wish list.
If your group prioritizes square footage over proximity, each group member should complete a separate room improvement form, listing his/her individual requirements. When one member of a suite chooses to improve his/her room, all members of the suite must improve their rooms so that the entire suite can be reassigned.
How Room Improvement Participants Are Ordered
Your original room selection time determines the order in which your room will be improved. If your room improvement criteria can be met, you will be reassigned and notified of your new address by email in mid-July. This reassignment is permanent; you may not revert to your original selection.
If you do not hear from the Undergraduate Student Housing Office by mid-July, your request for room improvement could not be met, and you will remain in your original room selection.
Vacancies
How Vacancies Occur
After room draw, some room selections may be canceled when students decide to study abroad, move off campus or into an eating club, take a leave of absence or are suspended.
Notify the Housing Office
If you decide not to occupy your selected room, you should complete an intent to vacate form in My Housing for Undergraduates.
Filling a Vacancy in Your Suite
If there is a vacancy in your suite at any point during the year, Student Housing will contact a remaining suite member, who will have one week to fill the space with a student that does not have a housing contract or one who has drawn a single room. If you cannot find a qualified replacement in a week, Student Housing will attempt to fill the vacancy.
To retain your suite, you or Student Housing must fill the vacancy with a replacement that maintains the group’s application weight. Otherwise, Student Housing may move the remaining suite members to a room that is appropriate for that number of people, and reassign the suite to a wait listed group. If all wait listed students have been housed, a returning or readmitted student will be assigned to the vacancy.
Each resident of a suite is entitled to the same rights, and division of space, regardless of when he or she begins occupancy.
Room Switch
Request a Room Switch
If you are an upperclass student, you may request a room switch post room draw by writing to Student Housing at askhousing@princeton.edu . If you are a member of a Residential College, contact your college’s office. Room switches are made in late August at the discretion of the Associate Director for Student Housing Occupancy Management and Systems and require signed approval.
Rules Apply
To maintain the integrity of the room draw process, rules apply when switching rooms:
- You may only switch rooms that were drawn with the same application weight.
- You may switch roommates within a group, but the integrity of the group must remain intact. For example, a mixed class group must have an older member in the suite.
- Students who plan to cancel their contracts may not switch rooms.